HERS 380 Laboratory Report Guidelines-Fall 2008

A lab report is a typed narrative report which includes the following sections: description of the test, results, brief discussion, conclusion, and references. If you are using information from another source (this includes lecture notes and your text) you must properly reference it using either APA format or number format.

The report must be handed in on or before the dates listed below at the beginning of the class period. Hand-written material will not be accepted and there is a 2 point deduction for each day late. You may hand in 3 laboratory reports.

Laboratory Report Sections

Description of the Test 6 points

Describe the test to a potential subject, not to another student or technician. Use terms that can easily be understood by a non-exercise science major. Include in this order:

• purpose(s) 1 point
• importance 1 point
• any pre-test preparations (diet, exercise, clothing,...) 0.5 point
• procedures - Explain everything that will be done or be asked of the subject. Do not include items that a technician need only know, such as set up of equipment.2.5 points
• time frame -How long will the testing session require? 0.5 point
• proper terminology must be used throughout this section 0.5 point

Try to limit this section to one page or less. This is the section that gives students the most difficulty. Remember, you are not describing the test to a technician, but to a subject. Tell that person everything that he/she should know, and nothing more.

The remainder of the assignment should be written at the level of an exercise science major.

Results 7 points

In this section you are to simply report the results. Do not comment on them. Include in this order:

• Include subject information (age, gender, weight, height, training activites, health status...) and environmental conditions here. If you have more than one subject, you may want to include a table presenting subject information. This should be included at the beginning of the results section. 1 point

• Use tables and graphs to present your data in a manner that is easily read. Examples of proper format can be found in your text and will be covered in class. Keep and refer to notes from this class period. Do not repeat data from tables or graphs in the text. Proper format of tables and graphs/figures 1 point

• A few sentences must be included that summarize (in other words provide the mean value or range) the results in each of your tables and graphs. If you use tables or graphs, be sure to refer the reader to their locations (yes, tell the reader what pages to look at to find the items). 2 points

• Results listed in laboratory assignment 3 points

Discussion 7 points

Discuss the results and answer the discussion questions within this section. This should be done in paragraph format. Answer the questions in the order they are listed and use a separate paragraph for each question. Use data (yes, numbers) from the results section to support your argument. **You will likely need to use outside sources as references for this.** A published source(book or journal article) is more valuable than a non-published source (class notes-if you use these make sure to cite them correctly!).

Conclusion 2 points

Use one or two sentences to summarize the results of the experiment. This should provide the main data (mean values or ranges) obtained from testing your subjects. Look back at the purpose statement to help you remember what the main results were.

References 3 points

If you include any information from any source (class notes, textbook, interview, journal articles,...) you must include a reference section. Your text provides examples of the numbered format. There are also links to APA format and numbered format below. If you have further questions please ask me.

Documentation Styles - It might be VERY HELPFUL to print out one of these formats for reference.

APA Style:

http://www.wooster.edu/psychology/apa-crib.html

 

Number Style:

http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite8.html

You will also be evaluated for the following in the entire paper:

• Grammar 3 points
• Appropriate units of measure 2 points

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