ECE Undergraduate Laboratory
FED 101 - Fundamentals of Engineering Design

FED 101 - Fundamentals of Engineering Design

Appendix A - The Laboratory Report

The report you turn in after completion of experiments is the main product of the team’s work which will be used for grading. Therefore you should devote enough attention to this final but critical step in the laboratory experience. Writing good technical reports is a valuable skill, which in the future will help advance you professional career. Start practicing it now.

The purpose of the laboratory report is to provide information on the measurement procedure, obtained results, analysis, and interpretation and discussion of these results. The discussion and conclusions are very important in a report because they show what knowledge you gained by doing the experiments.

There is no one best format for all technical reports but there are a few simple rules concerning technical presentations which should be followed. Adapted to this laboratory they may be summarized in the following recommended report format:

  1. Cover page
  2. Introduction
  3. Experimental Procedure
  4. Experimental Data and Calculations
  5. Discussion
  6. Conclusions

Detailed descriptions of these items are given below.

  1. Cover page should have the names of the team members, and a designation such as Team 3, and course and section number (e.g. FED 101-015). It should also contain the number and the title of the experiments, such as “Experiment 7 – Transistors and Diodes”. Cover page should also have the dates of the experiment and of the report delivery (not the due date). Copy the cove page at the end of this section and fill the required information. The cover page should be signed by all team members, confirming that they are familiar and agree with the report contents.
  2. Introduction should contain a brief statement in which you state the objectives, or goals of the experiments. It should also help guide the reader through the report by stating, for example, that experiments were done with three different circuits or consisted of two parts etc. or that additional calculations or data sheets can be found in the appendix.
  3. Procedure describes the experimental setup and how the measurements were made. Include here circuit schematics with the values of components. List actual (measured) values of the resistors used, not only their nominal values given by the color code. Mention instruments used, their settings and describe any special measurement procedure that was used. Remember: giving more information is not a mistake, less may be.
  4. Experimental Data and Calculations section should be presented clearly with a reference to the procedure and the circuit’s schematics. Tables are often a good way of presenting results. This section can also include some calculations or data analysis. For example, in describing the measurements of currents or voltages in a circuit make a table with symbols in the first column (such as V1, V2, I1), measured values in the second and the values calculated from theory in the third. The fourth column might contain the calculated percent difference between the two. This may help to determine if the measurements agree with calculations.
  5. The Discussion is a critical part of the report which testify to the student’s understanding of the experiments and its purpose. In this part of the report you should compare the expected outcome of the experiment, such as measured voltages or currents with those calculated from theory or computer simulation. The table described above will be useful. In comparison of theory and experiment you may not get and usually do not get a perfect agreement. Sometimes the agreement is poor. It does not necessarily mean that your experiment was a failure. Comment if the difference between the experiment and theory is reasonable (1 – 3%) or may be something went wrong with the measurements (for example the difference is 20%). In the latter case do not hide this fact but try to explain what might have happen. You may also say what could have been done differently, how experiments may be improved, or make other comments on the laboratory. Constructive and original statements are highly valued.
  6. The Conclusions, should contain several short statement closing a report. Was the experiment generally successful? What have you learned from it?

FED 101 – ___


Fundamentals of Engineering Design


For Electrical and Computer Engineers


Laboratory Report – Experiment No ___

Experiment Name: _________________


_______________________________


On my honor, I pledge that I have not violated the provisions of the NJIT Student Honor Code


STUDENT TEAM No ____


Name                         Signature

______________________             ______________________
______________________             ______________________
______________________             ______________________
______________________             ______________________


Experiment performed on date ___________

Report submitted on date _______________

Returned for corrections on date __________     Grade _________

Returned after corrections on date _________     Grade _________