Chapter 1 Cases

Chapter 19, Additional Case 1: Describing the Purpose of Lab Report Sections

Background

Maelee Kwan is enrolled in Civil Engineering (CE) 320: Principles of Environmental Engineering, as well as CE 321, the lab for CE 320. The lab focuses on environmental-engineering problems, with an emphasis on the analysis and presentation of lab findings. Maelee has just completed the first lab on wastewater-treatment strategies and is struggling to write her lab report, which is due in two weeks. "It just seems as if I'm repeating the same information in several sections of my report," Maelee tells you.

As a peer writing consultant assigned to CE 320/321, you have seen a number of students this week. Several others have sent you emails. Most have said that they aren't clear about the purpose of each section in a lab report.

"Have you downloaded and read the assignment sheet that lists your instructor's expectations for this lab?" you ask.

"All he's given us is a grading sheet that lists the types of content that must be included in the final lab report," Maelee says, showing you the sheet (see the Document Analysis Activity on page 524 in Chapter 19).

After reviewing the grading sheet, you ask, "Who is the audience for this lab report?

"We are supposed to be employees of a company that has been hired to evaluate a preliminary design of an improved wastewater-treatment system. We're writing our lab reports to present our findings to our company executives. It just seems as if I'm writing the exact same information in the abstract, summary, and discussion. I'm not even sure why I need to include a summary if I already have an abstract. What's the difference?" Maelee hands you rough drafts of what she has written so far for these three sections (Documents 19.1, 19.2, and 19.3).

"I can see how you might be confused," you say. "Including a summary in a lab report is not very common. Science and engineering articles in scholarly journals, for example, do not contain summaries. However, this assignment might be intended to prepare you to write lab reports for engineering firms that conduct research for other companies. Readers of these lab reports want to know how your findings can improve operations at their companies. In these cases, a summary is an appropriate section to include. You're not the first person in the course to ask me about this. Let me get in touch with your instructor, and I'll get back to you by this weekend.

Your Assignment

Using a search engine, locate three or four Internet resources describing how to write executive summaries. Write Maelee an email message in which you address her concerns about repeating information. Also offer her some advice, based on her drafts, about how to write an effective abstract, summary, and discussion.
Create a one- to two-page handout for students enrolled in CE 320/321, describing the purpose of each of these three sections of the lab report requested by their instructor.