Course Format

Minimum Class Performance

Because this course is offered in a chemical engineering program, analytical aspects of the experiment as well as the conceptual aspect will be emphasized. The thorough analytical treatment of the data will ensure that the engineering aspect will be preserved, whereas the questions at the end of each experiment are designed to enhance the conceptual understanding of the underlying principles of the subject. The student must master the laboratory techniques to yield good results. One must apply the correct analytical methods to reduce the raw laboratory data to a set of more meaningful parameters. Above all, one must understand, not merely memorize, the guiding principles. In summary, this course will not at all emphasize rote memorization, but will encourage creativity in each student. If better procedures can be found, let them be followed.

Laboratory Notebook

In general the laboratory notebook should serve as the quantitative aspect of the course. Procedures, instrumentation, and data should be recorded in such a way that any person could pick up the notebook and conduct the experiment with reproducible results. The typewritten report, on the other hand, should incorporate qualitative analysis as well as insightful interpretations and observations of one's experimental results. This is why one may sometimes find himself doing library research in order to answer fully the questions in the handouts. Remember, good lab techniques go hand in hand with the ability to analyze data meaningfully -- they are equally important.

As mentioned previously, enter the experiment title, the objective, and the procedure in your own words before coming to the class. The notebook will be collected and graded periodically.

Title of the Experiment

Objectives

Procedure

Data

Format for the Laboratory Report

A major shortcoming in student report writing is that of being too wordy. The goal of any report is to present to the reader the necessary information so that he will understand what was done, why it was done, how it was done, and what was learned, but no more. To do this efficiently is difficult and requires practice. Keep in mind that communication skills, both writing and oral, are just as important as the technical contents; one will not advance very far in his career if no one else is informed of his great discoveries.

All written material must be the student's own work; use one's own words, not someone else's, especially in describing the background or literature survey. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, not even for half a sentence. Plagiarism will be dealt with according to University Regulations. Give proper credit to other people's work if used.

The scope and length of each section are governed by the nature of the subject material. Depending upon the purpose of the report, some of the sections may be emphasized, combined, or even deleted, while others may be added. Use subheadings to divide the report into smaller logical units if necessary. In general, the following format, somewhat complementing that of the instruction manual, is suggested for the laboratory report.

The report shall simply start with the title and the objectives of the experiment, followed by a summary of the results obtained. Discuss the results in, of course, the

Discussion

Title Page

• Title of the experiment. It may be copied from the instruction manual.
• Author's name and affiliation (i.e., our department/school).
• Date of submission of report.
• The course number (i.e., ENCH485 Biochemical Engineering).

Objectives

Introduction

• Purpose of the investigation
• Underlying fundamental chemical and physical principles
• Method or principles used in the solution
• Quantitative/qualitative statement of the principal results

Materials and Methods

• Usually, the construction of the equipment, the source of the chemicals, etc. are described here, if the paper contains any experimental aspects.
• Give a succinct description of the apparatus with the aid of a neatly drawn diagram where appropriate. Avoid triviality. Describe the methods of measurement and indicate their reproducibility. List briefly each series of experiments run and the reason for running it.
• Describe the procedure used. Present the essential equations. This section is considered incomplete if another person who is scientifically trained but is not at all familiar with the student's investigation cannot reproduce exactly what he has done.

Results

Discussion

Mention any nonstandard steps taken to calculate the results and indicate one's confidence level in them. Interpret the results in terms of the underlying physical and chemical principles. State any assumptions explicitly and verify their validity rigorously.

Discuss any alternatives that should be considered. Propose what is to be done next. Since this is the first time that the course is offered in a well organized manner, the student's constructive comments on all aspects of the laboratory will be wholeheartedly welcomed to improve this course for the next year. How can the procedures be changed to achieve better and clearer results? Should the objective be modified? What parts were interesting, and what were boring? What was actually learned, or what did the student wish he could have learned instead? Within the limits of time, budget, availability of equipment, and overall course description, what sort of experiments would the student really like to perform? (Remember that this is a biochemical engineering laboratory; there will not be experiments dealing with bombs made from nitroglycerin.) Although a tentative schedule has been made, by issuing constructive comments, the student can greatly influence the type of experiment he and his classmates will perform and enjoy in the coming weeks.

Conclusion

Answers to Questions

Tables and Figures

References

Appendices

Appendices

Overall Hints

• Hyphenate compound adjectives. Examples:

  A three-inch pipe, a copper-constantan thermocouple, a heat-transfer coefficient, a stirred-tank reactor

• Effective writing usually places the verb near the beginning of the sentence, close to the subject. Example:

  Poor: The mass-transfer coefficient, shown in Figure 1 as a function of temperature and compared with theory in Table 2, was calculated from Equation (3).

  Better: The mass-transfer coefficient was calculated from Equation (3). Figure 1 shows the effect of temperature on that coefficient, and Table 2 gives a comparison with theory.

• Use tenses carefully. Use the past tense for acts that are now history or for results that are no longer true. Use the present tense for results that are contemporary. Avoid the future tense; it is rarely needed. Example:

  Poor: The pressure of the evaporator was constant at 3 psia, but it is difficult to say exactly because the pressure meter was flopping back and forth. Better: Although the pressure meter fluctuated, the evaporator pressure was nearly constant at 3 psia.

• Use relative pronouns properly. In defining clauses (i.e., those necessary to identify the subject of the clause) the pronoun that is appropriate. Example:

  The particle volume was measured by displacement was greater than the calculated volume. In non-defining clauses (i.e., those providing additional information about the subject of the clause) the pronoun which is appropriate, and the clause should be set off by comas. Example:

  The measured particle volume, which was greater by 3% than the calculated volume, was used in the porosity determination.

• Avoid unattached participles. Active participles require a subject except in rare circumstances where, by usage, they have acquired the power of adverbs (e.g., roughly speaking).

  Incorrect: Substituting for x from Equation (6), the expression for velocity becomes:

  Correct: Substituting for x from Equation (6), we find the expression for velocity to be:

  Correct: With substitution for x from Equation (6), the expression for velocity becomes:

• Avoid extra words. Consistent with clarity, use only the minimum number of words necessary to say what one wants to say. After writing a paragraph, go back over it and remove all words that are not essential.
• Use simple, direct words and sentences and avoid jargon or false elegance. Here is an oft-quoted example of a passage written by a sociologist on three characteristics of teenage culture:

  Compulsive independence of and antagonism to adult expectations and authority. This involves recalcitrance to adult standards of responsibility. Compulsive conformity within the peer groups of age mates. It is intolerable to be different. Romanticism: an unrealistic idealization of emotionally significant objects.

  This wordy passage can be expressed by one simple sentence: Teenagers are disobedient, group-minded, and unrealistic.

• Avoid essentially meaningless phrases such as:

   It may be stated that----
   You will find it interesting to know ----
   For your information----
   In this connection the statement may be make that ----
   At this point in time it may be appropriate to----
   It is a fact that ----
  

• Avoid generalities; be as specific as possible. Also, whenever possible, be quantitative rather than qualitative. Examples:

     Poor:   The temperature measurement was not accurate because
     the thermometer was no good.
  
  
     Better: Temperature accuracy can be improved by better
     thermometer calibration.
  
  
     Poor:   Figure 1 shows that the data are in bad agreement with
     the results calculated from Equation (3).
  
  
     Better: Figure 1 shows that the experimental heat-transfer
     coefficients are about 60 percent larger than those given by
     Equation (3).
  
  

• It takes much more effort to write a short report than a long report.