Writing Lab Reports

Assessment Criteria

There are seven interactive lab tutorials with accompanying exercises. Each lab tutorial specifies how marks are allocated across the exercises (a maximum of 20 marks available for each lab report).

Important

Marks are awarded for both content and presentation.

Content

Please work through the interactive tutorial for each lab. Your lab report should answer the exercises found at the end of each tutorial.

Presentation

Please use Quarto to create your lab report. Further instructions on using Quarto for creating reproducible lab reports that combine data analysis and text can be found in Lab 1. This set of lecture notes was authored using Quarto; you can see the source code in the GitHub repository https://github.com/dundeemath/MA22004.

Plots

Plots should be neat and legible, with appropriate aesthetic elements. Please use ggplot for creating plots and visualisations. Each plot should be annotated with titles, axis labels, and legends as appropriate. Plot aesthetics should be distinguished, e.g. using colours or line styles that are identified using a legend. Important data points and coordinates should be annotated using labels.

Mathematical formulas

Mathematical formulas should follow the same style rules as the lecture notes. Formulas can be included in Quarto documents using \LaTeX syntax. There should be appropriate spacing around operators and equals signs, e.g. a + b = c. For punctuation, formulas are treated as part of the text, so they often need to end with a full stop or comma. Important formulas can appear “displayed” on their own line (with line spacing above and below them), e.g., A=πr^2\,.

Structure

Structure should be logical and clear. Organise your writing with suitable headings and sub-headings. For example, provide a solution to each exercise under its own heading.

Writing

Writing should follow the usual rules of good written English, including writing complete sentences and paragraphs that get to the point quickly. Your tone and language should be similar to lecture notes or scientific journal articles. Formal writing does not require unnecessary words, long words or monotonous use of passive voice. I will reward concise and clear communication, so please do not write, “Upon carefully analysing the aforementioned equations, the following mathematical solution was found,” when “The solution is” conveys the same thing.

Formatting

Formatting should rely on the MA22004 Lab Report template. This is available in the MA22004labs package, and further instructions can be found in Lab 1.

# Writing Lab Reports {-} ## Assessment Criteria {-#w-assess} There are seven interactive lab tutorials with accompanying exercises. Each lab tutorial specifies how marks are allocated across the exercises (a maximum of 20 marks available for each lab report). :::{.callout-important} Marks are awarded for both **content** and **presentation**. ::: ## Content {-#w-content} Please work through the interactive tutorial for each lab. Your lab report should answer the exercises found at the end of each tutorial. ## Presentation {-#w-present} Please use Quarto to create your lab report. Further instructions on using Quarto for creating *reproducible* lab reports that combine data analysis and text can be found in Lab 1. This set of lecture notes was authored using Quarto; you can see the source code in the GitHub repository [https://github.com/dundeemath/MA22004](https://github.com/dundeemath/MA22004). ### Plots {-#w-plots} Plots should be neat and legible, with appropriate aesthetic elements. Please use `ggplot` for creating plots and visualisations. Each plot should be annotated with titles, axis labels, and legends as appropriate. Plot aesthetics should be distinguished, e.g. using colours or line styles that are identified using a legend. Important data points and coordinates should be annotated using labels. ### Mathematical formulas {-#w-math} Mathematical formulas should follow the same style rules as the lecture notes. Formulas can be included in Quarto documents using [$\LaTeX$]{.content-visible when-format="html"} [\LaTeX]{.content-visible when-format="pdf"} syntax. There should be appropriate spacing around operators and equals signs, e.g. $a + b = c$. For punctuation, formulas are treated as part of the text, so they often need to end with a full stop or comma. Important formulas can appear "displayed" on their own line (with line spacing above and below them), e.g., $$A=πr^2\,.$$ ### Structure {-#w-structure} Structure should be logical and clear. Organise your writing with suitable headings and sub-headings. For example, provide a solution to each exercise under its own heading. ### Writing {-#w-eng} Writing should follow the usual rules of good written English, including writing complete sentences and paragraphs that get to the point quickly. Your tone and language should be similar to lecture notes or scientific journal articles. Formal writing does not require unnecessary words, long words or monotonous use of passive voice. I will reward concise and clear communication, so please do not write, “Upon carefully analysing the aforementioned equations, the following mathematical solution was found,” when “The solution is” conveys the same thing. ### Formatting {-#w-format} Formatting should rely on the *MA22004 Lab Report* template. This is available in the `MA22004labs` package, and further instructions can be found in Lab 1.