MAPUA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Physics

Experiment title
your name your student number
Abstract
<The abstract should present a brief summary of the entire report. 1-2 sentences that provide a
brief background to the topic of this report. 1-2 sentences that provide a brief summary of the
methodology (materials and procedure) that was used. 2-3 sentences that summarise the main
results. 1-2 sentences that summarise the main finding/s and or conclusions of this report. Your
abstract should be less than 200 words.>
Introduction
The introduction should address the rational for the lab activity. What is the significance of the
topic question and what was the purpose of the experiment.
You should present some previous research/ findings in the introduction so the reader knows
what has been done, or what the current knowledge in the area is. Cite your reference using APA
stye i.e. Gore (2006) stated that or write the statement and end with the reference written as
(Gore, 2006), or (Gore et al., 2006) for more than one author.
Typically the introduction will finish with the specific aims of the experiment. For example: This
study aimed to
Methods
Simply refer to the practical laboratory notes you have been provided. Describe the material used
in paragraph form. Rephrase the methods from your notes, in paragraph form also. Describe any
changes you made to the methodology, if there were any.

Results

The purpose of the results section is to describe, but not interpret the results, using text, tables
and or charts. All results should be presented in an appropriate form. Consider which results can
simply be mentioned in the text, and which results need to appear in a table or a chart. Dont
duplicate the presentation of results. Any results that appear in a table or chart need some brief
description in a paragraph that precedes the table or chart.
Table 1
Title of Table.
Time 1

Time 2

Time 3

Variable 1 (units)
Variable 2 (units)
Variable 3 (units)
If you are going to present a graph please make sure you have both axis labelled. It is also
recommended that you use some sort of computer package to present your graphs such as Excel,
as hand drawn graphs will receive a lower mark. Please also include a legend so we know what
data are being presented.

Figure 1: A Comparison of Intelligence Test Scores between People in Two Suburbs

Please note the placement of the title. For a table it goes above the table, for a graph it goes
below.
The interpretation of results often depends on knowing whether there is a difference between two
group means. If you can apply a statistical test (i.e. a t-test), you are likely to earn more marks. If
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you dont know how to do any statistical analyses you may want to consider presenting
differences in terms of percentage change or percent difference.
Discussion and Conclusion
The purpose of the discussion section is to provide an interpretation of your results, not present
them again, and compare your interpretation with previous reports on the same topic. Some of
the practical class notes have specific questions that need to be addressed in the discussion
section of your report. Our preference is that you include these answers in paragraph form here.
Please make sure you compare your results to previous reports (i.e. journal articles) on the same
topic in this discussion.
The final paragraph of this section should be your conclusion where you re-state the aims and
summarise the main findings.

References
<Typically references should appear on a separate page, but can appear on the bottom of your
discussion page. Please reference only those sources that you cite in text, your reference list is
not a bibliography. Make sure you refer to the Deakin website for assistance with formatting
your

references

http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study-support/study-

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skills/handouts/refer-plag.php APA (Author-date) is the preferred style. It is expected that you

will cite a minimum of 5 sources. You may cite the practical class notes as one reference, and the
textbook as another.>
Samples
<Book>
Gore, A. 2006. An inconvenient truth: The planetary emergency of global warming and what we
can do about it. Emmaus, PA: Rodale.
<Journal article>
Gore, A. et al. 2006. Photographs and herbarium specimens as tools to document phonological
changes in response to global warming. American Journal of Botany, 93, 1667-1674.

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