Biology 112Lab Report Instruction Sheet

Writer’s Name: Peer Editor’s Name: Lab Section:

  1. The rough draft of your lab report is due on: .
  2. On this date, you must bring three copies of your lab report to class. Include this document on every copy for your peer editor to grade you.
  3. If you do not want to include your name, you may use your PCC ID number instead. Only your instructor will have access to that.
  4. You will be randomly assigned three lab reports to peer review (grade). Peer grading each lab report will be worth 5 points.
  5. Graded lab reports and score sheets MUST be returned to class the next week in order to receive credit for peer grading.
  6. Lab reports and score sheets will be returned to you so that you can edit your lab to produce a final draft.
  7. The final draft of your lab report is due on: .
  8. Turned in with the final draft must be:
  9. Your final draft
  10. Each peer-editing sheet you receive for your lab report. Do not include your drafts.

Peer Editing (5 points for each) / / 15
Final Draft (graded by instructor) / / 65
TOTAL / / 80

Peer Review Rubric – This is how your efforts at grading your peers’ papers will be graded. Put some time into peer grading, you will want your own paper harshly peer-reviewed so you will be able to make corrections!

Points / Requirements
5 / All sections are completely graded and section totals have been filled in; many helpful comments/corrections (>10) are given.
4 / in between
3 / All sections are graded and section totals are filled; there are less than 5 comments/corrections, but not enough to help rewrite the paper.
2 / in between
1 / Most sections contain numbers that are circled; section totals are not added together and written at the top; there are no comments.
0 / No peer review.

Biology 112 Lab Report Scoring Guide

The following scoring guide will be used to grade your lab report. You should go over your paper with this sheet in hand before you turn it in. Remember that your paper must be typed to be graded.NOTE: IV = independent variable; DV = dependent variable; Hy = hypothesis

I. Title: Should be clear and give insight into the experiment. Score: / 2

2 / 1 / 0
TITLE / Clearly relates IV and DV / Relates to the lab / Gives no information about the lab

II. Introduction: Should state the question, explain why it is interesting, give the hypothesis and predictions, and explain the logic behind how the experiment was designed to test the hypothesis. Score: / 10

3 (background is 4) / 2 / 1 / 0
BACKGROUND / Extensive, focused background is thorough enough to allow anyone to read and understand the topic of this lab / Background is lacking in one important area, making it difficult for someone to understand the topic of this lab fully / Background is lacking in several important areas, making it very difficult for someone to understand the topic of this lab / Background is missing or unrelated to the topic of the lab
IMPORTANCE / Importance of question is made clear with multiple sources / Importance of question is clear but few sources are used / Importance of or no sources used / Importance is unclear andno sources are used
QUESTION/ HYPOTHESIS/ prediction / Questionis clearly stated. Hy is fully presented & logical, preditions are given. / Question, Hy, and predictions are presented with some logic. / question/predition is unclearHy is illogical or lacks support. / Question is not what experiment is about, Hy is illogical prediction is not given

III. Materials and Methods: Should contain enough information to allow anyone to exactly replicate the experiment. Score: / 10

3 (procedure is 4) / 2 / 1 / 0
PROCEDURE / Procedure is fully detailed and cited appropriately, amounts of all materials are included / 1-2 steps missing or unclear / More than 2 steps missing/unclear / No procedure described or section is extremely unclear
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN / IV and DV are correctly stated. Multiple constants and the control group and test groupsare identified. / IV or DV is correctly stated. Several constants are identified. / IV or DV is correctly stated. One constant identified. The control group or the test group is correctly determined / Both IV and DV are incorrect. No constants are identified.
Neither the control nor the test groups are mentioned
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: OVERALL / Lab presents a practical design that should provide reliable and valid data / Lab presents a practical design that should provide fair data (one minor error in design) / Lab design contains several errors that will limit the usefulness of the data / Lab design contains many major errors, leading to no useful data

IV. Results: present a summary and understanding of the results, no interpretation are presented. Score: / 10

3 (graphs is 4) / 2 / 1 / 0
RESULTS AS PARAGRAPH / All results reported in sentence form / Most results reported in sentence form / Some results reported in sentence form / No results reported in sentence form
DATA / All results are averaged or summarized; no raw data is included / Results are summarized, but raw data is also present / Only raw data presented; no summary / No results reported except in Figures / Tables
GRAPHS/FIGURES/ TABLES / Information is of the appropriate type,is a complete summary, is readable without looking at data chart. Allows for comparison of groups, contains units and a descriptive title and key. / Figure(s) of aninappropriate type, difficult to read (is vague or minor errors), comparisons of groups is not easy. / Figure(s)is not complete or difficult to read. Some data is graphed, but it is not immediately obvious what results are. / No Graphs/ Figure(s)/tables used

V. Discussion: Explains how results support or refute hypothesis and how this information fits into the overall understanding of this topic. Score: / 20

4 / 2-3 / 1 / 0
HYPOTHESIS / PREDICTIONS CONFIRMED? / Clearly summarizes Hy and predictions and whether or not they were confirmed / Partially summarizes Hy and predictions and whether they were confirmed / Mentions hypothesis and predictions / No hypothesis and predictions stated
SUMMARIZE RESULTS / Summarizes all results and clearly discusses how results support conclusions / Summarizes some results, a partial connection is made to conclusions / Results not summarized or no connection is made to conclusion / No results or connections to conclusion are made
RELATE TOQUESTION BACKGROUND / Results/conclusions are clearly connected to rest of paper and answer the question / Results are connected to some of the paper, question is somewhat answered / Results are only poorly connected to the paper, question is poorly answered / Results are not connected to the paper, the question is not answered
IMPORTANCE OF RESULTS / Clearly explains the importance of conclusions by relating them to other cited research / Mentions other scientists’ work, but does not connect their ideas to own conclusions / Mentions others’ ideas, but without citations / No mention of other related ideas, experiments, etc.
IMPROVEMENT/FUTURE
EXPERIMENTS / Potential sources of error are discussed, detailed suggestions for improvement, suggests logical future experiments / At least one potential source of error is discussed, with suggestions for improvement or future / Acknowledgment of 1 or more errors, but no suggestions for improvement or future experiments / No discussion of potential sources of error, No mention of future experiments

VI. Literature Cited: Should present citations for all background information used. Score: / 10

5 / 3 / 1 / 0
APPROPRIATE CITATIONS / All information taken from other sources is cited correctly. Three high-quality sources cited, including a peer-reviewed journal / Most information from other sources is cited correctly. Three sources are cited appropriately. / In several instances, information taken from other sources is not cited correctly. Fewer than three sources, or sources questionable / No literature cited section.
BIBLIOGRAPHY / CITATION FORMAT / All sources have proper scientific citation format / Minor problems with format of citations / Major problems with proper citation format / No literature cited section.

VII. Readability: Should be written using correct spelling and grammar conventions. Score:/ 3

3 / 2 / 1 / 0
SPELLING / GRAMMAR / Contains no grammatical errors, all words spelled correctly, uses correct tense / Contains a few minor grammatical errors, minor spelling and/or word usage, some problems with tense / Contains many minor grammatical, spelling, word usage, tense errors / Paper is unreadable
READABILITY / Entire paper is easily readable and cohesive, sentences flow and transitions are clearly made. / A few problems with readability, minor problems with flow, minor problems with transitions / Many problems with readability, many problems with flow and transitions / Paper is unreadable

VIII. Overall Score: / 65