Excerpted from "Tips for Writing EE105 Lab Reports" by by Jason Cain (Fall 2000 Lab TA).

Do not simply copy the 'Objectives' section from the lab manual. In your own words, summarize the purpose of the lab. You should be able to do this in a few sentences.

Procedure

Again, do not copy the 'Procedure' section out of the lab manual as that doesn't really provide any new information. Summarize the procedure you followed, and comment on things that you think are important. Also be sure to point out any ways in which you deviated from the procedure in the lab manual and why you did this. As an example from Lab 1, you could summarize the procedure by saying that the HP4155B was used to measure I-V characteristics for three simple resistive circuits, one relay switch circuit, and one diode circuit. Then comment on important parts of the procedure; for example, you might discuss why the SMU connected to the relay switch needs to be set for 100mA compliance. Also, how did you modify your measurement program to change it from a linear voltage sweep to a logarithmic current sweep? These are the kinds of things it is important to discuss in this section.

Results/Analysis

Here you should include all measurements and plots from the lab. There are often questions asked throughout the 'Procedure' section of the lab manual (e.g., "What is the maximum voltage supplied by the DC power supply?"), so be sure to answer all of these here. You should always include at least one data point to back up any quantitative evaluations. For example, if you are asked "How accurate is the multimeter?", give an example reading and quote a percent error instead of just saying "It is very accurate." Also, it is important to provide your comments and analysis along with the data. For example, did the data match your expectations? Why or why not? What do the plots mean? Your analysis is at least as important as the actual data.

Conclusions

Here you should discuss what you have learned. What benefit did you get from this lab? How did the results meet the lab objectives? How might the information you learned in the lab be useful in the future? These are just a few examples of things you might want to keep in mind for this section.

Presentation

This is a measure of how polished your report is. It can be handwritten or typed, but it should be a neat and clear engineering report. It should be well organized, with plots clearly labeled (make sure the label is informative; for example, "Effect of Gate Voltage on Drain Current for a MOS Transistor" is much better than "I vs. V") and measurements clearly marked (tables might be useful here). This may sound picky, but being able to describe and present your work is extremely valuable as an engineer, and it's a good skill to learn.