General guidelines for lab write-ups
Please note that these are guidelines to help get you started. The information contained here is
not meant to be an exhaustive list of what you should include.
Introduction
Introduce the general concept of the active learning lab (e.g., thresholds) and the
purpose/objective of the specific experimental task.
Introduce any relevant variables or terms
Outline any hypotheses based on theory and/or previous research (this information may
be found in the textbook and/or outside sources, such as journal articles).
Methods
Describe the task in detail, including the materials used, participants involved, and how
you carried it out (i.e., step by step).
Note: you want to be as specific as possible while keeping in mind the length of your
paper.
Results
Describe you data. Although you are not doing any statistical analyses, you can describe
your data in relation to the task and/or any variables involved.
Use appropriate visual aids to present your data (e.g., table, bar graph)
Note that there should be no interpretation of your results in this section. You are simply
providing the reader with the data you obtained from your experiment.
If you excluded any data, explain why you did this (e.g., error in conducting the
procedure).
Discussion
Discuss and interpret your results with respect to any hypotheses, theories, and/or relevant
terms you presented in the introduction (e.g., did your data lend support to your
hypotheses?). Depending on your task, you may find it useful to seek sources outside of
the textbook (e.g., journal articles).
Identify any limitations in your methodology and make suggestions for how these may be
addressed in future investigations.
**Cite all outside sources using APA format**