report

*You should type your lab report in a Microsoft Word document that includes this heading on your report and the
sections clearly labelled as shown below. All of the instructions under the headings should be removed before
submitting. Not following these instructions will result in a penalty. Your document will then be uploaded to
Turnitin through Canvas.
MCB3020L Lab Report Template:
Week # __________________________________ Date ___________ Section # ________
Student Name __________________________________ Panther ID # ________________
Introduction:
This will be a minimum of 8 sentences that address the following:
• State the purpose of the experiment and briefly summarize the protocol methodology. Do not repeat
the wording used in manuals. (3 points)
• Discuss any background information/ research that is relevant to your report. Think about previous
research that is relevant to your study. Why are answering these questions or conducting the
experiment important? Use citations to support your work (3 points)
• What is/are the question(s) that you are trying to answer with this experiment? You may be using
certain techniques but what are you hoping to find with your results? Typically, there are multiple
questions that one procedure can help you answer. Your question(s) must address all parts of the
experiment. They must be written in the form of a question. (2 points)
Results:
This section will vary based on the experiment but should always include the following:
• Supporting information such as tables, diagrams, charts, drawings, pictures or any other methods
to accurately document and describe the experimental results. Make sure to properly label all tables
with an appropriate heading etc. (5 points)
• A written paragraph of at least 5-8 sentences (no more than 10 sentences). This will bring together
all of the results obtained during the experiment as there may have been multiple parts to an
experiment. Make sure to make connections between the multiple parts of an experiment. Think
about the main results obtained from each table in your report. (3 points)
NOTE: This section is not to repeat every step that has already been demonstrated in your tables but
rather to present the overall important results from each section and how they link to one another.
Discussion:
Aim for a minimum of 10 sentences based on your experiment results. This is not a repeat of the results
section; you must describe the “why”. Consider the following for a well- rounded discussion:
• Did you get the result that you expected for each part of your experiment? Why or why not?
Simply stating “yes” or “no” is not acceptable. Your ‘expectations’ should be informed by previous
studies and compared to your obtained results. If they do not match, why? Use citations to support
your work. (2 points)
• What do your results show? Does it answer your proposed research questions or no? Simply stating
“yes” or “no” is not acceptable. If this is a multi-part laboratory experiment, think about how your
results for each part of the experiment help aid your interpretation of your main research question.
(2 points)
• Why are the results your obtained important? How is it relevant to advances in the field of
Microbiology? (2 point)
• Describe possible sources of error with procedures (not human error or picture/video quality) that
could lead to misinterpretation of results and how these errors could cause a problem. (2 points)

Future direction:
This will be 3-4 sentences addressing the following:
• Knowing your results obtained, what follow-up experiments would you propose and why? How
would it be conducted? (2 points)
• What is the big picture potential for your results? Now that you have answered your research
question(s), how can these results be used in a real-world setting? (2 points)
References:
Insert all references used in your report (including lab manuals) using the APA Style for formatting. Ensure
that all citations used in-text are listed in your references section. Remember to be consistent throughout.
(4 points)
Helpful link to APA format:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/gen
eral_format.html
Formatting:
Ensure that the report has proper grammar, sentence structure and flow throughout. All sections should be
properly labelled following the instructions given, and all tables should be properly labelled and formatted.
(3 points)