Grading and Lab Policies

  1. All labs WILL be done in pen. No exceptions will be made. Any labs turned in written in pencil will not be graded.
  2. A standard lab write up should consist of the following sections:
  3. Pre-Lab: Everything that is to be done before the lab session. The pre-Lab will be graded promptly at the beginning of each lab. Every lab has a prelab, although sometimes it is not separate from the lab.
    Introduction: Briefly describe the purpose of the lab, what you will do, what materials you will use, and what you are expected to gain from the lab.
    Procedure: Include every step that you follow during the lab.
    Data: In this section include all schematics, diagrams, tables, figures, calculations, etc. Label all of these with a title or a name (i.e., Figure 2-1).
    Questions: You are responsible to answer all of the questions in the lab. Please include the question with your answer. This includes both the questions within the lab and the questions at the end of the lab.
    Conclusion/Summary: Briefly tell me what you learned, what you didn't learn, what could be done to improve the lab, etc.

  4. Labs will be graded on a point scale of one to ten. Since there are less than ten sections, each section will count for more than one point. This means that if a section is missing, your grade for that lab will typically be at least one grade letter lower.
  5. Lab books should be submitted, in the appropriate cabinet in the lab, no later than 7 P. M. on the next day (e.g. Fri lab due Sat before 7pm), after the lab session. No Exceptions. Lab books will be graded and replaced in the appropriate cabinet two days after submission (e.g. Tue lab submitted on Wed. returned on Fri.).
  6. Use right side of page for lab results. Usually, good practice is to use the back of the page for mathematical calculations or abstract diagrams. You will not run out of room in the lab book.
  7. Please leave a page at the beginning of your lab book for a table of contents. Number all of your pages. This will eventually factor into the grade.
  8. Upon finishing the lab, please leave your work areas neat and clean. Be sure to turn all protoboards off and return chips, wires, and other components to their proper places.
  9. If you bring any disks into the lab, please check them for viruses using the virus scanning station at the southeast corner of the digital lab. This will ensure that all of the machines in the lab remain free of viruses.
  10. Be sure to sign out your lab kits at the beginning of the term and check that you received an account on the EE computer network.
  11. It is a good idea to organize your lab files in related sub-directories (i.e. ~your_acct/ee231labs/lab01/...) as hundreds of files with similar names can get very confusing by the end of the term.