Engineering Student Seeking Honest Opinion on Lab Reports

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around an engineering student's request for feedback on their lab reports, which received an average score of 60%. Participants explore the factors that may contribute to the student's performance and suggest ways to improve the reports.

Discussion Character

  • Homework-related
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests comparing the student's reports to those of peers who performed well, and consulting the professor for specific feedback on what was lacking.
  • Another participant notes that the presentation of the report, such as neatness and organization, can influence grading, indicating that some graders may be deterred by messy or disorganized submissions.
  • The student asserts that they believe their reports demonstrate an understanding of the concepts, and they have made efforts to ensure clarity and organization in their submissions.
  • There is a question raised about whether the student may have omitted important details or additional elements that could enhance their reports, prompting a consideration of what successful peers included.
  • One participant emphasizes the challenge for an external reviewer to assess the reports without knowledge of the specific course requirements, marking scheme, and content covered in class.
  • A participant mentions the student's right to a fair assessment and encourages seeking clarification on any feedback from the instructor that is unclear.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying opinions on the factors affecting the student's lab report grades, with no consensus on the specific reasons for the poor performance or the best course of action for improvement.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the lack of detailed knowledge about the course requirements, the specific feedback from the instructor, and the grading criteria used for the lab reports.

Squirrelmech
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Hi all, I am currently a student (undergraduate, third year) on a 4 year degree in engineering.
I would like some opinion on lab reports, for which I received poor-ish results (60% average).

Would someone here be willing to take a look at my write-ups and give me a honest opinion?
 
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Your best bet would be to compare yours to someone who took the same lab and did well on it. You could also ask the prof or grader what they felt you were missing.

Sometimes messy handwritten lab reports turn graders off, other times disorganized reports show a lack of understanding the bigger picture.
 
Thanks for your reply, I have compared my work with fellow students and believe my work shows that I understand the concepts.
I also tried to talk to my lecturer, these are typed reports, with table of contents etc..
This is why I would like someone to take a look at these reports and give me an outside opinion (I am a mature student by the way).
 
It would be difficult for someone external to independently assess your report because that external person is not intimately familiar with the course, what material has been covered up to date, what specific requests were made with respect to report format, the details of the experiment, the marking scheme, etc.

As a student you have a right to a fair and well-explained assessment. If there is a point that your instrutor has made that you don't understand, that might be something people on the forums could help you out with.
 
Thanks for your replies
 

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