As my years in education advance, I am finding that I need to keep improving how thoroughly I communicate my expectations. As I adjust my rubric for lab report writing, I am seeing great improvement in the quality of student work. It is so easy to think I have communicated the important information, but if it is not written and very explicit, many students will misunderstand what exemplary work really looks like.
Here is the rubric I am now using for lab report writing. I have adjusted it numerous times as I examine student work and discover issues that need to be addressed.
Lab Report Rubric
| Score | Intro/Purpose | Procedure/ Materials | Data | Analysis/results | Conclusion | Appearance |
| 4 | The purpose of the lab and the conditions being tested are clearly stated in complete sentences. | Procedure is in their own words, impersonal, specific and complete; could be repeated. No data is imbedded. | Qualitative observations and quantitative data are neatly displayed in tables or graphs. | All calculations are shown and correct, including units. All questions are correctly answered. Quantifies error. Graphs are appropriately labeled and accurate. | Conclusion is directly based on evidence and addresses the purpose; response uses objective tone and refers to experimental data as evidence. Error analysis addresses main sources of error. | Paper is neat, informative, well organized and easy to read. Includes title, date, lab partner names, and clear section headings. Proofread. No problems with grammar or spelling. |
| 3 | The purpose of the lab and the conditions being tested are a bit vaugue. | Procedure may be lacking detail, inaccurate, or unclear in areas.Personal references used. | Data is poorly organized; some mistakes on graphs or tables. | Calculations show minor discrepancies; units or graph labels may be missing. | Conclusion assumes more than the evidence shows, or is not an answer to the question; may not have used objective tone. Error analysis misses main sources of error. | Paper is generally easy to read; section headings or title may be missing.Minimal problems with grammar or spelling. |
| 2 | The purpose is not specific. | Procedure is sketchy and missing major details. | Missing some data. | There are mistakes in the calculations that show lack of understanding or carelessness. | Conclusion is incomplete, does not answer the question. Response refers to but does not include data from the experiment. | Paper does not contain headings for each section; not well organized.Major problems with grammar or spelling. |
| 1 | No purpose is given. | Procedure is minimal or not included. | Missing most data. | Major problems with analysis of data. | The conclusion is missing or incorrect and/or no evidence is provided to support the conclusion. | Paper is not neat, difficult to read, poorly organized. Poor use of language. |
x.5 x1 x1 x1 x2 x.75
*The categories are weighted according to relative importance; 25 points total