Each student is required to maintain a laboratory notebook which should contain all answers to pre-labquestions, logic minimization, calculations, graphs, etc. It needs the be well organized, and the material clearly and neatly presented. You should use the lab notebook as a tool for your notes on the lab, your prelab, and for future referencing. The contents of the lab notebook do not need to be excessively detailed but should have enough information so that you can remember what you did in lab.

Follow the instructions on keeping a good notebook. Grading will be done in accordance with these instructions. The lab notebook needs to be handed in at the end of the semester for grading.

You can use a regular 8.5" by 11"  notebook with lines or square divisions. The pages should not be loose such as a three ring binder. A glued back or spiral ring back is fine.

1. Write name and course title and number on the front page. Include your phone number and email in case your notebook gets misplaced.

2. Place a Table of Contents in the front of the notebook with the following format, neatly printed:

(1). dates and page numbers spanning all of the entries for the experiment;

(2). experiment or mini-project number and title;

(3). student's name;

4. Use all pages consecutively. Leave no blank pages.

5. Do not have any loose pages in the notebook.

6. Each page should be numbered.

7. A typical entry for each lab experiment consists of the following:

A. Title of the experiment, date and name of partner. (start on a new page)

B. Pre-lab:

The pre-lab portion should be done before coming to the laboratory. The section of the pre-lab that you do with the on-line quiz does not have to be recorded in the notebook unless it is explicitly asked (such as derivation). The answers to the pre-lab questions which are not answered on-line have to be recorded on the notebook. Make sure you fully understand the concepts and if necessary review the material in the textbook.

C. Ojectives: summarize in your own words what the goals are of this lab. This can be done before coming to the lab, after doing the readings.

D. Experimental procedure:

Take notes of what you did including the logic equations or sketches of the logic diagram you implement. When doing measurements write down the results clearly, such as values of the input signals and resulting outputs (table format is usually preferred). Take notes to prove that the circuit works properly, e.g. by comparing the simulation results with the specs of the circuit.

Try to be complete and exact. You will use the lab notebook to prepare your report later.
 
 E. Discussion: Include a brief discussion of the results.

9. Tables must have column headings and units.

See a typical example of a notebook entry for a simple lab.

Jan Van der Spiegel jan@ee.upenn.edu

Created: September 12, 1997; Updated: December 20, 2004