SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

 
 
 
SESSION 2016-2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS AND

GUIDELINES FOR
FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
School of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering
 
 
SESSION 2016/2017
 
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR FIRST YEAR
STUDENTS
 
 
1. EXPERIMENT AND PROJECT GROUPINGS/ Tutorial Classes :
 
1.1 A total of 14 laboratory g roups in each semester have been arranged for the F irst Yea r
Laboratory Experiments. You are to remain in the same laboratory group.
 
1.2 Each experiment will be under the supervisory care of one faculty, PO, or TA.
 
1.3 The Laboratory Schedule will be posted onto NTULearn website before the
commencement of experiment/ project schedules. All students are to report to the
assigned laboratories according to the time-tabled experiments and projects.
 
 
2. TIME-TABLE :
 
2.1 Laboratory e xperiments b egin from the 5t h w eek of the seme ster, in acco rdance with
Lab Schedule.
 
2.2 Laboratory sessions are scheduled between 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm on Tuesday. If any of
the sessions falls on a holiday, or on a day reserved for student activities, a make-up date
is arranged.
 
2.3 All communication between faculty/TA and students will be via email.
 
3.   ATTENDANCE : 
 
3.1 Attendance at all laboratory experiments is compulsory.

3.2 You are not allowed to change the lab group which you have registered. All students
shall remain in their lab group for the entire semester.

3.3 If you are not able to attend any of the scheduled or arranged sessions because of
illness or some other reasons, a medical certificate or letter, whichever is applicable,
must be submitted immediately to the SCBE Undergraduate Office, stating your school and
year of study. This al so appli es to approved leave. Only approved leave by NTU will be
accepted.

3.4 If you have missed any of t he labora tory se ssions, you must immediately arrange with
the supervisor of th e experiment concerned for alternative make-up date(s). If you fail to
do so, you are deemed to have failed that particular assignment.

3.5 An attendance register is kept in each laboratory, with your supervisor and you are required
to sign the register against your name for attendance record.

3.6 Locations for the laboratory experiments are stated on the laboratory schedule. 

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 4. INTRODUCTION TO LABORATORY WORK:
 
4.1 Laboratory experiments are regarded as an integral coursework element in the First Year
curriculum.
 
4.2 The following are considered as the objectives of laboratory experiments:
a) to verify principles;
b) to develop practical skills;
c) to appreciate the use of instruments;
d) to inculcate the use of the scientific method;
e) to make and record observations;
f) to interpret and present findings; and
g) to draw conclusions and make recommendations.
 
4.3 For the First Year courses of CH1802, students are required to complete all 4 laboratory
experiments within the semester.
 
4.4 Assessment of the laborat ory experiment work is based on both performance during the
laboratory (CA) an d written a ssessment (log sh eets and formal re ports). Each stud ent
will be assessed on both the CA and the individual written assessment.
 
4.5 Continual assessment involves staff assessment of students in the process of
conducting the experiments and during the discussion period. It also helps to encourage
students to participate actively in the laboratory and consultation sessions.
 
The following criteria are used in CA. Students will be assessed on their
a) ability to analyse and to innovate
b) understanding of the subject
c) ability to work together as a group
d) leadership capabilities in organising and motivating group members
e) active contribution to the group effort and investigation
f) display of appropriate practical skills and creative thinking
g) ability to present and communicate effectively
 
 
5. LABORATORY LOG SHEET REPORTS :
 
5.1 Each student has to submit his/her log sheets for assessment by the date and time
stipulated by the instructor/TA. The log shee t is to be turned in online v ia NTULearn.
No marks will be given if the log sheet is not turned in.
 
5.2 Log sheets should be writ ten on A4 -sized p apers/graph papers and should have a title
page which can be detached from the experiment manual.
 
5.3 Log sheets should contain concise descriptions of the experiment, the results,
discussions and conclusion.
 
6. LABORATORY FORMAL REPORTS:
 
6.1 Each student has to su bmit formal reports for 1 lab experiment. The formal report is
due by 5.00 pm in 2 weeks from the day of the experi ment. The formal report is to be
turned in online via NTULearn. No marks will be gi ven if the formal report is not turned
in.
 
 
7. GUIDELINES FOR FORMAL REPORT WRITING:
 
7.1 Brief guidelines on the format of formal reports are given in the Appendix I.

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 APPENDIX I
GUIDELINES ON THE STRUCTURE OF FORMAL REPORTS
 
A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Be prepared for your laboratory work; study the Manual beforehand and read up the theory.
2. No marks will be given for copied material and/or copied reports.
3. Be relevant in content, concise in e xpression and correct in the use of English. Grades will
depend on the quality of the report, not quantity.
4. The formats set out below will be used to record all laboratory experiment. If there are
modifications or special requirements for a particular experiment, your Supervisor will giv e
you the necessary instructions.
 
B. FORMAL REPORTS:
Assume that your reader is a fellow st udent who is not familiar with the specific w ork you are
reporting. It consists of the following sections.
 
1. Title Page: Should have title of experiment, name, group, date of lab
 
2. Aim : Describe the objectives of the experiment.
 
3. Introduction
 
4. Theory : This section prepares the reader to understand the report.
 
5. Equipment and Materials
Give a brief description of the equipment and materials you used. If detailed descriptions are
required, they should be placed in the Appendix. Illustrations by simple diagra ms may save
you a long d escription. Provide titles an d label your diagrams clearly and refer to them in
your text by using a clear numbering system (eg. Fig. 1 A Pressure Transducer).
 
6. Procedure
Describe briefly in the correct sequence the important aspects of the procedure you adopted
to conduct the e xperiment and obtain the results, explaining any modifications you have
made to the instructions in the Manual. Use the past tense to report on the procedure.
 
7. Results
This section usually includes
(a)observations;
(b)sample calculation(s); and
(c)results of your calculation (tabulated and/or presented graphically).
 
To present your data or results clearly, make sure that proper titles or lead-in statements are
used and appropriate explanations are given. Some types of laboratory work are descriptive
and the result s will not be quantitative, hence, you ma y describe the key ob servations and
results in prose paragraphs.
 
8. Discussion (not more than five pages)
In this section, you discuss the findings and results of your work. You might want to explain
any differences bet ween your measurements and theoretical predictions by comparing the
theoretical curve with the experimental curve. You might want to account for any errors and
suggest impro vements through modification to the experiment/project equipment, procedure
or precautions to be taken. You may draw deductions from the results.
 
9. Conclusion
Here briefly (not more than half a page) present the conclusions you have reached as a result
of your work; or state to what extent the objectives of t he project have been met. It is not a
repetition of the Discussion but a statement of the key point(s) or inferences logically deduced
from the results and discussions.
 
10. Appendix
Any detailed technical information, for example, the t heory and derivations, description of
equipment referred to but not put in the main tex t, will be appended at the end of the report.
It should also include all graphs, tables etc. not directly needed in the main sections of your
report but which may be useful information for the reader. The appendices are lettered in the

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 order in which they are mentioned in the text (Eg. Appendix A) and labelled with appropriate
titles, (Eg. Appendix A. Method Used to Calibrate Pressure Transducer).
 
C. USE OF GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS IN REPORT WRITING
1. Graphics provide important illustrations in technical reports. They are classified and
numbered as Tables and Figures. Both tables and figures can be incorporated into the te xt of
the report or attached under the Appendix section, according to their relative importance.
 
2. Tables are used to record data taken from readings or to present quantitative findings. They
are hence numbered and referred to exclusively as tables. For example:
Table 1 Results of fibreglass impellers endurance test at variable rpm
 
3. Figures include all other illustrations used in the report, such as diag rams, schematics, flow
charts, statistical charts, graphs and photographs. They should be numbered clearly
according to their order of appearance in the report. For example:
Fig. 1 Test rig with three degrees of freedom
Fig. 2 Flow chart of instruments used in the experimental set up
Fig. 3 Lateral force spectra at difference angles of incidence
 
4. In the use of graphic illustrations in the report, the following points should be observed:
(i) All tables and figures must be numbered.
(ii) A title should be devised (in a noun phrase) for every table/figure.
(iii) Every illustration should be complete with proper legends and labels.
(iv) Units used must be accurate and where possible, SI Units should be used.
(v) Scales for the figures should be appropriately devised. For example, to allow
comparison of results, the scales of four graphs can be reduced so as to be able to
display them within the same page.
(vi) An illustration used in the t ext sho uld be well integrat ed with a lead-in sentence or
phrase in front. For example:
Figure 1 illustrates the forces on a triangular building for a given wind direction.
Figure 2 shows the test rig which allows a semi-rigid model to oscillate.
Figure 3 shows a flow chart of the instruments used in the collection of data.
The variations of tip displacements with reduced velocity are shown in Figures 4 to 6
below.
(vii) Relevant explanations or interpretations should immediately follow the illustrations.
(viii) Illustrations used in the ap pendices should be mentio ned in the text so that proper
reference can be made.
 
5. A sample of a figure used as an illustration in a report is attached.
 

 
Fig. 1 Comparison of theoretical and experimental steady state torque of two blade wind
turbine at different wind speeds.

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