An Instructional Design Example

This example outlines the instructional design for a first lab in a Mechanics of Materials course. The instructor decisions and tools are all described in detail so that another instructor might follow a similar approach that takes advantage of the best practices outlined in this guide, including 

The topic for this example laboratory is creep, a time-dependent deformation that occurs under sustained loading. The experimentation is conducted using a simply supported beam loaded with fixed weights. Beam deflections are measured using a digital dial indicator. 

Learning Objectives

The learning objectives for this lab are written based on the best practices outlined in the Learning Objectives page. 

Writing Learning Objectives

The writing learning objectives for this laboratory were chosen according to the recommendations in this guide without modification. These objectives are not intended to be modified and they serve as the basis for writing instruction for an entire course or curriculum. Format, Results, and Analysis were the focus of this first lab, so that students would attempt a complete lab report but develop specific skills in presenting results using effective tables and plotted data and analyzing them to make statements about the quality of the results. The intention in future labs would be to further develop skills according to the other writing learning objectives. 

The format, results, and analysis learning objectives are

• Format - Demonstrate appropriate genre conventions, including organizational structure and format (i.e., introduction, body, conclusion, appendix, etc.).

• Results - Illustrate lab data using the appropriate graphic/table forms. 

• Analysis - Analyze lab data using appropriate methods (statistical, comparative, uncertainty, etc.).

Technical Learning Objectives

The technical learning objectives chosen for this laboratory were relatively simple given that it is the first laboratory. Creep as a physical phenomenon appears in many situations in the built environment and requires relatively little understanding of mechanics quantities other than deformation, making it a useful topic to begin a lab-based course that will rely on the regular measurement of deformable objects. 

The technical learning objectives for this lab are

• Explain creep behavior.

• Identify the function that best describes primary creep behavior.

• Apply a trendline and use it to interpolate or extrapolate the physical response of a system.

• Discuss the quality of deformation measurements.

Assignment Design

The assignment for this lab follows the best practices described in the Assignments page. A memorandum, contextualized to be from a client requesting engineering services, provides the audience for the student's response in memorandum form, as well as an example of the memorandum genre for the student to mimic. Appended to the memorandum are more details addressing the laboratory report expectations that reference the writing and technical learning objectives described above. 

Activity Design and Delivery

This outline follows the Model Instructional Design strategy outlined in the Activities page. 

Ultimately, the laboratory experiment was conducted according to the students' experimental design, developed through discussion. 

Assessment Rubric Design and Application

A subset of the complete assessment rubric was used for grading. The rubric entries for the writing learning objectives were used without modification while performance criteria were written for the technical learning objectives so that a complete scoring rubric was created for the entire laboratory assignment. The rubric was provided with the assignment so students could anticipate how the report would be evaluated. 

Feedback to the Student

Graded student work is shown here with feedback consistent with the recommendations on the Feedback page. This laboratory was specifically designed to introduce students to laboratory report writing with a focus on just three of the lab writing learning objectives. Thus, comments on sections related to other learning objectives (like introduction and conclusion) will be reserved for later labs. 

Revise and resubmit was not offered for this assignment, but could be offered if the quality of student work broadly does not meet expectations. 

Peer review was not used in this case, but is an excellent instructional practice. Asking students to apply a scoring rubric to another student's work ensures that they learn to review the rubric, apply it to their own work, and produce better work as a result, making the most of the instructor's effort to prepare a detailed rubric. It is particularly effective in early labs (like this one) to build good habits. 

Conclusions

Preparing a complete laboratory activity that includes the opportunity for students to write to learn is challenging and requires attention to many details, including preparation, delivery, and feedback. But, it is an invaluable tool to build students' written communication skills, technical literacy, and encourage clarity and subtlety as they inquire about any topic. 

This page has detailed the design of a complete laboratory module, including 

• developing learning objectives to support both technical learning and writing ability

• designing an effective and contextualized assignment

• delivering an engaging and student-centered laboratory experience

• designing an assessment rubric that defines levels of performance and clarifies expectations 

• planning for feedback to improve student performance in future laboratories. 

Crafting learning experiences for your students is a highly individual act that depends on you, your available equipment, your institutional support, and the time you have to devote to preparation. We hope that this page has given you some tools to meaningfully incorporate and support writing learning outcomes as you craft your own lab experience. 

How is this Guide Different than Other Resources?

This guide has been created to promote lab writing instruction and support engineering instructors new to lab teaching with best practices in all aspects of instructional design for laboratory teaching. A Student's Guide to Engineering Lab Writing, based on the same learning objectives and laboratory report organization, allows an instructor developing their labs with the approaches outlined here to find consistency in both content and organization. 

What about AI Writing Tools Like ChatGPT?

Artificial intelligence tools and large language models like ChatGPT are disrupting traditional writing instruction. This guide is intended to support instructors who teach early engineering lab courses, but the tools to support writing instruction are changing dramatically along with the tools students use to write. This Guide will be updated regularly to address changes in this space to address 

• how students can and should use AI writing tools

• how instructors can incorporate AI writing tools ethically and effectively in the classroom

• how instructors can use AI tools to better support students, like offering immediate feedback using purpose-trained AI

You can find more guidance on using ChatGPT for teaching engineering lab writing on our dedicated page. 

Other Resources

There are textbooks intended to support student science writing and laboratory report writing:

• Katie C. Russell, Jeffrey Donnell, Sheldon Jeter (2022) Writing Style and Communication Skills for Undergraduate Engineers, 5th Edition. Available at: http://www.collegepublishing.us/textbooks 

• Michael Alley (2018) The Craft of Science Writing. Available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4419-8288-9 

A companion website for Michael Alley's book is available at: https://www.craftofscientificwriting.org/teaching.html