Lab reflections are assigned with several purposes in mind: to summarize and demonstrate what you have learned, and to reflect on the process. They should address each of the following questions:

What was the goal of the lab activity?

Explain in your own words what you were trying to achieve. Why do you think this task was assigned?

How did you achieve it?

Detail the steps you took to solve the problem. What strategies did you use to achieve the goal? Did you run into any unexpected difficulty along the way? Did anything you tried fail to work?

What did you learn from the process?

Reflect on what new things you have learned. What do you know now that you didn't before embarking on the lab activity? Once you had achieved the goal, did it allow you to learn anything new?

How might you have learned more?

Make specific suggestions for improving the lab in the future. Is there some way to make the instructions clearer or more complete? Are there any related activities you wish you might have had a chance to try? Could the lab activity be improved in some other way?