EngrI 1120 - Frequently Asked Questions
1. The course assumes knowledge and/or skills I don't have. How do I remedy this deficiency?
2. Why do the lectures go so fast?
3. There are handouts in most lectures and calculation sessions. It can be difficult to organize the pile. Why not assemble the handouts into a binder and distribute a course pack on the first day of classes?
4. Why is late homework not accepted?
5. Why is the level of difficulty of the homework higher than the level of difficulty of the lecture examples?
6. Why is the level of difficulty of the problems on the exams higher than the level of difficulty of the homework exercises?
7. Some of my other classes have review sessions before an exam and/or distribute practice exams before an exam. Why no review sessions and no practice exams in EngrI 1120?
8. Why must I work the exercises in a group - both for homework and in Calculation Sessions?
9. How can I pose a question?
1. The course assumes knowledge and/or skills I don't have. How do I remedy this deficiency?
EngrI 1120 assumes only the basic secondary-school education for a first-year engineer: algebra, analytical geometry, chemistry, and physics. If you encounter a situation that assumes knowledge and/or skills beyond this level, it is an oversight on our part. Please tell Professor Duncan or a teaching assistant and we will correct the oversight.2. Why do the lectures go so fast?
The lecture assumes you have read the material in advance. If you are seeing the material for the first time in lecture, the pace may seem fast.If you read the material in advance and the pace is too fast, ask questions during lecture to clarify or maintain your understanding.
Explore means to match your pace of taking notes to the pace of the lecture. Write terse notes and annotate later - replaying the lecture can improve your retention. If you forgot something, ask Professor Duncan, a teaching assistant, or a teammate. Consider designating a team member to take notes while the other team members listen. Then distribute copies of the lecture notes at a team meeting, and annotate where needed. Of course, the duty of "note-taker" should rotate. And it is essential that "non-note-takers" attend lecture as well, to understand the material and to edit the note-taker's stenography.
3. There are handouts in most lectures and calculation sessions. It can be difficult to organize the pile. Why not assemble the handouts into a binder and distribute a course pack on the first day of classes?
There are indeed many in-class handouts in EngrI 1120 - probably 100 to 150 sheets during the semester. Integrating these sheets into your lecture notes and your worked exercises - from homework and calculation sessions - is important. For example, you will want to have an organized collection for the open-book exams.However, it is not possible to have a course pack of handouts on the first day of the course. The syllabus changes every year. The specific contexts used to demonstrate the core concepts are continually updated.
Furthermore, it is not desirable to have all the handouts bound in a collection. For each lecture and calculation session you will need to write and draw on that session's handouts. You would need to bring the entire collection to every lecture. If you neglect to bring the sheets required for a lecture, your learning would be compromised.
Anticipate receiving loose sheets throughout the semester and develop a method of organizing these annotated sheets with your lecture notes and your worked exercises.
4. Why is late homework not accepted?
There are two logistical reasons. To assure timely feedback, the teaching assistants start grading homework immediately after the deadline. One teaching assistant sorts the homework into piles of exercise 1, exercise 2, etc. and then forwards the piles to the teaching assistants responsible for grading exercise 1, exercise 2, etc. It is impractical to sort and forward late homework as it limps in.Second, some students expect to see the homework solutions immediately after the deadline, while their solution is still fresh in their mind. So solutions are posted shortly after the deadline. We do not accept homework that may have benefited from the posted solutions.
Finally, a there is a pedagogical reason. Homework is designed to complement the lectures and the calculation sessions. After the homework deadline you should be working next week's homework, not working last week's homework. Falling behind is imprudent. Accepting late homework implicitly condones falling behind.
5. Why is the level of difficulty of the homework higher than the level of difficulty of the lecture examples?
Because the lecture is the first exposure to a concept, the lecture example is necessarily at an introductory level. Also, observing a lecture example is passive, whereas working a homework exercise is active. Watching someone do something usually makes the task seem easier. If you were to work the lecture example, it is likely the lecture example will seem more difficult, because you must decide how to proceed at each step.Homework is designed for learning, not regurgitation of the lecture or the textbook. It is likely that homework exercises will require extrapolation of concepts to more complicated circumstances.
6. Why is the level of difficulty of the problems on the exams higher than the level of difficulty of the homework exercises?
This is a misperception. Almost every homework exercise originally appeared as an exam problem. These homework exercises are the same level of difficulty as the exam problems. Some homework exercises are too difficult for timed exams and did not originally appear as exam problems. So on average, homework exercises are more difficult than exam problems.Some students mistakenly use the homework to motivate their study of the course material. These students start a homework exercise, get stuck, and search the textbook and lecture notes for a clue. This is dangerous (and it makes the homework seem intractable because one is not prepared.) If you use this practice, you will learn only enough to do the homework. Homework should be a spot-check of your learning. If you learn only enough to do the homework, you may have difficulty on an exam that tests a different part of the learning. In this case, the exam problems could seem more difficult than the homework exercises.
One should first read the assigned material, review your lecture notes, and then start the homework.
7. Some of my other classes have review sessions before an exam and/or distribute practice exams before an exam. Why no review sessions and no practice exams in EngrI 1120?
Every Calculation Session in EngrI 1120 is a review session for the material covered in lecture that week. If you stay current with the exercises in the Calculation Sessions, you won't need an additional review session before an exam.Almost every problem that appeared on a previous exam is in the textbook or will have been distributed as an exercise for a calculation session or a homework assignment. You can use these exercises to assemble a practice exam.
8. Why must I work the exercises in a group - both for homework and in Calculation Sessions?
Working in groups promotes individual learning. Your group mates can explain to you what you don't understand and vice versa. You will find that explaining reinforces your understanding, and that forming questions focuses your misunderstanding.Engineers work on projects in groups in the corporate world so having the ability to work well in a team is essential as a chemical engineer. You will find in your later courses that many assignments will be completed by teams of students. Working in groups also allows for exposure to a larger quantity of exercises than can be worked individually in the same amount of time.
In previous years, EngrI 1120 students have reported additional benefits of working exercises in teams: learning approaches from different perspectives and solutions by different methods, reassurance that you are not the only person struggling with an exercise, and checking your solution with the solutions of others before submitting. Some students reported ancillary benefits: forming friendships and working in teams is more fun than working alone.
But there are potential detriments as well. Some report that they don't bother to struggle for a solution because they know a teammate will have a solution. Some students came to rely on their teams too much, and did not spend enough time on individual learning.