COURSE ACTIVITIES & PHILOSOPHY:

Mastering any new subject requires continuous effort by the learner to make sense of new ideas and concepts and to relate them to what you already know. Learning to identify, formulate, and solve problems requires diligent practice in applying a logical problem-solving methodology. Learning to solve real-life engineering problems also requires a willingness to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty.

None of the objectives of this course are supported by passively sitting in a classroom, listening to a lecture that repeats the assigned reading, and copying down material you were supposed to have read last night. Throughout this course, we will attempt to make learning an active instead of a passive process. Studies have repeatedly shown that students learn more when they are actively engaged in applying new material. Educational research has also shown that cooperative learning is one of the most productive, although not the only, type of active learning.

Active learning requires that you do things to help you learn, e.g. questioning the material, figuring out how it relates to what you already know, looking for connections, looking for differences, creating a visual outline of the material (concept mapping), outlining, paraphrasing, teaching it to a friend. In short, getting to feel like you "own" the material.

Both individual and cooperative active learning exercises will be used throughout this course. In cooperative learning, you interact with others in a small group to perform a specific task. Working with peers provides immediate feedback and support as you work together to complete the task and understand the material. In addition, working in groups teaches you social skills that will be invaluable as you move into the team oriented world of industry.

This course is organized around two different types of activities. Development activities give you opportunities to develop and improve your abilities. They will occur continuously throughout the quarter and are described in more detail in a separate section. Evaluation activities give you opportunities to demonstrate to you instructor your understanding of the material and its application. These will occur four times during the quarter: three mid-term exams and a final exam.