I haven't been around much - busy with school, family, and my fledgling business.
Right now I'm taking Introduction to Engineering, Composition, History, Chemistry, and College Algebra.
The Introduction to Engineering, Composition, and History classes really assign a whole lot of homework. In those classes I probably spend 3+ hours at home for every hour in class, just doing homework. The Chemistry doesn't have much homework; it's all in-class, and the Algebra doesn't assign much H/W either. The only time I have to open my algebra book is if I didn't get what the professor said in class.

I'm wondering, once I get out of these "core classes" and into real engineering coursework, will my school workload increase or decrease? Is there lots of homework for things such as Circuit Analysis, Digital Logic Design, Applied EM Waves, Engineering Statistics, etc? Will it be like the math classes, where if you get it you get it and if you don't you study, or will there be homework assignments on top of study, whether you get it or not?

 

glad to see you

do they check the homework? when I was in university, homework was assigned all the time and there was a lot of it, but it is up to you to do it unless it was to be handed in specifically for marks. As a result, in classes where I got it (that would be math and physics) I only bothered with graded assignments which came around every two weeks and that way I could double my efforts on electronics

 

Back when I was in school, eng classes typically would assign a good amount of homework requiring many hours per week to complete correctly. This would then form 10% of your total grade.

So, we had a choice about how to balance the time for each class, and where to give up some points.

Also, depending on the philosophy of the department and the prof, poor homework grades were often overlooked if the student had top grades on the exams. I think it is well known that students can't always do all homework for every class on time, and sometimes the students skips homework that they don't need, or sometimes the student does the homework later, while studying for an exam.

Also, students that do poorly on exams can sometimes be saved by outstanding effort on homework. I think many profs have sympathy for someone who tries very hard.

 

Generally, I think later courses are harder, because of the complexity of the subjects.

But I think Greek curricula don't really apply to the American universities.

 

It's hard to remember back that far. One course required for a degree was a "humanity". I took Philosophy and the grade was 90% based on homework. No escape from that one! I always did the calculus homework because I didn't stand a chance of learning the material if I didn't do it, and this was for a teacher that didn't score the homework. He also taught Fortran, and I breezed through that without doing the homework. In Chemistry, the homework only counted for 10% of the grade. Still, I did it because I needed it to learn the material.

Bottom line: It depends on each individual teacher.

 

At my school, it depends of the teacher.

For maths and further maths, my teacher sets homework but never takes it in - but he labors the point that people who do rubbish in their exams tend not to do homework, so it's up to the individual wether they want to do well or not.

Then physics doesn't really set homework at all.

But my German teachers are very insistant on setting 2 hours of homework every lesson, due in one weeks time. So stuff which is set on Monday handed in by next Monday, stuff set on Tuesday for next Tuesday, etc.

Overall, I think I have less homework then I had for lower school!

 

I couldn't possibly have less homework than I had in grade school because I never did homework in grades k-12. I basically slept through the first 13 years of school because I was so far ahead of them that it wasn't necessary. Imagine my, "permanent record"! "Worst student ever. Barely above a "C" average because he wouldn't do busywork." There was only one student that ever scored higher on the year end tests than I did. Sandra Huffman beat my score in 4th grade.

I was afraid they wouldn't let me into college (where I kept my G.P.A. at 3.5 so I'd qualify for "Honor Roll" status). Homework was necessary in college because they were teaching things I didn't already know. I expect you will find the same true for you.

 

Did you marry Sandra?

 

No, but she was the only person I looked up to say good-bye to when I left Indianapolis at 19 years old.

 

Too bad. One should always marry someone smarter than you are.

 

Well, at least smart enough to have good conversation with.

 

Too bad. One should always marry someone smarter than you are.

something tells me that's only achievable for 50% of the population (at best).

 

From what I have heard, it is 50% - after all people's wives must be pretty clever if they are right all the time!

 

Being right and being smart are two different things. A husband that is right is usually not being smart.

 

Depends if you mean all people, or just men. If all people should marry someone more intelligent than them then only 50% could possibly achieve it. If all men married women very slightly more intelligent than them it should be possible to get near enough 100%.

 

If all people should marry someone more intelligent than them then only 50% could possibly achieve it.

Shouldn't that be 0%?

It's like the barber who shaves all those who do not shave themselves. Who shaves the barber?

 

If there are two people in each marriage then it's likely that one is more intelligent than the other, hence about 50% of people in each marriage manage it.

 

Being right and being smart are two different things. A husband that is right is usually not being smart.

yep, a wife is pretty clever if she lets her husband think that he is right all the time.

 

In America, wife is angry if husband thinks he's right all the time!

 

A friend once told me his secret to a successful marriage.

"Yes Dear,

I was wrong.

I can change,

If I have too."

Now, if the woman is intelligent she knows he is lying through his teeth, but the thought counts. Right?