Lab-9 – Grader Comments

• The vast majority of you did an excellent job on Lab 9. 
• Limited confusion using the excel functions was noticed. 
• If you are unsure of anything, please ask for help.  This serves as advice for future classes as well.
• The majority of the memos were professional and of sufficient length. 

Lab-8 – Grader Comments

• The most common points lost were from not including a proper memo format when it wasn't already provided to you in a template. 
• A memo requires To, From, Subject and Date and Microsoft Word provides templates that you can use for future organization. 
• The other major points lost were for not following the directions and including the information about the group: group number, group member names and advisor, project title, etc.
• When writing a maximum 2 page memo make sure to make your statements meaningful and realize that a paragraph is composed of 3 or more sentences.  
• Otherwise the memos seemed extremely well-written and a great improvement from the beginning of the term, keep it up!

Wording Error in Online Take-Home Exam

I’ve corrected an error on the exam that one alert student brought to my attention.  In the question addressing the significant digits in a multi-story concrete building I initially asked for the “volume” of concrete.  I’ve now corrected that to “weight” of concrete.  I’ve also alerted the only two students who had completed the exam.  No one taking it after about 8:30 on Thursday should see the erroneous version.

Week-10 Discussions – Grader Comments

The discussions this week were excellent!  Most of you wrote some really well thought out and meaningful responses to your week 2 discussions.  It was great to read how your opinions have or have not changed towards your intended major, and they were very well written.  

A few students lost points for not including a source from access science, so my advice is to always make sure to read each assignment's grading criteria carefully before you begin each assignment to make sure you will get full credit. 

Lab-9 Percent Reduction

I was asked:

“In question 3 there are two fields which are labeled Pct reduction, what does this mean/ stand for?”

The first one wants you to calculate the percentage reduction in water purchased as a result of the reused rain water.

The second wants you to calculate the precentage reduction in rain that goes into the sewers as result of the reused rain water.

Jim Mitchell

L7 – Grader Comments

• Memos are an extremely important form of communication in the engineering industry.  They serve as as means of information exchange and also as legal documents.  It is very important that you follow a standard memo format when writing.  Microsoft office has many pre-loaded templates that you can use as a starting point.
• Avoid saying "plugging these values into the equation".  A better way to say this is "through engineering analysis, it was determined....".  Furthermore, the person reading your memo may not have engineering training and is most likely just looking for your expert opinion on the situation.  It is important to be direct and know your audience when writing memos.
• Many of you have shown significant improvement in calculation procedures, complete engineering analysis and writing a corresponding memo to support your findings.  Keep up the good work.
• Please don't hesitate to ask questions if you are confused about the lab.  It is advisable to attempt the lab a few days before it is due to avoid roadblocks at the due date.
• Use the spell check option for reviewing the memo before submitting, simple errors can be avoided easily.
• Before solving an equation such as this in excel it is easier to break it down into components and solving it by parts. That way errors can easily be traced and corrected

Week-9 Discussions – Grader Comments

* The majority of discussions this week were excellent.  It seems as though many of you are benefiting from doing your own research and writing a discussion about it.  There were also several comments which linked what you read during research to the senior design presentations you attended.

* Many of you used transitions in your discussions which adds quality to your writing.  Good work!
* Drexel has a superior engineering librarian in Jay Bhatt.  Please keep Jay in mind as you advance through Drexel for all research inquiries. 

* Jay Bhatt
Librarian for Engineering
Hours M-F: 9am-6pm
Hagerty Library, Room 132
bhattjj@drexel.edu
* Please continue to put effort into your labs and discussions as the term comes to a close.