Comments on Profile Post by spwath

Yikes. Bad teacher?

Teacher is ok, but made bad test

Yowch. I hated classes like that. What's the point of learning if you're going to give out examinations that don't actually test what we've learned?

Speaking as someone who was worrying his ass off about tests until very recently, you did damn good.

70% bar rate or no gains. I remember those being the jump that made me have faith and real ability to learn for tests.

What was the highest mark?

Highest was a 100%

Sounds like a weed-em-out class. Every major has one. Intro to Finance was mine. scored 80/200 on first test and was a C+. MBA finance was easy after that.

Thermodynamics 1 was supposed to be the weed out class. 2 is just hard I guess. A few people will drop though, she recommended dropping the class if you scored below a 50%. Good news is grades are curved at end of year

Sounds like it was a reality check test. The real word isn't always fun and games.

Yeah, I think my problem is I am not really used to studying. I have been able to get by pretty well with minimal studying. Seems like I might actually have to put in effort now.

@spwath I have the same problem. Still trying to figure out how to study at 30.

Finish school /decide career path earlier in life in possible. My last degree was finished at 46. MUCH harder than when in 20's!

@crazychile I take inspiration from my grandmother, who finished her master's degree at 42 and became Chrysler's first female executive. She started there as a secretary in the 60s.

So did you learn anything useful in thermodynamics? Like is it a good or bad idea to have 20 watt / sq ft in a sealed enclosure? Predict the internal temperature rise and calculate failure risk to internal electronics? Will an internal fan do anything useful (remember, sealed system)?

Any heat in a sealed enclosure would be bad, unless the conductivity of the enclosure is high enough. Internal fan won't help, may help at first, but once the air within the enclosure is up to temperature, it won't help. Have not talked about it in reference to electronics though. Mostly refrigerator/heat pump/nozzle/other systems.

Then it looks like you learned more than the test might indicate. re: electronics in sealed enclosures, think about traffic signal controllers, cable and internet distribution boxes, VOIP, etc. There is a reason most sealed enclosure nomographs stop at 16 W / sq ft. Some venture to 20W / sq ft for special cases.

Yeah, I think the test was just unfair. 2 of the 3 questions were completely different from any practice problems we had some. Granted, I did do the best on one of those, but I blame my poor grade on lack of studying properly. If I had known a few more equations I would have done better probably. Or if I had more time.

NEWS FLASH, they expect you to go and learn things on your own without being spoon fed, and regurgitating what was in the previous few lessons. That will separate the men from the boys, and more often than not, those who will succeed without having to leech off their parents until the end of time.

Yeah, I get that, but I feel like if the average is a 55 then something is wrong. The hardest question that we didn't learn was my best problem on the test though, almost got all of it.
I feel like I am pretty good about adapting to new problems and stuff. I see a lot of people just learn how to do things, but I learn why so it can be adapted

You're on the right track, see what happens when you put a little more effort into studying. You don't have to dedicate every single waking hour into the books/computer. If you can be at the top of the class, you can write your own ticket and work where you want. Don't be one of those people that waste a good education only to be a manager at Burger King.

"If you're not first, you're last"

"Second place is the first loser"

The ultimate point of higher education is to learn how to learn. Once that has been accomplished you don't need teachers, though mentors are always useful.

Yeah, I definitely think I could be at the top of my class if I really worked at it. I just don't. A lot of people seem not very smart. But it might be a good time to start putting in some effort.

#lifelonglearning