The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Quote from: apl68 on Today at 08:02:03 AMI hope that budding engineers not only have to go through high-standards courses to graduate, but are also still subjected to rigorous on-the-job, real-world apprenticeship work before they can advance far enough to do any damage. 

Obviously, I can't speak for all programs but I'm proud of ours. All of us faculty have practical experience in the field - I worked in the construction-related field for years. We all have either a PhD or are PEs (licensed professional engineers) and some are both. We hold our students to a very high standard that our administration typically supports when the students send complaints up the chain of command and appeal grades that are 'not fair' because the professor was 'mean.' We require hand calculations along with computer-based solutions to many problems. Heck, in lab today, my students had to solve a problem three ways and part of their grade was based on discussing why there were ever so slight differences in the results.

To graduate, our students must either complete an internship with very specific requirements, or take part in a year-long industrial-sponsored capstone project. They are well prepared. We consistently look for ways to hold our students to a high standard and be fair at the same time. Engineering has an unfortunate reputation for being needlessly hard and having too many 'weed out' courses. That can be true, but we try to avoid making courses hard for the sake of being hard. We also place an absolute limit on the number of times students can retake a course because there is no joy in stringing students along if they will never actually earn a degree.

Many of the larger companies in fields like automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, etc. who hire our students put new employees with less experience through what they call a rotational program where they work at different jobs in the company for several months at a time and see where their skills and interests best fit in the company. So, aside from the embarrassing stuff that makes the news about quality and standards (especially recently), most of the companies I've ever worked with/near/around, even oil and gas, are quite serious about doing a good job and being safe.

After he retired from the military, my Dad worked as a machinist. I always wanted to help him starting when I was little and he gave me small, safe, chores to do and explained what he was doing. I was probably the only elementary school kid who had a basic understanding of torque. I do a lot of my own home repairs, and the stuff I can't do, I follow the repairmen around asking all sorts of questions so I'm sure my Dad is smiling down from the great beyond saying "That's my girl!"

Documentation.

I am not kidding.

And the student who yesterday didn't know the word was one of the bright ones. 

Sigh. At least she knows it now. I hope.

Mandisa, Christian musician and American Idol alumna, passed away yesterday. Quite a shock.

Quote from: marshwiggle on April 18, 2024, 12:03:54 PM

Quote from: fosca on April 18, 2024, 11:45:43 AM

Quote from: EdnaMode on April 18, 2024, 06:14:06 AMDoes he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I swear all of my plagiarists say this and seem to assume that I'll just automatically say "Well, that's all right then, no penalty for you!"  I do know they get really indignant when I don't say that.

Participation trophies are so 90's; intention trophies are where it's at now! Who cares about all that pesky effort; after all, it's the thought that counts.

I really, really wanted to suggest to one of my plagiarists using this excuse that if they actually wanted to go into criminal justice they might want to consider what a plagiarism note in their file might do to that future.  But I suspect that would be considered being too mean.

Quote from: apl68 on Today at 08:02:03 AMMy father wanted to be an engineer, but was called to preach and studied for the ministry instead.  He continued to support the family as a mason.  When I worked for him in the summers, he was very insistent on paying attention and doing a proper job in every aspect of the work.  That was an education in itself that carried over into my college career and my work today.

My father was an engineer, and his obsession for detail was legendary. The house he supervised construction of is standing unscathed almost 40 years later, while other structures around develop leaks, cracks, tilts, whatnot. At the time however, his meticulousness and refusal to budge an iota drove the contractor and my mother crazy and prolonged the construction time greatly.

I am sorry to say I am way more slapdash (I am not an engineer thankfully), but off and on, his meticulous ways re-emerge in me (and siblings), and we never regret it when we follow that path.

Many of my students mix up 'in lieu of' and 'in view of', using them interchangeably

Quote from: treeoflife on Today at 12:55:36 PMMy second year student did not know what peer reviewed is.

Undergraduate student, not graduate student, I hope.

Quote from: ciao_yall on February 19, 2024, 03:18:40 PMHad a dream last night about $1,000 sweatpants. Woke up thinking "no way those exist" and not only do they exist, there is news about them.

In fact, one can spend a lot more than $1,000 for sweatpants. Is the market that big for people willing to pay that much? I have a pair from Sweaty Betty I thought were stupid expensive but... they are flattering. And comfortable. They are my nice sweatpants.

Were the kilo-sweatpants at least washable and wearable, unlike some high priced designer skirts that can't be washed or dry cleaned or anything, apparently, and some exorbitant jeans seemingly pre-worn and dirtied and 'destroyed'  to save you the bother.
Outsource authenticity.

Quote from: ciao_yall on March 26, 2024, 08:44:19 AMI bought a car online over dinner with my phone. Signing the paperwork on my phone and picking it up today.

Price and mileage were right and it's a cute color!

(Okay, slight exaggeration. Truth is I picked it out, then had to save the purchase while I moved some money around.)

That's outstanding @ciao_y'all!  Especially finding one with the right price in this day and age. Congratulations!

My second year student did not know what peer reviewed is.