Take Home Assessment–Grading Comments

Final Assessment Analysis

Some of you may wish to know how the class performed on the final Take Home Assessment. Here are some comments

 

The Process

• I graded all the essay questions myself – everyone was careful and received full credit
• I reviewed the “item analysis” provided by BbLearn to see if there were questions which caused problems because they were poorly written or possibly required material that was presented in class.
• As a result of that review I decided to add 5 points to each person’s score for the entire class to make allowance for possible lack of clarity, although I found no questions that I felt were wrongly stated.
• The result of this increase in the exam is reflected in the column – CAEE-201 TakeHomeAdj

Some comments on questions where there were difficulties.

• Learning after Graduation – It’s almost certain that you’re going to need to go on learning throughout your career as an engineer.  Many of you chose answers that indicated your thought there wouldn’t be much later learning.
• Heat Transfer Calculation – this was the same basic question as in Lab #1
• Nested IF Function – This was admittedly a difficult question, but it was directly based on the hydrology lab.  Learning to use this kind of logic will almost certainly be beneficial in your engineering career.
• Gas Concentrations – A key result of the IAQ lab was that you cannot have all things – low ozone and low CO2 merely by ventilating.
• Revit Type – Revit is BIM software.  When I Googled the word Revit the first entry stated that as I did in class.
• EER – EER is a ratio of BTU/Watt-Hour – It’s a measure of efficiency of an air conditioning system.  it is NOT dimensionless as it is used. 
• Kinetic Energy Calculation – The trick here was to refer to Prof. Dasaro’s lab, where the weight had to be converted into mass to perform the calculation.
• Member Weight Calculation – It’s surprising that so many had difficulty with this one.  You needed to calculate the volume and multiply by the density, being sure to watch the units of volume to work in either in^3 or ft^3.

 

Short Essay on Best and Worst Aspect of CAEE-201

All of you were very specific and wrote clearly.  As in past there were comments on many aspects of the course.  Only two people out of 74 chose to focus primarily on the negative aspects – everyone else focused on the positive ones, sometimes with a negative comment as well.  Here are some key ones:

• Most Positive Aspects – In order by number of comments Received
  • Variety of lectures & Labs & Speakers (41 mentions jointly)
  • Site Visits – Tacony-Palmyra Bridge & DAC (36 mentions total
  • Discussions (19 mentions total)
  • Clarifying your major focus, including graduate study (11 mentions total)
  • Overall structure of course and TA and Prof. help (6 mentions total)
  • A miscellany of specific issues with only a single or perhaps two people commenting
• Worst Aspects – the total was only about 10% of the number of positive and not nearly so emphatic
  • A variety of comments about the labs and grading (18 mentions total)
    • I take these seriously and will work to improve the clarity of the lab instructions next time and to see if there’s a way to give more helpful feedback.
  • Discussions – 6 mentions) far fewer than made positive comments
  • A miscellany of specific issues with only a single or perhaps two people commenting.
• Suggestions I will try to Implement in future classes. 
  • Expanding things for which you can get extra credit – e.g. site visits, non-class lectures etc.
  • Putting TA’s Powerpoints online. I did some of this but will do more.  I’ll also push the TA’s to write up a post with general comments after each lab.
  • Provide more guidance on the structure of a lab report, particularly the memo.

Calculating the Final Grade

Question

I was curious if the lowest lab and discussion grades are dropped since we are allowed to miss one of each. Also, if it is, is that already accounted for in our Bblearn class grade? Any clarification you could give on this would be very appreciated.

Response

You will receive a "0" for a lab you do not turn in. That "0" lab would be dropped in the final grade calculation. If you turn in all the labs your lowest grade will be dropped.

The "missed" labs and lectures refers to attendance, a separate issue. You're allowed a total of three missed attendances.

BbLearn throughout the term shows a grade that is calculated based on the work that you've turned in so far - a "running total". When I calculate the final grade any work that you did not turn in will be included in the calculation. Your grade could go down at that point if you hadn't turned in work.

About the Online Final Assessment

Where Do I Find It?

• Click on the “Quizzes and Exams” menu item in the course website in BbLearn

When It’s Available

• Opens – Midnight Friday Morning  6/7 
• Closes – 11:59PM Sunday Evening 6/9

How Much Does It Count?

• 18% of the total grade

What is on it?

• 75% Multiple Choice + True/False + Multiple Answers (more than one answer per question possible)
• 20% – Calculation Questions based on the labs
  • The description and logic for calculating the answer are the same, but each student will see different numbers
• 5% – 200 words or more on the Best or Worst (or Both) Aspects of CAEE-201 – graded on being specific, not on your opinions.

May I take It More than Once?

• Yes, you may take it up to three times – each time you have 2-1/2 hours
• You may not save and resume during one instance of the test.
• Each time you take it the numbers for the calculations and the order of the questions will probably be different.
• You should assume that we will grade the last time that you take the assessment.

Lab Week-8 – Senior Design

The Week-8 lab requires you to attend two senior design presentations instead of going to the regular Friday lab.  You will write about them afterwards so review the requirements for the assignment and take notes.

Note that some of the sessions are in week-9 so that there is a definite advantage to attending your sessions earlier in the week.

 

When and Where are the Presentations

Here’s a google calendar showing the presentation schedule http://goo.gl/VFdH0

· Change to the “Week” view to see the times graphically

· To see the details for each presentation, including the location, student names and the advisor click on the calendar entry.

· Note that the room for the presentations changes between morning and afternoon and on different days. Check the location carefully. The general info is below.

· The presentations are mornings and afternoons Thursday &Friday (5/23-24) and then Tuesday and Wednesday (5/28-29) . If your calendar shows other times your Google account probably doesn’t have EST set as the time zone

· Dr. Brehm, the senior design coordinator, advises me that he is going to be very strict about access to the rooms:

o No standing in the room.

o The door will be closed at locked at the beginning of presentations – no late arrivals

Room Locations (also on the calendar)

Date	Times	Location	Comment
5/23 – Thursday	All Day	AEL-275	The department conference room in the middle of the N-S hallway in the end building of the Main building complex, 2nd floor – It’s small, seating is limited.
5/24 – Friday	All Day	Disque-103	This is a large room – a great one to attend.  These presentations are during your 201 lab so you can attend them.
5/28 – Monday	All Day	AEL-275	The department conference room in the middle of the N-S hallway in the end building of the Main building complex, 2nd floor – It’s small, seating is limited.
5/29 – Tuesday	Morning Afternoon	AEL-275 Curtis-341	Third floor of Main building complex in the 3rd building.

There will be no sign-in sheet for this lab, your two documents will be proof of attendance.

Week-7–Rec Center Visit

Lab Locations and Times

This week we’ll be touring the Rec Center AND having time in the lab to address the calculation assignment of the week.  You should plan to be involved the whole two hours of your lab period.

Note that we will meet outside the East entrance to the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building (inside if raining).  Here’s a map showing where we’ll meet and where we’ll go.

Wear flat shoes (NOT heels) – we’ll walk on sensitive surfaces.

Time & Location

Lab	Last Name	Time	Location	2nd Hour
060	A-L	10:00	Papadakis ISB	Randell-121
060	K-Z	10:00	Randell-1-21	Papadakis ISB
061	A-M	12:00	Papadakis ISB	Randell-121
061	N-Z	12:00	Randell-1-21	Papadakis ISB

Posted by James E. Mitchell at 9:17 PM

Engineering Lab Reports

A sizable component of your engineering and academic career will be acquiring data and presenting your work.  There are many ways to present your work: laboratory reports, memos, executive summaries, professional letters, posters, and presentation formats.  Perfecting your business and engineering writing styles takes practice and matures over time.  Many times the documents that you produce may become legal documents, subject to future scrutiny should a problem arise.

Be sure to conduct your own search to locate good sources for writing examples.  I've included a few to get you started.

Here is a great source for writing laboratory reports, where the major sections are discussed: Abstract, Introduction, Procedures, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, and Appendices:
http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/workbooks/laboratory.html

When writing business memos, always avoid the use of first person, casual tone and opinion.  You just need present the important data keeping in mind the purpose, details, limitations, and implications of your work.

For example: We took a tour of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge and it was so fun to get hands-on experience and measure the strain gage distance for ourselves.

A better way to state the same activities: A site tour of the Tacony-Palymyra Bridge was conducted and field measurements were recorded to determine the strain gage distance.

Here is a great source for writing business memos:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/590/04/

You can always get help here at Drexel by utilizing the Writing Center:
http://drexel.edu/engphil/about/DrexelWritingCenter/
http://drexel.edu/engphil/about/DrexelWritingCenter/workshops/

They also have various workshops you may register for during the various terms:
http://drexel.edu/engphil/about/DrexelWritingCenter/workshops/

Accessing The CadLab With Your Dragoncard

Question

How do I schedule a time to use the Cadlab again?

Response

Any student in CAEE-201 can get 24/7 access to the cadlab by requesting it.  Send an email to cadlab@drexel.edu including in it:

• Your name
• The class you’re in – CAEE-201
• Your request to have cadlab access
• Your DragonCard # (back of card – all digits) – NOT your drexel ID

It usually takes a couple of days for Drexel security to process the request.  After that your card will activate the door in the lab.

If you need access before your card is activated you may knock on the door.  One of the students in the lab will probably let you in if you explain you’re in CAEE-201.