Dr. Alan Cheville
403 Eng. South
744-6625
kridnix@okstate.edu

Class Time:   Tuesdays 1630 to 1720

Location:   211A Engineering South

Office Hours: By appointment only

Text: None Required.

Summary:

This course is intended as an introduction to practical research skills for CEAT research scholars.  Since I am an electrical engineering professor, we will focus on the things that I know.  And no, I won't teach you how to build anything that can damage life or property.  The methods we will use focus on real world skills often overlooked in engineering curriculums due to the heavy class load.

• Teamwork
• Public Speaking
• Doing Things
• Time Management

The attitude this class intends to foster includes maintenance of a sense of humor, developing a community of peers, and keeping things in perspective, and learning some of the basic skills that will make you valuable in research.

Activities and projects may include learning about the university, library usage, practical (and improbable) engineering, systems integration, redundancy measures, and much, much more. You will often work in teams.

You should be aware that OSU, like most universities, expects at least two hours of work outside of class for every hour you spend in class.  In engineering it is probably closer to a 3:1 ratio.  For example if you are taking 15 hours of classes, expect to put in 30 to 45 additional hours for a total of 45-60 hours per week!  This class is not quite that bad, but there is work that needs to be done outside of class.

Formal Grading and Assignments:

There will be at least two projects which will consist of actually making something to given specifications.  The project grade will include performance on the project, a short written report and one or more in-class assignments.

We reserve the right to adjust this scale at the end of the semester, however we will only do this to raise rather than reduce the over-all letter grades. In past years this usually is done by normalizing the scores to 100 using the highest grade in the class, but no guarantees are implied by this statement.

Not Quite So Formal Grading and Assignments:

Within the class you will be rewarded for spectacular failure as well as success. We will use peer evaluation extensively, which means other people will know how you are performing.  Get used to it, and don't take things too seriously!

Attendance Policy: