Words of Advice from a Past Student and Your Current Grader

Hello Class,

My name is John Braley. I am working toward getting my PhD in structural engineering. I took this class back in the fall/winter of 2011. Since then I have been grading this class. It is going to be different from any course you have had so far, and it might be a bit painful at first. The assignments come often, and it will seem like every week you have something due. The key to being successful is getting started early and staying on top of the work.

If you have questions feel free to email me (jbbraley@gmail.com), or you can try to catch me in my office (AEL 280F, across from Prof. Mitchell's)

Over the past couple of years grading I have noticed some common mistakes, and put together some advice.

• Don’t forget to upload your url to Bb Learn site. It is the Bb Learn submission date that determines lateness; not the database.
• Use chrome browser to avoid misspelling (it has a built in spell check) and proof read your work.
• If you insert a table/doc from Google Drive, make sure the permissions are set to everyone so it will show up for others.
• Read, and reread the rubric. I recommend organizing your site by it, to ensure I don’t miss anything. My grading will exactly follow that rubric.
• There is a rubric for team assessments as well. These do not need to be essays, but make sure you include all the information requested.
• No one wants to read a wall of text. Utilize graphics and spacing to increase readability.
• Don’t forget the little things that are always required (i.e. web page identification requirements).
• If you resubmit your work, specifically state in an email to me what changes were made.
• Do not use a version of AutoCad or Revit newer than what is available in the CAD Lab, as it will make your files unusable for future teams.

Finally, at some point most of you will get frustrated by the fact that you don’t have all the information. This is one of the first courses without every parameter and constraint defined. This is okay. You will have to make assumptions. You will have to do research. You might have to figure out how to do calculations on your own. There is no right answer. I am not looking for one answer. I am looking to see that you put in the effort and produced work that shows your solution is viable. It is this ability: to define the problems, come up with creative solutions and intelligently defend them; that will make you a valuable engineer. Everything else can be done by a computer.