Course Syllabus
ENGR 1102: Introduction to Engineering Problem Solving
Instructors, Class Times, and Location
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Learn More About Your Instructors Here! |
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Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UGTAs)
UGTAs are former students who excelled in this course and now support your learning. They will attend class, answer questions, hold office hours, and help check-off weekly in-class assignments. UGTAs also serve as peer mentors, offering guidance on course material and study strategies. They play an important role in fostering an engaging and supportive learning environment.
| UGTA Name | Major | Year | |
| Adil Chariwala | ECE | 3rd | tur46050@temple.edu |
| Alimatou Konate | ECE | 3rd | tur83936@temple.edu |
| Jack Warner Sura | CEE | 3rd | tur48962@temple.edu |
| James Soley | ECE | 3rd | tur39564@temple.edu |
| Jass R Gatewood | ECE | 3rd | tur98000@temple.edu |
| Killian Slattery | ECE | 3rd | tur54032@temple.edu |
| Luke Smallberger | CEE | 3rd | tup40066@temple.edu |
| Mohamad Zuzu Charabi | ECE | 3rd | tur26338@temple.edu |
| Mohamed Mutan | ME | 3rd | tup04239@temple.edu |
| Mykai Andrew Wade | ECE | 2nd | tut14639@temple.edu |
| Nathan D Pervin | ECE | 3rd | tuq73601@temple.edu |
| Petra A Baylin | BIOE | 3rd | tuq79250@temple.edu |
| Scott Blickley | ME | 3rd | tuo68680@temple.edu |
Look for our tag [1101 and 1102] in the Office Hours schedule!
Course Topics Overview
This course will build on topics covered in ENGR 1101: Introduction to Engineering and Engineering Technology and will provide you with an opportunity to learn:
- How to decompose problems into pieces that can subsequently utilize computing for efficiency and accuracy.
- An algorithmic method for approaching solving engineering problems and validating your analysis.
- How to write effective psuedocode for effective program planning and debugging.
- To identify and link observations and assumptions about the real-world into engineering analyses.
- Write mathematical formulas, use built-in formulas and libraries, creating custom scripts and functions, store and manipulate data, use conditional statements, looping, debugging, and plotting as part of engineering problem solving.
- How to use functions to avoid code duplication for efficiency.
Pre-requisite
Minimum grade of C- in ENGR 1101 or ENGR 1901
Important Note: Students enrolling in this class are accountable for all of the material in ENGR 1101/1901. If you have not yet mastered those concepts (e.g. unit conversion, scientific notation, cell referencing and plotting in Excel, etc.) you should visit the instructor staff or a TA and we will provide resources that can help you learn and prepare for this course.
Asking Questions/Getting Help
Student Drop-In Hours (Office Hours)
Instructors as well as TAs will hold drop-in hours throughout the week (OH schedule); look for our tag [1101 and 1102]. This is a great place to ask questions on what wasn't clear in class, get help on homework assignments you've started but gotten stuck on, meet peers who are working on similar class assignments, or just to get to know your instructors and TAs (come ask us what are favorite sports teams or foods are or how we managed our first years as engineering majors).
Look for our tag [1101 and 1102] in the Office Hours schedule!
Discussion Board for General Questions
The discussion board on our course website will be the primary form of communication for asking questions pertaining to course content. The reason for this policy is because if one student has a question about course materials or an assignment, that question is usually shared by at least one classmate (typically many more).
The discussion board archives all communication and allows everyone in the course to benefit from each other's questions. The TAs and Instructors will be checking the chat several times throughout the week to respond to questions. If you see a question in the chat that has not been answered yet, and you know the answer, please share that knowledge with your classmates. Be mindful that chat messages are not private and will be viewable to all in the course. For more specific or personal questions, please reach out to your Instructor via email.
Email for Specific/Personal Questions
Keep in mind that general questions that anyone in the class could benefit from should be posted to our discussion board. For more specific or personal matters, please reach out to your instructors via email.
Textbook Information
- Required Textbook for Second Part of Class (zyBook) Starting Week 5: more details to follow
Course Elements
Quizzes/Final Exam (30%)
Quizzes are used to allow you to assess how well you are understanding concepts and help you pinpoint early where you need to focus more of your efforts to learn the course material. It's critical to clearly show all work so we can assess your learning progress. If you are struggling with the quizzes, it means that you need to seek help from either your instructor, one of the TAs, the College resources listed below, and/or your peers, so that we can help you learn the material. Quizzes are also used to help us gauge how well students are understanding the material, whether there are some students who are not there yet, and whether we need to review certain concepts with the class. There will be a comprehensive final.
There will a total of three quizzes and a comprehensive final. The comprehensive final will have three parts that will correspond roughly to the three quizzes. The highest grade from part one of the final and quiz one will be 8.33% of your grade. This will be the same for the other two parts/quizzes. Therefore, if you score a 100% on all three quizzes, the final exam cannot increase your grade. Otherwise, taking the Final Exam may increase your grade. It is your choice whether to take the Final Exam.
A common final exam will be given for this course on Monday December 15th from 3:30-5:30.
Project (30%)
Throughout the semester you will be tasked with applying your newly-acquired skills and methods to a real-world project. This project will:
- Make clear the advantages/disadvantages of different engineering tools (Excel, Python) used in problem solving;
- Require you to use critical judgment to assess the viability of a real-world engineering question;
- Have you apply math, science, and engineering to provide a recommendation to a client.
The instructor team will help you break down the project into manageable pieces, giving you an idea of the importance of problem deconstruction. There will be ~2 project parts in Excel and ~2 project parts that require the use of Python.
In-Class Assignments (ICA; 30%)
Each week, you will have a series of in-class activities to complete which aim to reinforce the important concepts we have covered. Although the submissions will be individual, you will be encouraged to engage with your peers as you work through them. These ICAs will set you up to solve the more complicated homework assignments. Our goal is to foster an environment that values student learning over grades. These ICAs will be created with 'real-time' feedback so that you know whether you are solving the problems correctly.
To receive credit for most ICAs, you must get them checked off by a TA or instructor during either class time or office hours. ICAs cannot be handed in late; late days cannot be used on them.
Pre-Lecture Assignments (15%)
Prior to coming to class each week, you will be assigned a series of readings/videos to prepare for the week's activities. As part of this, there will be some type of assessment (canvas quiz or activity) to ensure you're arriving to class prepared. To create an environment where learning is at the forefront, these assessments may be repeated up to 5 times so that you are earning full-credit.
Some assignments will be graded just for your participation such as surveys and practice problems. These assignments will be included in the pre-lecture assignments portion of your grade.
Course Policies
Attendance
We recommend that all students attend the lectures whenever possible as they present the best opportunity to connect with classmates and build community, to engage directly with the weekly concepts, and get immediate help/feedback when things aren't clear. If you miss a lecture, it's your responsibility to connect with classmates and get notes.
Late Policy
A three-calendar-day Individual Late Day Bank is available to all students; you can use these days at your own discretion and without explanation. This is designed to provide you with some flexibility regarding personal situations, illness, workload management, etc. during this course. You do not need to let us know ahead of time that you are using days in your Late Day Bank for an assignment.
To use late days, submit a Late Day Bank assignment in Canvas after you upload your submission. You must declare that you want to use days from your Late Day Bank at the time of assignment submission. Days from your Late Bank cannot be applied retroactively to previously submitted and/or graded assignments.
Individual late day banks cannot be applied to group assignments, EVEN IF YOU PARTICIPATE IN THE ASSIGNMENT ALONE. In addition to the individual late day bank, two group late day are available to use on group assignments provide all members of the group have remaining group late days.
You may use your late bank day once (e.g., submitting a homework assignment 3 days late without penalty) or you may use portions of your bank for different assignments. For example, you may submit a pre-lecture assignment 1 day late and then submit another pre-lecture assignment 2 days late. As long as the total number of days does not exceed three calendar days, you will not incur a penalty for any late submission. Partial days are not accepted (e.g., you cannot use 1.5 days; this would be counted as 2 days).
If you have used all of your Late Day Bank, or choose not to use any for an assignment, the standard late penalty is 25% off the assignment’s total grade per day. This penalty will be applied regardless of technical issues; come to office hours or reach out to an instructor via email if you are having difficulties submitting your assignment.
PLEASE NOTE: ICAs are due by 11:59 PM on the Monday following the week they are assigned. ICAs CANNOT BE SUBMITTED LATE. If you are unable to get checked off during class, refer to office hours (either in-person or through Zoom) to receive credit. At the end of the semester, each student will have one unsubmitted ICA dropped. Keep in mind, you are still responsible for keeping up with all ICA content and coursework, even if you do not submit one.
Grading Policy
Please note that final grades will be made based on the following scale. Grades will not be rounded up. Graduate TAs will be grading most assignments. If you have questions on how an assignment was graded, start by reaching out to the person who graded it. If you're not satisfied after talking with the TA, reach out to your instructor.
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Numeric Grade (%) |
Letter Grade |
GPA |
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Grade >= 93 |
A |
4.0 |
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90 ≤ grade < 93 |
A- |
3.67 |
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87 ≤ grade < 90 |
B+ |
3.33 |
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83 ≤ grade < 87 |
B |
3.0 |
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80 ≤ grade < 83 |
B- |
2.67 |
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77 ≤ grade < 80 |
C+ |
2.33 |
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73 ≤ grade < 77 |
C |
2.0 |
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70 ≤ grade < 73 |
C- |
1.67 |
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67 ≤ grade < 70 |
D+ |
1.33 |
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63 ≤ grade < 67 |
D |
1.0 |
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60 ≤ grade < 63 |
D- |
0.67 |
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< 60 |
F |
0 |
Course Conduct
It is important to foster a respectful and productive learning environment that includes all students in our diverse community of learners. Our differences, some of which are outlined in the University's nondiscrimination statement, will add richness to this learning experience. Therefore, all opinions and experiences, no matter how different or controversial they may be perceived, must be respected in the tolerant spirit of academic discourse.
Treat your classmates and instructor with respect in all communication, class activities, and meetings. You are encouraged to comment, question, or critique an idea but you are not to attack an individual. Please consider that sarcasm, humor and slang can be misconstrued in online interactions and generate unintended disruptions. Profanity should be avoided as should the use of all capital letters when composing responses in discussion threads, which can be construed as “shouting” online. Remember to be careful with your own and others’ privacy. In general, have your behavior mirror how you would like to be treated by others.
Caregiver Responsibilities Policy
The instructor team has great respect for students who are balancing their pursuit of education with the responsibilities of caring for children and/or other family members. If you run into circumstances that require you to miss a class, if your caregiving responsibilities are interfering with your ability to engage in class, or class is interfering with your caregiving responsibilities, please reach out to us directly. There may be some instances of flexibility we can offer to support your learning.
School-Life Conflict
Many students face obstacles to their education as a result of work, family obligations, or unforeseen personal difficulties. If you are experiencing challenges throughout the term that are impacting your ability to succeed in this course, or in your undergraduate career more broadly, please reach out to your instructor team (email or drop-in hours) so that we can work together to form a plan for your academic success.
Academic Integrity
According to the University Student Code of Conduct, students must not commit, attempt to commit, aid, encourage, facilitate, or solicit the commission of academic dishonesty and impropriety including plagiarism, academic cheating, and selling lecture notes or other information provided by an instructor without the instructor’s authorization. According to the Student Conduct Code:
- Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling or distribution of term papers or other academic materials.
- Cheating includes, but is not limited to: (1) use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; (2) use of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; (3) the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the university faculty or staff; (4) engaging in any behavior specifically prohibited by a faculty member in the course syllabus, assignment, or class discussion; (5) or otherwise engaging in behavior that gives the Student an unfair academic advantage including, but not limited to, fabrication of data or sources, resubmitting work already submitted for another academic requirement without prior authorization, or other similar behavior.
Academic violations may result in failing the assignment or the entire course, and/or other sanctions listed in the University's Code of Conduct.
In this course, the following applies:
- First instance of academic dishonesty: 0% on assignment for all parties involved.
- Second instance of academic dishonesty: 0% on assignment for all parties involved; all parties will be reported to the University’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
- Third instance of academic dishonesty: F in course; all parties will be reported to the University’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
Use of Generative AI
AI can be an incredibly useful tool. One major new form of AI is ChatGPT. Another that we recommend is Perplexity. For the purpose of this policy, we use ChatGPT to mean any generative AI. I encourage you all to try out ChatGPT because it can do some things quite well and it is in the spirit of this course. The abridged version of how it works is that ChatGPT is trained on a bunch of text and then can generate answers to many prompts. Because of this, ChatGPT writes well-structured essays, but often the content of the essay is wrong or cites sources that do not exist.
Here is the particularly important part: If you use generative AI in any assignments, you are responsible for the final output and you must include this statement in your work "Some of this content was generated with AI tools. The output was reviewed and edited, and full responsibility is taken for the final content."
If you have any questions about the use of AI, please make a new discussion on the discussion section of Canvas as others probably have the same question. Note: this policy is for all forms of generative AI.
Disability Disclosure Statement
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a documented disability or medical condition should contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) in 100 Ritter Annex. Phone 215-204-1280 or 215-204-1786 (TTY). For a guide to DRS services, see http://www.temple.edu/studentaffairs/disability/
Arrange for DRS accommodation at the earliest possible date, since they are not retroactive. Instructors are notified of accommodation letters via email and respond to them via the DRS web site. Instructors then collaborate with you and DRS as necessary to coordinate reasonable accommodations.
Registration with DRS lets the instructor provide approved accommodation (such as extra time for exams and quizzes) that might otherwise be perceived as giving you an unfair advantage.
Note, however, that accommodation means adapting course requirements – not lowering them.
Discussions related to a disability are treated as confidential, with the following exception: faculty are “mandated reporters” with respect to certain incidents (e.g., sexual assaults), which they legally must report to Campus Safety Services or Title IX administrators.