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Chapter 00: How to use this textbook

  • Page ID
    89750
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    This isn’t your traditional, static, boring engineering textbook. Unless you have had experience with interactive e-books in the past, the process of “reading” this book is going to feel very unfamiliar. In addition to reading, you will be: journaling your thoughts, discussing concepts with your peers, practicing problems, watching videos, and more.

     

    fig0.1
    Figure 0.1: Begone boring textbooks of old!

     

     

    To make sure we are all on the same page, I have included descriptions of the interactive components of this textbook, how they will be graded, and who will have access to what information. I would also like to introduce you to the analogy that we will be using in this book.

     

    Welcome to the Gym for Your Mind!

    In my opinion, learning is very similar to working out. I think this is such a perfect analogy that it is used throughout this book. Let’s look at the similarities between learning and working out.

    Let’s say that you are physically weak and are unable to lift heavy objects. You dream of one day being able to deadlift 500 lbs (I have no idea if that is a lot but it sounds like a lot so let’s go with it). What do you need to do to get better at deadlifting? You need to workout a lot. You are going to have to put serious time and effort into getting stronger. Furthermore, you will not be able to expect miracles without putting in the time. You can’t just go to a gym, stand around, watch other people workout, and then after 15 weeks expect to be able to deadlift 500 lbs! You need to get your hands dirty, pick up the weights, start small, and build your way up.

     

    fig0.2
    Figure 0.2: You will be doing this, except with your brain!

     

     

    Most people intuitively know this but If I told you that someone wanted to deadlift 500 lbs but that they went to a gym for 15 weeks but didn’t really workout that hard, they kinda did the minimum, skimped on the workouts their personal trainer gave them, and then tried to max 500 lbs on the last day, how do you think that person would perform? Of course, they would fail!

    Similarly, if I told you a story about someone that also wanted to deadlift 500 lbs but they went to the gym for 15 weeks, worked out really hard, did everything the trainer suggested, and more, and they tried to max 500 lbs on their last day, how do you think this person would perform? They would likely succeed.

    In my opinion, learning works the exact same way. You could try and learn all of the material you learn at a University on your own. You likely have access to a public library that contains all of the information you will learn in college except it is free! The reason you pay for a University education is that you get a personalized workout experience. Your professors act as personal trainers that give you tasks to accomplish that will build your mental muscles that are right for your chosen career.

    Engineering is one of the most difficult workout routines, you can think of it as training for an ironman triathlon. You are going to be building mental muscles you never even knew that you had. You need to workout your math, problem-solving, physics, chemistry, programming, and more mental muscles. It isn’t easy but it is rewarding.

    As I mentioned before, this analogy will pop up throughout the book. Sometimes I will give you a task to complete that isn’t graded or checked. Sometimes I will prompt you “not to skip your brain workout”. In the end, it is up to you though. I encourage you to take this analogy to heart and think about your goals. If you want to get good grades (deadlift 500 lbs at the end of the semester) and succeed as an engineer you are going to have to roll up your sleeves and practice and fail and practice and fail and practice and…succeed! (In this context I mean fail as in “not get it right away” and that is ok!)

    Take a minute to think about the workout analogy in the context of your learning and answer the discussion post below.

     

    Discussion 0.1: What is your goal?

     

    A Note on Your Brain

    Remember that just like our bodies, everyone has a different brain at different levels of strength. Some of you will already have pretty good development on some of the brain muscles we will be working on. Others will be much weaker. That is OK! Learning is as individual as it gets in this world and the only person’s learning you need to worry about is your own. Do not get discouraged if you think that someone else gets it before you. Do whatever it takes for you to succeed, even if that means that you need to work harder than some of your classmates. I believe in you!

     

    Learning Goals

    Each chapter will begin with a picture (for fun), a short introductory paragraph, and then some learning goals. They will always look like this:
    This chapter will concentrate on learning idea X. That includes learning the following:

    • Something cool
    • Some other fun things

    You can use these learning goals as a “study guide” and will let you know when you have achieved mastery of a subject. If you look through a chapter’s learning goals and can be absolutely certain that you have mastered every one of the bullet points, then you have mastered the material in that chapter. It is a good idea to refer to these learning goals frequently throughout the semester, even for chapters that have already been completed to ensure that you are up to speed with the course.

     

    How to Learn Software

    In this book, you will be learning how to use two software packages, Excel and MATLAB. As such it is necessary to give you a little information on how I expect you to approach learning this material.

     

    fig0.3
    Figure 0.3: Roll up those sleeves and get your hands dirty!

     

    The key to learning how to use software is to roll up your sleeves and get your hands proverbially dirty. What I am trying to say is that just reading about Excel (or any software package really) is insufficient compared to learning Excel. What you really need to do is open up Microsoft Excel, and follow along with the material as you are learning it. For example, if you are reading about how to enter data into cells in Excel, you need to take a minute to practice that (again you should be able to see the connection to the workout analogy). In my opinion, the best way to learn the material on Excel and MATLAB is to have the book opened up in your web browser of choice, and also have the software package of interest opened up beside it. That way you can read and practice simultaneously.

    Make sure that when you are reading, you are also practicing simultaneously! The book is designed to take this into consideration and will often present you with links for further reading, or suggestions for problems to practice on your own. Do not skip these!


    Chapter 00: How to use this textbook is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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