ITT Uncle Sherm goes back to school

[Uncle Sherm]

2nd Bachelors degree, this time in EE. I think these electified gadgets are more than a passing fancy, and I intend to jump on that train and see how far it takes me.

For spring, I've got 15 credits lined up, plus ENGR 101 and EE 166, for no credits.
Math 165
Chem 167 + Lab
Engl 150
EE 185

[MarcusAurelius]

good luck to you. try not to get bored to tears in the early stuff before you can get to the cool stuff.

[Turbo]

ask around for books. you'd be surprised how many books you can borrow from other people

[Uncle Sherm]

Thanks for the tips. I am looking into electromagnetism for a specialty, and possibly the NucE minor. I'm going to figure out how the fuck magnets work!

[GPCR]

On most things, I consider you a complete fucking moron, but I think it's pretty awesome that you're going back to school and switching fields entirely. You seem pretty excited about it and older students tend to have their shit together - so I'm sure it will go well for you.

[Uncle Sherm]

[Alice Ayers]

Thanks for the tips. I am looking into electromagnetism for a specialty, and possibly the NucE minor. I'm going to figure out how the fuck magnets work!

Yuck, that class is hard.

[MarcusAurelius]

^^ by which she means it's awesome. also, it's not that hard, just worth learning.

[Little Bobby Tables]

Good luck!

[DTower5]

Good luck!

[Uncle Sherm]

2nd Bachelors degree, this time in EE. I think these electified gadgets are more than a passing fancy, and I intend to jump on that train and see how far it takes me.

For spring, I've got 15 credits lined up, plus ENGR 101 and EE 166, for no credits.
Math 165
Chem 167 + Lab
Engl 150
EE 185

Scratch that. ENGR 101 and EE 166 were rolled into EE 261, and my previous english courses with my history degree rules out the need for 150, and I don't need the 167 lab. After a degree audit, I've found I'm also just 3 courses shy of a minor in Poli Sci.

11 credits, plus the intro for transfer students leaves me with plenty of options. Double minor in Poli Sci and Nuc E?

[Uncle Sherm]

Good luck!

Methinks I'll need some with all the technical courses. All my gen ed requirements are filled.

[DTower5]

Good luck!

Methinks I'll need some with all the technical courses. All my gen ed requirements are filled.

We can get you some help with scientific advancement post 1830 if you need the assist.

[THW]

why the fuck are you guys helping this asshole out? An idiot is an idiot, people.

[MarcusAurelius]

why the fuck are you guys helping this asshole out? An idiot is an idiot, people.

great guy that thw

[Santa]

why the fuck are you guys helping this asshole out? An idiot is an idiot, people.

Maybe his brain will be taught to not throw anything it can't understand with its current rule set to dev/null.

[Talenos]

That THW has really matured with age.

[THW]

no, maturity is the strangetalk pissing matches.

I'm being sincere. I can't stand that fucking guy.

[Uncle Sherm]

Are you still upset about the Mustang comments? Really, they aren't bad cars, and I'm sure yours will be great when it is done. A friend of mine got a 1970 Mach 1 and it was fun to drive with a rebuilt 351.

As for classes, I need to move to Ames with a cat. This is posing a problem for living arrangements. I think a sublease at the Grove will be what I end up doing, but need to get rid of some of my crap furniture before that.

[Uncle Sherm]

I checked out Primer for Calculus by Leonard Holder from the library to get a refresher in math. It is old, but easy to read and follow. I tried Calculus Demystified before, but none of the "you try it" sections had the answer provided so I didn't know if I was doing it right or not. This book has the answers in the back so I can check my work. It starts with basic algebra concepts, and does a (hopefully) good job emphasizing what's important and how it is relevent to doing calculus.

[MarcusAurelius]

cool. most of the schaum's outlines are actually pretty great for undergrad engineering material. tons of worked examples, easy to follow, super cheap, covers the relevant material.

if i could throw out some advice, i haven't seen the EE ones of course, but i recommend grabbing one of the outlines for each of your classes and using the actual text only when necessary. my thermo class, the guy actually assigned no textbook, and just told us to do problems from schaum's thermo to supplement the lectures.

[Uncle Sherm]

My Engineering Department Bucket list:

Be an ethnic minority in class
Be the best dressed person in class
Bone the chick that sat in front of me in Chemistry today.

Lots of Asians and pajamas in class today. Stay classy, ECpE.

[MarcusAurelius]

how was the smell?

[Uncle Sherm]

EE 185 wasn't so bad, but it was in the Coover Hall addition, so it hasn't had time to absorb the odor of foreign people. Gilman North end lecture halls are always different depending on what lab is next door, and the basement of Carver is still the basement of Carver.

[Uncle Sherm]

I need to find a place to keep my new student clicker with me. When did Iowa State start using "phone a friend" in lectures?

[Prison Mike]

How long until the first "Do My Homework" thread?

[Uncle Sherm]

Doing Limits is like riding a bicycle.

I was never very good and as a grown man, don't think I should have to do it now.

[Uncle Sherm]

I don't know why people think Engineering is so hard, I have 2 EE classes right now, and homework for one of them is go to the career fair and pick up two information brochures from companies there and take a faculty person to lunch. The other class assignment is to write a paragraph about electrocuting tadpoles to make them grow new body parts. My history degree took more effort than this.

[Talenos]

Sounds like one of those engineering orientation classes 166 or 185 or something, which as you guessed is not a real engineering class.

[MarcusAurelius]

I don't know why people think Engineering is so hard, I have 2 EE classes right now, and homework for one of them is go to the career fair and pick up two information brochures from companies there and take a faculty person to lunch. The other class assignment is to write a paragraph about electrocuting tadpoles to make them grow new body parts. My history degree took more effort than this.

your assignment is to buy lunch for a professor? good plan.

[Uncle Sherm]

I don't know why people think Engineering is so hard, I have 2 EE classes right now, and homework for one of them is go to the career fair and pick up two information brochures from companies there and take a faculty person to lunch. The other class assignment is to write a paragraph about electrocuting tadpoles to make them grow new body parts. My history degree took more effort than this.

your assignment is to buy lunch for a professor? good plan.

It's a group project. I also need to spend 15 minutes talking to an engineering faculty member during office hours. I only have one real engineering professor, and he's my 185 teacher. Nothing in that class is worth talking about for 15 minutes.

[Talenos]

Talk to Mani Mina. Is he still there?

[Uncle Sherm]

He's my 185 prof.

[Talenos]

Oh, well he's one of the best then. All downhill from now on.

[MarcusAurelius]

nah there's plenty of good ones.

[Talenos]

Who was your favorite ISU EE professor?

[Alice Ayers]

Dr Rover and Dr. Zhang.
Oh....I shouldn't be posting here.

[Uncle Sherm]

I did enjoy Mani Mina's discussion on Asian schools promoting memorization instead of understanding.

I figured he'd be my favorite when I saw his web video on Tesla.

[MarcusAurelius]

Who was your favorite ISU EE professor?

sherm just said "engineering faculty." never had an EE class.

[Talenos]

k daoist.

[MarcusAurelius]

you ass

[GPCR]

I did enjoy Mani Mina's discussion on Asian schools promoting memorization instead of understanding.

I figured he'd be my favorite when I saw his web video on Tesla.

mani is an orc. just a heads up. and he's pretty good at judo, despite his age, asthma, and a bad back.

[Uncle Sherm]

I did enjoy Mani Mina's discussion on Asian schools promoting memorization instead of understanding.

I figured he'd be my favorite when I saw his web video on Tesla.

mani is an orc. just a heads up. and he's pretty good at judo, despite his age, asthma, and a bad back.

Do all orcs know martial arts or just the ones sent to America?

[Uncle Sherm]

Well I just got a perfect score on my second Calc quiz. These are open book graphing calculator online at home quizzes, but still. A win's a win, right? These are some pretty good math teachers.

[Pokaris]

Who was your favorite ISU EE professor?

Ken Kruempel! Super node up in this bitch!

[Talenos]

SUPER Node!

[Uncle Sherm]

Well I just got a perfect score on my second third Calc quiz. These are open book graphing calculator online at home quizzes, but still. A win's a win, right? These are some pretty good math teachers.

[Prison Mike]

can sherm find the indefinite integral of 2x yet?

[Reagraham Lincool]

can sherm find the indefinite integral of 2x yet?

Impossible to find. Integrals aren't in the Constitution.

[Uncle Sherm]

can sherm find the indefinite integral of 2x yet?

I haven't had to to that stuff yet, but I understand the concept behind it. That's why this teacher is good. I don't just get the "here's how you work numbers to get the answer I want you to get on the test" lesson. He gives real world examples and explains the concepts so I can picture what the problem is I'm working on. Math really isn't just about numbers.

[MarcusAurelius]

PROTIP
to evaluate an integral, carefully graph out the function on a piece of plywood or cardboard, then cut it out and weigh it.

[Uncle Sherm]

I'll try and remember to bring my sawsall to the final.

[Uncle Sherm]

Started derivatives in Calc today. I understand the motivation of the teacher, but assigning a quiz before the topic of that quiz is discussed in lecture amounts to little more than a test on reading comprehension. At least give students the opportunity to ask questions in class before bringing it up.

[Uncle Sherm]

First calc exam is tomorrow.

[Alice Ayers]

Do you get to use your ti94?

[Uncle Sherm]

92+, and yes. Chemistry doesn't let you use graphing calculators, but the math prof doesn't mind. Although I still have to show my work to get full credit for each problem.

[Uncle Sherm]

After this exam, I'm going to really make up for my lack of chemistry studying. That exam is next week, and I'm not anywhere near ready for that yet.

[MarcusAurelius]

you can do it sherm. i believe in you. and that should be enough.

[Uncle Sherm]

That will be the answer to any problems I can't work out.

[MarcusAurelius]

as someone that's graded exams, i can only tell you that if you make a cute doodle on the page instead of trying to bullshit, it can only help you.

[Uncle Sherm]

I'm looking forward to seeing how I did. My weak link is algebra. I understand the concepts, but can't seem to quickly rewrite equations to find limits with the substitution theorem. Brute Forcing equations to make them work through trial and error takes too much time. 45 minutes to do 4 sections, where each section has 3 problems rushes me too much. I am sure I screwed up my algebra a few times, but hopefully my work shows I have a grasp of concept and my problem lies in execution.

And fuck the guy that designed the Carver lecture hall seats. Those flip up desks are not big enough to accommodate a standard 8.5 x 11 page. We should have exams during recitation so I have room to work.

[MarcusAurelius]

practice moar

did you get a schaum's outline for your courses?

[Uncle Sherm]

practice moar

did you get a schaum's outline for your courses?

I will now. I wanted to wait and see how useful the books were before I spent any more. Definitely need one for the Chem class. This is general chemistry for engineers, but the professor thinks we should be able to work out how much of something is produced in a reaction, even if he doesn't provide the entire equation for us to balance (for example, the last quiz question was "burning 3 moles of butane creates 1.5 moles of CO2, so what is the % yield of CO2?"). Basically If you aren't able to do this in 10 minutes or less, you don't pass the class. To do that problem, you have to know that Butane burns with Oxygen, and in addition to CO2, it produces H2O. Then you can balance the equation, and then do the stoichiometry, and then figure the % yield. That was the first of two questions on a pop quiz 3 weeks into class. We had 20 minutes to answer both questions.

[nithos]

An unlimited supply of oxygen is a pretty common assumption when you are burning something.

[Uncle Sherm]

I realize that, but you are talking to a person taking a chem class whose only prerequisite was a class I took 10 years ago. Needless to say, I'm a little rusty when it comes to remembering my functional groups and ionic compounds. Putting the entire equation in the question, even if unbalanced, would have helped.