The best aspects of this course included the exposure and introduction to MATLAB, the guest lecturers, the design project that al owed students the opportunity to hone their group col aboration skil s, and the chance for students to participate in the mock trial. One student felt that because the material was made available online and because students were permitted to use notes during exams, he/she felt less of an incentive to attend class and/or learn the material. A few students felt the lectures were, at times, difficult to attend to because they were pedantic and dry in nature. Suggestions included clarifying the syl abus for future students and providing more classroom structure overal throughout the duration of the semester. Prospective students are encouraged to attend al of the lectures and study sessions so that they will walk away with a better understanding of MATLAB once the course is over.

This course was an introduction of what to expect in the engineering world for students. It also included a guest speaker who related to the students’ interests. In addition, students were able to work with Matlab and the workload was very light. But the course progressed very quickly and the handwriting on the board was illegible, making it difficult for students to understand what was going on and jot their notes down. Also, Matlab was not covered nearly enough and towards the end of the second semester, students felt that their skil s were rusty. Suggestions for improvement include: a better schedule of when guest speakers present, slow down the course pace, and more explanation and focus on Matlab. Prospective students should know that this course is required, so they just have to stick it out.

The best aspects of the course included the exposure to a broad range of topics, the guest lecturers, and the introduction to MATLAB. Students appreciated the professor’s flexibility, humor, and energy in the classroom. However, several students agreed that his teaching seemed disorganized and that topics were presented in a very scattered way. Suggestions for improvement included expanding the MATLAB component of the course, scaling back the amount of legal topics covered (as well as the mock trial), and having the professor interact more with the students. Students should expect to gain a general introduction to different areas of mechanical engineering, though with less depth and rigor than they might want or expect.