Chem.

Engineering Education, 37(1), 3031 (2003)

HOW TO SURVIVE ENGINEERING SCHOOL

Richard M. Felder
North Carolina State University
Dear Engineering Student,
Dont take the title of this column literally. Despite the incomprehensible lectures, endless
homework, and impossible tests, studying engineering has rarely been fatal. Nevertheless, things
may not always go quite the way you would likeclasses with absurd amounts of work and test
averages in the 50s are facts of life in engineering. I had lots of classes like that when I was
where you are now, and I complained about them just as loudly. Unfortunately, while
complaining may make you feel better, it wont do a thing for your grades.
Id like to propose several better ways to help yourself. First, though, let me suggest that the real
problem may not be that professor whos making your life miserable. It is that over the years you
may have unconsciously bought into a message that goes like this: "My teachers know everything
I need to know to be an engineer. Their job is to tell it to me in lectures, and my job is to soak it
up and then repeat it on exams. If I can do that, Ive learned it."
Wrong! That approach may have worked in high school but it begins to fail in college, and once
you get into the plant or research lab, it stops working completely. Out there, there are no
professors, lectures, or texts with worked-out examples, and the problems dont come neatly
packaged with all the information needed to solve them. In fact, often the hardest part of a real
problem is figuring out exactly what the problem is.
But you also need to remember this. Around the world, hundreds of thousands of engineers
most no smarter than you, many not as smartwho once struggled with their own confusing
instructors and unreadable texts and didnt understand entropy any better than you do, are out
there doing just fine. Every day they figure out what they need to know to solve their problems,
and then they solve them. If they could learn to do that, so can you. What Id like to do here is
give you five simple tips to help you start learning it now. If you find yourself struggling in
classes, give the tips a try. If they work (and Im pretty sure that they will), youll have an easier
time in school and hit the ground running in your first job.
Tip 1. Figure out what might make course material clearer and try to get it in class.
Do you ever find yourself expressing one of these common complaints? "I need practical, realworld applications before I can understand something, but all we get in class is theory." "I want
to understand how things work, but all we get are facts to memorize and formulas to substitute
into." "I understand what I seepictures, diagrams, demonstrationsbetter than what I hear
and read, but all we get are words and formulas."

If you do, pay attention to yourselfidentifying what youre missing in a course is the first step
toward getting it. The obvious next step is to ask your professor, in or out of class, for whatever
it may be. Most professors genuinely want their students to learnthats why they became
professorsand often complain that their students rarely ask questions except "Are we
responsible for this on the test?" So if you dont understand something, try asking for something
that might clarify it. "Could you give an example of how you would use that formula?" "Could
you sketch what that (device, solution, plot) might look like?" "Where did that equation you just
wrote come from?" Even if youre afraid a question may sound stupid, ask it anyway. I guarantee
that others in the class are equally confused and will be grateful to you for having the courage to
speak up. And if you need more help, go to the professors office and ask for it.
Caution, however. Even instructors who really want to help will get annoyed if they think youre
trying to get them to do your homework for you. Never ask your instructor for help on a problem
until you have made a serious effort to solve it by yourself. When you ask, be prepared to show
what you tried and how far you got. Bring in your flow charts and free body diagrams and
calculations, including the ones that didnt work. The more you bring in, the more likely you are
to get the help you need.
Tip 2. Read.
Some textbooks try to clarify difficult material by giving practical illustrations and explanations.
Check out those parts of your text if youre having trouble rather than just searching for solved
examples that look like the homework problems. Another good strategy is to look at a second
reference on the same subjecta different text, a handbook, or a Web site. Even if you cant find
the crystal-clear explanations and examples youd like, just reading about the same topic in two
different places can make a big difference in understanding.
Tip 3. Work with other students.
When you work alone and get stuck on something, you may be tempted to give up, where in a
group someone can usually find a way past the difficulty. Working with others may also show
you better ways to solve problems than the way you have been using.
Here are two ideas for making groupwork effective.

Outline problem solutions by yourself first and then work out the details in your group.
Someone in every group is generally fastest at figuring out how to start problem solutions
and does it for every problem when everyone works together. If that student isnt you,
you may have to figure it out for the first time on the test, which is not a particularly good
time to do it. Outlining the solutions before meeting with the group is the way to avoid
this disaster.

Get group membersespecially the weaker onesto explain all completed problem
solutions before ending a problem-solving session. If everyone can do that, the session
worked.

Tip 4. Consult experts.

Sometimes youll run into a problem that completely stumps you and everyone youre working
with. When practicing engineers run into such problems, as they all do occasionally, they consult
experts. You also have experts available to you. Your course instructor is an obvious candidate,
but that doesnt always work out. Other potential consultants include graduate teaching
assistants, other professors who teach the same course, students who have previously taken the
course, smart classmates, and tutors. No matter whom you go to, though, go early: waiting until
two days before the final exam probably wont cut it.
Tip 5. Believe that you have what it takes to be a good engineer.
If this advice is hard for you to take now, youre probably suffering from what psychologists
refer to as the Impostor Phenomenon, which is like a tape that plays inside peoples heads. If
youre an engineering student looking around at your classmates, the tape goes something like
this: "These people are goodthey understand all this stuff. They really belong herebut I
dont. Over the years Ive somehow managed to fool them allmy family, my friends, my
teachers. They all think Im smart enough to be here, but I know betterand the very next hard
test or hard question I get in class will finally reveal me as the impostor I am." And what would
happen next is too horrible to contemplate, so at that point you just rewind and replay the tape.
What you dont know is that almost everyone else in the class is playing the same tape, and the
student in the front row with the straight A average is playing it louder than anyone else.
Furthermore, the tape is usually wrong. If you survived your first year of engineering school, you
almost certainly have what it takes to be an engineer. Just remember all your predecessors who
had the same self-doubts you have now and did just fine. You do belong here, and youll get
through it just like they did. Try to relax and enjoy the trip.
Sincerely,
Richard Felder

TIPS ON TEST TAKING

Richard M. Felder
North Carolina State University
James E. Stice
University of Texas at Austin
I. PREPARATION

Study in small groups

o
o

o
o

Make sure your study group contains only students who are serious about
studying. At least some of them should be at your level of ability or better.
Go over as many different problems as you can (like old homework problems,
unassigned problems in the course text, and problems on old exams). Set up the
solutions, but don't crunch numbers. Don't leave a problem until you're convinced
you could do it by yourself.
Brainstorm possible things you could be asked and answers you might give.
Leave the beer in the refrigerator until you're done studying.

Make up a one-page summary sheet of the key ideas, equations, procedures, etc., that
you might need to know on the test. If the test is closed-book, know what's on the sheet.
If it's open-book, bring the sheet with you.

Don't stay up all night studying. Try to get a reasonable amount of sleep the night
before the exam. If that's not possible, try to get a nap before the exam, or at least a short
rest.

Set up a backup system for your alarm clock. Set a second alarm, or arrange for a
wake-up call from a friend.

Arrange for backup transportation to campus.

Bring everything you need to the exam:

o
o
o
o
o
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textbook/lecture notes if the exam is open book

paper and several pencils with erasers
calculator with extra batteries
allowed handbooks and tables (such as steam tables)
allowed class handouts
summary sheet (if allowed)

II. TAKING THE TEST

Read over the whole exam before beginning to write anything.

Choose the problem or question that seems easiest to you and do it first. Continue to
do the problems in order of increasing difficulty.

STAY IN MOTION!!! Work on a problem until you get stuck. Think about it for a
minute or two, and if nothing comes to you then drop it and go on to another problem.
Don't spend 30 minutes sweating out an additional five points on a problem and run out
of time, leaving a 40-point problem untouched. You may later have time to return to the
first one and you're much more likely to think of how to do it then.

Show your work. Give enough detail so that both you and the grader can tell what you're
trying to do. Even if you can do the problem in your head, don't. If you're wrong, you get
a zero; if you're right, you could be suspected of cheating.

Watch out for significant figures. Some instructors don't appreciate answers like
23.694028, even if that's what the calculator says.

Think partial credit. Try to put something down for each part of every
problem/question. If you don't have time to solve a problem completely, tell what you'd
do if you had more time.

Keep your work legible. If an instructor can't read what you wrote, you aren't likely to
get full credit and you may not get any.

If you don't understand a question, ask the instructor/proctor for help. You might
get some, and it never hurts to try.

Don't panic. If you feel yourself sweating or hyperventilating, put down your pencil,
close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and consciously relax any muscles that you're
clenching (jaw, neck, stomach). When you're calmer, go back to work.

If you have time at the end, check your solutions. Did you answer each part of every
question? Did you answer the question(s) asked? Do your answers look reasonable? Do
your calculations check out? (Save this one for last.)

Hand in your paper when time is called. Nothing makes an instructor/proctor more
homicidal than having to wrestle you to the floor to get your paper.

Chemical Engineering Education, 33(2), 136-137 (1999)

MEMO
TO: Students who have been disappointed with their test grades
FROM: Richard M. Felder, North Carolina State University
Dear student,
Many of you have told your instructor that you understood the course material much better than
your last test grade showed, and some of you asked what you should do to keep the same thing
from happening on the next test.
Let me ask you some questions about how you prepared for the test. Answer them as honestly as
you can. If you answer "No" to many of them, your disappointing test grade should not be too
surprising. If there are still a lot of "No"s after the next test, your disappointing grade on that test
should be even less surprising. If your answer to most of these questions is "Yes" and you still
got a poor grade, something else must be going on. It might be a good idea for you to meet with
your instructor or a counselor to see if you can figure out what it is.
You'll notice that several of the questions presume that you're working with classmates on the
homework--either comparing solutions you first obtained individually or actually getting
together to work out the solutions. Either approach is fine. In fact, if you've been working
entirely by yourself and your test grades are unsatisfactory, I would strongly encourage you to
find one or two homework and study partners to work with before the next test. (Be careful about
the second approach, however; if what you're doing is mainly watching others work out solutions
you're probably doing yourself more harm than good.)
The question "How should I prepare for the test" becomes easy once you've filled out the
checklist. The answer is...
Do whatever it takes to be able to answer `Yes' to most of the questions.
Good luck,
Richard Felder

Test Preparation Checklist

Answer "Yes" only if you usually did the things described (as opposed to occasionally or never).

Homework
__ __ 1. Did you make a serious effort to understand the text? (Just hunting for relevant
Yes No
worked-out examples doesn't count.)
__ __ 2. Did you work with classmates on homework problems, or at least check your
Yes No
solutions with others?
__ __ 3. Did you attempt to outline every homework problem solution before working
Yes No
with classmates?
__ __ 4. Did you participate actively in homework group discussions (contributing ideas,
Yes No
asking questions)?
__ __ 5. Did you consult with the instructor or teaching assistants when you were having
Yes No
trouble with something?
__ __ 6. Did you understand ALL of your homework problem solutions when they were
Yes No
handed in?
__ __ 7. Did you ask in class for explanations of homework problem solutions that weren't
Yes No
clear to you?

Test preparation
__ __
Yes No

8. If you had a study guide, did you carefully go through it before the test and
convince yourself that you could do everything on it?

__ __
Yes No

9. Did you attempt to outline lots of problem solutions quickly, without spending
time on the algebra and calculations?

__ __ 10. Did you go over the study guide and problems with classmates and quiz one
Yes No
another?
__ __ 11. If there was a review session before the test, did you attend it and ask questions
Yes No
about anything you weren't sure about?

__ __ 12. Did you get a reasonable night's sleep before the test? (If your answer is no,
Yes No
your answers to 1-11 may not matter.)
__ __
Yes No

TOTAL

The more "Yes" responses you recorded, the better your preparation for the test. If you recorded
two or more "No" responses, think seriously about making some changes in how you prepare for
the next test.