UVic has Class
Oh how dare me put such an unintentional typo in the title there, I meant to say "UVic has classes," how terrible of me to accidentally make such a mistake.
So yeah, here is the long-awaited class post. I have several excuses as to why it took me so long but you don't care enough for me to post them here, so let's get on with the show!
This is my schedule:
This schedule tells you what the classes are, and when I have them. The nonsense at the bottom of each entry is the building and room number, which I have a handy map to show you what the buildings actually are:
As always, clicking an image will enlarge it, but it is best to right click and open it in a new tab so you can keep reading and use these as references! (original map -->here)
One thing you may notice is that none of my classes are anywhere nearby each other, or anywhere nearby where I live. It takes me about 10 minutes to get from my room to my class, and then anywhere from 5-8 minutes to get to each consecutive class after that. Turns out that in Victoria walking is kind of a big deal. Don't expect to drive up here and actually manage to get anywhere in any kind of decent speed, because you will be stuck at every cross walk you find for very long periods of time.
Class Descriptions GO:
Csc 111: Programming with Engineering Applications
This is probably my favorite class. It is basically just a class on learning how to program in C, and how to do neat mathy things with it. We haven't gotten to the really rough stuff yet, but the programming in general I find is really fun.
Engr 020: Intro to Professional Practice
This class is really just a pre-requisite so that we can go on to do work in the Co-Op program, which will allow us to get out of college with bunches of work experience, and something to write on a resume. Cool class and all, really is just going to be helpful for how to do real worldy stuff, which I suppose is a wee bit important or something.
Engr 110: Engineering Design and Communications
This is basically the engineer's excuse for an english class. It has a couple different portions that we have to go through. The early monday morning portion is a lecture period, where they basically prepare us for the lab period that happens on wednesday morning. As an example of what happens: last monday they taught us about electrical and magnetic fields so that in the lab we would be able to make a generator out of wire, magnets, and some cardboard.
The portion of class that happens midday monday and thursday is the only bit of this class that is actually an english class. We sit and we learn about writing, specifically how writing can be used in engineering to express ideas and discoveries. I actually really enjoy this portion of the class (even though english has never been my favorite in the past).
The wednesday morning portion of this class is THE LAB PERIOD. I have had three of these so far, and they are actually really cool. We get placed into random teams and we have to partake in these EXTREME ENGINEERING CHALLENGES. To be entirely serious the challenges are actually really innovative. The first challenge was that there was a string hanging from the ceiling, and we had to make something that would slide all the way down the string in as close to 1 minute as we can manage. Surprisingly this was really tough to do. Our team had about 21 seconds for our decent time, which was alright. That was still a decently high B thanks to the grading curve. Next week the challenge was to make a tower out of dry spaghetti that would hold a marshmallow as high in the air as possible. My random team did alright on this one, I don't remember exactly how high it was. This week's challenge as I stated before was to make a generator out of wire, magnets, and cardboard. Our generator made about 17 milijoules worth of energy, which was pretty high compared to a lot of the others.
Math 100: Calculus
Calculus is calculus. There really isn't too much of a change in this course here as opposed to high school. The main change is that the class has to move a lot faster, so the teacher doesn't have time to do fun and helpful examples with us. I think that the prof does a fantastic job of getting the info out while moving at the speed he does, I just feel bad for the kids who haven't taken Calc before and might be struggling. Oh, sad story: The math department requires that all of us use the same type of calculator... so TI-84 is just too fancy for this stuff. Sad for me, because I am really skilled at using the TI-84, and it's programming language was the first programming language I ever learned... Oh well, I'm sure that EL-510R will serve me well.
Math 110: Matrix Algebra
So matrix algebra is really just working with things that I have done many times in the past, it's mostly just vectors and stuff. The thing that gets me, is that the notation is WILDLY different than anything I have ever worked with before. Apparently the notation is one that many students from Canada have worked with in their vectors class (I think that we should have a Vectors class in high school, people get way too confused when numbers start moving in directions). What this means for me is that while we are in class it takes me 15 minutes to realize that the things she is writing on the board is just proving the Pythagorean Theorem, a Theorem I practically use on a daily basis. It will take me a bit of time to properly adjust to this class. Also, whoever thought it was a good idea to use both v and u as variables in matrix algebra obviously didn't realize that when writing quickly the differences between a v and a u become very hazy.
Oh, another thing. During the tutorial period the tutorial teacher decided to use the symbol pi as a variable... I understand that it's just a symbol but it is a symbol that to EVERY MATHEMATICIAN EVER means 3.14159265358979 etc., and should never be used as a variable unless your full intention is to completely confuse your class.
Also, something that bothers me: if you are going to sit in the back of the class DON'T COMPLAIN WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE/HEAR ANYTHING. I sit farther back because the back is elevated so I can see over people, and since I know I can see the board with no problem and hear her just fine, I have no issues. If I would have found that it was too hard for me to learn back there I WOULD HAVE MOVED FORWARD. There are open seats close to the front, JUST GO SIT IN THEM.
Phys 122 Mechanics for Engineers:
So there are two Phys 122 classes, and they happen simultaneously, and across the hall from each other. What this means is that people just go to whichever class they darn well please, and just make sure to turn in the homework to the class they are actually signed up for. For some reason everyone chose to go to the really boring guys class. I think they were all frightened off by my profs terrible handwriting (his r's look like v's and his v's look like square roots, and most words are just scribbles that look like they are pretending to be words). Conveniently I seem to be able to decipher most of his writing, so I stayed with his class because not only does he seem to really enjoy teaching, but he does a lot of experiments in front of us to show us how concepts work (I really enjoyed his vacuum in a tube where he showed us that a feather and a nickle would drop at the same speed, that was fun). Even if I already know these concepts and how to apply math to them, I really enjoy actually seeing these things demonstrated instead of just rattled off.
In general I have to say that my classes are pretty cool. I have stayed on top of my homework like a good little boy. College classes seem like a lot more serious business than high school classes (maybe because they are) and people don't seem to dawdle about with their friends as much as they did back in grade 12. That said, there are still people that do it, but the profs shoot them a glare that is less of the "I suggest you stop talking" glare of a high school teacher and more of the "I will take you outside and beat you" glare similar to that of a librarian who is dealing with overly rambunctious teenagers.
So yeah, here is the long-awaited class post. I have several excuses as to why it took me so long but you don't care enough for me to post them here, so let's get on with the show!
This is my schedule:
This schedule tells you what the classes are, and when I have them. The nonsense at the bottom of each entry is the building and room number, which I have a handy map to show you what the buildings actually are:
As always, clicking an image will enlarge it, but it is best to right click and open it in a new tab so you can keep reading and use these as references! (original map -->here)One thing you may notice is that none of my classes are anywhere nearby each other, or anywhere nearby where I live. It takes me about 10 minutes to get from my room to my class, and then anywhere from 5-8 minutes to get to each consecutive class after that. Turns out that in Victoria walking is kind of a big deal. Don't expect to drive up here and actually manage to get anywhere in any kind of decent speed, because you will be stuck at every cross walk you find for very long periods of time.
Class Descriptions GO:
Csc 111: Programming with Engineering Applications
This is probably my favorite class. It is basically just a class on learning how to program in C, and how to do neat mathy things with it. We haven't gotten to the really rough stuff yet, but the programming in general I find is really fun.
Engr 020: Intro to Professional Practice
This class is really just a pre-requisite so that we can go on to do work in the Co-Op program, which will allow us to get out of college with bunches of work experience, and something to write on a resume. Cool class and all, really is just going to be helpful for how to do real worldy stuff, which I suppose is a wee bit important or something.
Engr 110: Engineering Design and Communications
This is basically the engineer's excuse for an english class. It has a couple different portions that we have to go through. The early monday morning portion is a lecture period, where they basically prepare us for the lab period that happens on wednesday morning. As an example of what happens: last monday they taught us about electrical and magnetic fields so that in the lab we would be able to make a generator out of wire, magnets, and some cardboard.
The portion of class that happens midday monday and thursday is the only bit of this class that is actually an english class. We sit and we learn about writing, specifically how writing can be used in engineering to express ideas and discoveries. I actually really enjoy this portion of the class (even though english has never been my favorite in the past).
The wednesday morning portion of this class is THE LAB PERIOD. I have had three of these so far, and they are actually really cool. We get placed into random teams and we have to partake in these EXTREME ENGINEERING CHALLENGES. To be entirely serious the challenges are actually really innovative. The first challenge was that there was a string hanging from the ceiling, and we had to make something that would slide all the way down the string in as close to 1 minute as we can manage. Surprisingly this was really tough to do. Our team had about 21 seconds for our decent time, which was alright. That was still a decently high B thanks to the grading curve. Next week the challenge was to make a tower out of dry spaghetti that would hold a marshmallow as high in the air as possible. My random team did alright on this one, I don't remember exactly how high it was. This week's challenge as I stated before was to make a generator out of wire, magnets, and cardboard. Our generator made about 17 milijoules worth of energy, which was pretty high compared to a lot of the others.
Math 100: Calculus
Calculus is calculus. There really isn't too much of a change in this course here as opposed to high school. The main change is that the class has to move a lot faster, so the teacher doesn't have time to do fun and helpful examples with us. I think that the prof does a fantastic job of getting the info out while moving at the speed he does, I just feel bad for the kids who haven't taken Calc before and might be struggling. Oh, sad story: The math department requires that all of us use the same type of calculator... so TI-84 is just too fancy for this stuff. Sad for me, because I am really skilled at using the TI-84, and it's programming language was the first programming language I ever learned... Oh well, I'm sure that EL-510R will serve me well.
Math 110: Matrix Algebra
So matrix algebra is really just working with things that I have done many times in the past, it's mostly just vectors and stuff. The thing that gets me, is that the notation is WILDLY different than anything I have ever worked with before. Apparently the notation is one that many students from Canada have worked with in their vectors class (I think that we should have a Vectors class in high school, people get way too confused when numbers start moving in directions). What this means for me is that while we are in class it takes me 15 minutes to realize that the things she is writing on the board is just proving the Pythagorean Theorem, a Theorem I practically use on a daily basis. It will take me a bit of time to properly adjust to this class. Also, whoever thought it was a good idea to use both v and u as variables in matrix algebra obviously didn't realize that when writing quickly the differences between a v and a u become very hazy.
Oh, another thing. During the tutorial period the tutorial teacher decided to use the symbol pi as a variable... I understand that it's just a symbol but it is a symbol that to EVERY MATHEMATICIAN EVER means 3.14159265358979 etc., and should never be used as a variable unless your full intention is to completely confuse your class.
Also, something that bothers me: if you are going to sit in the back of the class DON'T COMPLAIN WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE/HEAR ANYTHING. I sit farther back because the back is elevated so I can see over people, and since I know I can see the board with no problem and hear her just fine, I have no issues. If I would have found that it was too hard for me to learn back there I WOULD HAVE MOVED FORWARD. There are open seats close to the front, JUST GO SIT IN THEM.
Phys 122 Mechanics for Engineers:
So there are two Phys 122 classes, and they happen simultaneously, and across the hall from each other. What this means is that people just go to whichever class they darn well please, and just make sure to turn in the homework to the class they are actually signed up for. For some reason everyone chose to go to the really boring guys class. I think they were all frightened off by my profs terrible handwriting (his r's look like v's and his v's look like square roots, and most words are just scribbles that look like they are pretending to be words). Conveniently I seem to be able to decipher most of his writing, so I stayed with his class because not only does he seem to really enjoy teaching, but he does a lot of experiments in front of us to show us how concepts work (I really enjoyed his vacuum in a tube where he showed us that a feather and a nickle would drop at the same speed, that was fun). Even if I already know these concepts and how to apply math to them, I really enjoy actually seeing these things demonstrated instead of just rattled off.
In general I have to say that my classes are pretty cool. I have stayed on top of my homework like a good little boy. College classes seem like a lot more serious business than high school classes (maybe because they are) and people don't seem to dawdle about with their friends as much as they did back in grade 12. That said, there are still people that do it, but the profs shoot them a glare that is less of the "I suggest you stop talking" glare of a high school teacher and more of the "I will take you outside and beat you" glare similar to that of a librarian who is dealing with overly rambunctious teenagers.
So cool! I can't tell you how much I envy you being in college in Victoria.
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