Introduction to Engineering Syllabus for 2020-2021
Return to Syllabus List

Instructor Information

Course Information

COVID-19 Protocols

Recording Policy

Disability Statement

If you have a disability (learning, mental, physical) that affects your ability to participate effectively and have access to any program or service at Amarillo College please contact Disability Services at (806) 345-5639 . Our offices are located in the Student Service Center office 112. More information may be found at www.actx.edu/disability.
Disability Services facilitates access to all programs and services according to the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as other federal and state laws.

Amarillo College Web Accessibility Policy Statement

Amarillo College is committed to providing equal access to all programs and services, including all working, learning, and service environments that affect equal access for persons with disabilities. This commitment to provide equal access and opportunity for persons with disabilities is in compliance with federal and state law. Amarillo College also strives to provide Electronic and Information Resources (EIR) that are accessible to all authorized users.

If you find you are unable to access material in an accessible format please contact the Disability Services Office at (806) 345-5639 . This office will work in conjunction with other campus resources to address and accommodate your issue in a timely manner.

Statement for Mental Health and Advocacy & Resource Center:

As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc

Amarillo College Tutoring for Success Policy:

The Tutoring for Success policy applies to any student whose grade or performance in the course falls below a departmentally determined minimum threshold. In either of those cases, the instructor will direct the student to the appropriate tutoring service, which may be faculty-led, discipline-specific, and/or general. Under this policy, the instructor will follow specific departmental guidelines governing the use, duration, and grade component of the tutoring need.

Administrative Drop Policy

Students who do not attend class on or prior to the census date will be administratively dropped. Effective Fall, 2016

Student Withdrawal Procedures

Students who wish to withdraw from a course must complete all steps indicated on the Academic Withdrawal Request form by the course withdrawal deadline.

NOTE: Students who are attending Texas institutions of higher education, for the first time fall 2007 and later, may not withdraw from more than six courses during their academic career. This withdrawal limitation does not include dual credit or developmental classes (Senate Bill 1231 Rule 4.10.) For more information on Drop and Withdrawal Policies, please visit the Registrar's Office Web site.

Privacy Statement

The Amarillo College Privacy Policy is found at https://www.actx.edu/-amarillo-college-privacy-notice , and applies to all Amarillo College students.  If you have questions about this privacy statement or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent, send email to humanresources@actx.edu .

Course

ENGR-1201-001 Introduction to Engineering

Prerequisites

Prerequisite: MATH 1414 with a minimum grade of C.

Course Description

An introduction to the engineering profession with emphasis on technical communication and team-based engineering design.

Student ResourcesStudent Resources Website

Department Expectations

Occupational License Disclaimer

Notice to Students enrolled in an educational program for preparation of issuance of certain occupational licenses:

Students enrolled in an educational program in preparation for obtaining certain occupational licenses are potentially ineligible for such license if the student has been convicted of an offense. For further information, please contact:

Melodie Graves
Justice Involved Advocate
Student Service Center 117
mgraves24@actx.edu
806-371-5995
Make appointment at https://melodiegraves.youcanbook.me

You can also contact the Legal Clinic, or the faculty member in charge of the educational program that you seek to enroll in. The further information you will receive will include notification to you of your right to request a criminal history evaluation letter from the licensing authority in order to clarify your particular situation.

Hours

(2 sem hrs; 1 lec, 3 lab)

Class Type

On Campus Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

The Textbook is Required

This book is available in the Amarillo College Bookstore:

Engineering Fundamentals - An Introduction To Engineering by Saeed Moaveni, Instructor RL Chambers

ISBN 978-1-305-08476-6

Supplies

Required: Calculator: TI-83, TI-84

Required: FLASH DRIVE: A USB compatible flash drive is required for this course.

Required: Engineering Graphing Paper

Student Performance

After completing this course, the student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the following topics with 70% accuracy as evaluated by the engineering faculty:

1. Describe the engineering profession and engineering ethics, including professional practice and licensure.
2. Use technical communication skills to explain the analysis and results of introductory laboratory exercises in engineering and computer science.
3. Explain the engineering analysis and design process.
4. Analyze data collected during laboratory exercises designed to expose students to the different engineeering disciplines.
5. Describe the inpact engineering has had on the modern world.
6. As part of a team, design a simple engineering device, write a design report ande present the design.
7. Demonstrate computer literacy.

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

Students are expected to behave in the classroom in a manner that is supportive of the learning environment. Behaviors that are not supportive include, but are not limited to: tardiness/leaving early; electronic device noises; texting or using electronic devices for non-course related activities during the lecture; talking during the lecture; abusive, offensive, and/or disrespectful language or demeanor toward AC faculty, staff, students, and/or Amarillo College property.

In order to receive credit for a course, all material listed on the syllabus must be covered.  The instructor sets the pace to ensure that these requirements are met.  Complaining about the pace will not result in less material being covered.

Students who fail to comply with the standards outlined in the syllabus and/or AC's Student Rights & Responsibilities document will be subject to disciplinary action which may include, but is not limited to: removal from the classroom; consultation with the Math, Engineering & Physical Sciences Department Chair and/or other AC authority; withdrawal from the course and/or Amarillo College.

For a full discussion of appropriate behavior and student responsibilities, please refer to the Student Rights & Responsibilities Handbook. http://www.actx.edu/admission/files/filecabinet/folder2/Student_R_R_07_Hyper.pdf

Grading Criteria

The final grades of A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69), and F (below 60) will be computed as the average of the earned grades as follows:

Activities: 10%

Homework: 10%

Major Exams (3 @ 15% each)   45%

Design Project: 15%

Final Exam: 20%

Attendance & Activities

You must attend class in order to hear the lectures, participate in class and take the quizzes. Attendance is essential for successful completion of the course. 

As an engineer, you will need to continue lifelong learning throughout your career.  You will attend workshops, tour work sites, interview clients, among other duties.  To support the goal of lifelong learning outside the classroom, the Engineering Department will arrange for guest speakers and tours to broaden your education.  There will be speakers at each ACES meeting of each month (February, March and April).  You must attend 4 activities and fill out a short report form. If you cannot attend the activity, you will submit a 2 page, double spaced, 12 point (font size) paper (including footnotes) on the topic you missed.  The due date for the paper will be 1 week after the missed activity.  You must notify the instructor via email (Subject Line Only) one week before each scheduled activity on your attendance plan (e.g. Email Subject: ENGR 1201 – Janie Smith will attend February Tour)

Exams

Absence from an exam will incur a zero unless there is prior notification to the instructor with approval granted or there was an emergency that could not be circumvented. Students who miss an exam because of College or business-related activities should notify the instructor before the absence occurs. Make-up exams may be given only under rare circumstances at the discretion of the instructor, provided that a written petition is submitted by the student.

Grading of Exams:  In complex problem analyses, there are many opportunities for errors. Thus exams will be graded using “partial credit” as it is recognized that some sections of an individual problem may have been carried out correctly even though the final answer may be incorrect. Partial credit will only be given if the student work is logically developed, with clear and well-marked diagrams, with the appropriate fundamental and auxiliary equations prominently displayed, where the substitutions into the equations are quite clear, and the assumptions used are quite obvious to the grader. It is the student’s responsibility to present his/her work so clearly that the grader can quickly ascertain the location and nature of the error(s) and can easily follow the subsequent work through to the now incorrect solution of the problem.  Thus, the student’s contribution, needed to obtain partial credit, is to be able to clearly lead the grader through the student’s thought process on the exam page alone.

Homework

Expect to have homework each week.  Homework is due in class at the start of class on the due date and may be submitted in advance, but late homework is not accepted, and in-class quizzes cannot be made up.  Handwritten homework shall be presented on engineering (quadrille) paper, in pencil, one side only. If an error is made, erase thoroughly. If I cannot read it, I will not grade it.  Each problem should be started on a new page. Homework presentations shall be as follows:

• In the upper left corner full rectangle box, place the course name, number and section.
• In the far-right small square, place the page number (1/2, 2/2, etc.)
• In the rectangular box immediately to the left of the page number, place your first and last name.
• Explicitly state any assumption that you make.
• Show all significant steps. It should be clear why each step is taken.
• Redraw figures and clearly label as needed with dimensions, labels, and units.
• Underline important intermediate results.
• Box (not circle) final results.
• Review work to be certain all work is neat and easy to read.

Homework sets should be stapled upper left and then folded in half along a line perpendicular to the long dimension. The student’s name, course and section number, date and the problems included shall be placed on the outside sheet with the fold to the left, the holes toward the bottom.

                        Janie Smith

                        ENGR 1201-001

                        1/16/19

                        2-4, 6, 9

Memos, reports and other formal engineering documents done in Word and/or Excel will be either turned in electronic file form or printed and stapled, but not folded with a cover sheet containing the student’s name, course and section number, date and the assignment title.
                        Janie Smith

                        ENGR 1201-001

                        1/16/19

                        Assignment Title

 Grading of Homework:  Homework grades will be awarded based on the following formula:

HW Mark = (presentation factor) x (correctness)

Here the presentation factor is a number between 0 and 1. This means that homework should be both correct (or mostly correct) and well presented to receive a high mark. For handwritten work be advised that if the quality of presentation is very poor, then the submission may not be marked for correctness. Neat and legible block letter printing but not cursive, and adherence to the above guidelines is all that is required.  The instructor reserves the right to grade any number of problems. Collaboration between students is allowed on problem solving, however, each student must submit their individual, ORIGINAL problem set.

Design Project

The design project will be completed in groups assigned at the start of the semester. The design project counts the same as a major exam. Concepts taught in class will be incorporated into the design project throughout the semester. A written report will be prepared by each group showing the concepts of their design.

Attendance

You must attend for the opportunity to participate, take the quizzes and hear the lectures.Please remember the deadline for dropping a class at Amarillo College during the Spring semester is April 17th.  If you stop attending class and do not officially drop the course by this deadline, and your average is below a 60, you will receive an F for the course. 

Calendar

Additional Information

The best way to contact me is during office hours or via email. Hard work, positive attitude and team work are expected. Remember, as an engineer, you are a problem solver!