[email protected] Study_Skills_for_Chabot_College_Students.ppt 1 Bruce Mayer, PE Chabot Math, Science, and Engineering Bruce Mayer, PE Licensed.

[email protected] • Study_Skills_for_Chabot_College_Students.ppt1

Bruce Mayer, PE Chabot Math, Science, and Engineering

Bruce Mayer, PELicensed Electrical & Mechanical Engineer

[email protected]

Chabot Engineering

Study SkillsFor

College Students



From CareerBuilder.com Apr08

CHICAGO, April 2008 - CareerBuilder.com's annual survey.

Survey of 3147 Human Resource Professionals and Hiring Managers

When asked about minimum GPA requirements: • 31% of the hiring managers surveyed

said they require a 3.0 and above • 11% require a 3.5 and above



Robert Irwin on JPL GPA Mr. Irwin Studied Engineering at Chabot & UCBerkeley• He Now Works as

Test Engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at CalTech

His Comments on JPL’s GPA policy: JPL has a 3.0 minimum GPA for interns and full time hires. It is a very strict policy.• >>> Robert Irwin

<[email protected]> 8/27/2012 7:41 PM >>>



Job Offers Circa Jan 1979

Thank You UC Berkeley Placement Center

~$70k in 2013-$



BMayerResume Used to Obtain 12 Job Offers

Circa Nov78



Learning Goal

Hopefully this Lecture will Help Students to Develop the Skills, Techniques, and Methods to allow Each Student to…

Study Like an

ENGINEER



Liberal Arts Majors Party Down

http://search.dilbert.com/search?p=R&srid=S3-USWSD02&lbc=dilbert&w=college&url=http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2005-04-28/&rk=5&uid=178566141&sid=2&ts=custom&rsc=cK7YsOgDMqRX4Fdq&method=and&isort=date&view=list&filter=type:comic



Rule-1: Be Responsible You want to be a Professional;

Professionals are Expected to Assume PERSONAL Responsibility for their Actions

At the University This Means• Attend EVERY Regular Class/Lab meeting• Be On Time, Be Courteous• Complete and Turn-in All Assignments

as Scheduled• Ask for few “Special Case” exceptions

– Professors Appreciate “SERIOUS” Students



Rule-2: Mind Connected to Hand

Unlike some Other Disciplines Bachelors-Degree Math and Science Education Tends to be• Linear - a course will build as the Term

Progresses; courses build upon each other– Early Work is Required for Later Work

• Precise and Quantitative– At Universities Most Math & Sci Courses Entail

the Determination of a NUMERICAL ResultThere are Objectively RIGHT & WRONG Answers

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.script-doctor.net/images/hand.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.script-doctor.net/what.html&h=202&w=250&sz=5&tbnid=ZQ7QvIOlXlYJ:&tbnh=85&tbnw=105&start=1&prev=/images?q=hand+writing&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8



Rule-2 Cont.

Math & Science Education Provides Tools to Solve Problems• Becoming Proficient with the Tools Requires

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, & more PRACTICE

Study with a Pencil-and-Paper• If the Instructor Follows a Text, then

– READ carefully, Taking Notes in YOUR OWN HAND

– Work all the EXAMPLES until you UNDERSTAND them



Rule-2 Cont.– To study for exams, Work problems for which

the text provides answers

• If Solutions Are Provided to Homework or Exams, then REWORK All problems that you got Wrong Until you Understand them

• Neatness & Thoroughness helps– A problem you solved

early in the term may be needed late in the term If it’s Neat & Complete you

can Use it more quickly



Rule-2 Summarized

Don’t justREAD the

Text; WORK the Text



Notes from EE-113 at Stanford

Go Card!

Text Book Notes

Class Notes

HomeWork & Exams

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://guide.stanford.edu/VARehab/Education/Brochure/SU-tree.jpg&imgrefurl=http://guide.stanford.edu/VARehab/Education/Brochure/3col-brochure.html&h=510&w=414&sz=278&tbnid=JlltkhwUsVIJ:&tbnh=126&tbnw=103&start=5&prev=/images?q=stanford+tree&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8



Rule-2 Personal Story BMayer Learned Rule-2 in

Ted Bowen’s Physics Class At Cabrillo Community College in 1974• This TRANSFORMED My Academic

Performance; leading to Results after Transfer to UCBerkeley (Go Bears)– 3.8 GPA (95%)– 12 Job Offers

Transformed an Atty I know well from a Medium Student to 3rd out of 245 in her SCU Law School Graduating Class

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.logoshak.com/~asgsport/images/Cal_Bears.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.logoshak.com/~asgsport/shak.html&h=632&w=498&sz=14&tbnid=ovNPHZBlKjQJ:&tbnh=134&tbnw=106&start=3&prev=/images?q=cal+bears&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8



Rule-3 Worship the TextBook

Instructor and Class-Time provides a FRAMEWORK for Learning a College/University Skill

The Text, Or HandOuts/Notes, Provides the SUBSTANCE

Very Few People Learn Performance Skills by Listening to a lecture• Lectures Tell you WHAT to Study• The Text & Exercises DEVELOP Skills



Rule-4 Listen to the Instructor

The Obvious Reason → To Learn the Material

The Subtle Reason → To Learn What is IMPORTANT to the Instructor• What the Instructor Says in Class Gives

Clues about His/Her Priorities– Since you Have Finite Study Time

(168 hrs per week) you need to prioritize– Typically What the instructor Covers in Class

will likely appear on the TESTS



Rule-5 Mind your Math & English

Math and English form the FOUNDATION for College, and for Landing a good Working Position• Almost all Well Compensated (i.e., Good

Paying) Jobs require that the Employee be able to CALCULATE & COMMUNICATE– A GOOD Employee will use ALGEBRA;

a GREAT Employee will use CALCULUS– A GOOD Employee will be able to READ &

UNDERSTAND a written report; a GREAT Employee will WRITE the Report



Rule-5 Cont.

Math & English form the BASIS for ANY Professional & Practice; c.f.• Required Courses for Engineering Degrees• Required Courses for Nursing Degrees• Required Courses for Business Degrees

Almost All Significant PROFESSIONS in the USA Depend written Math & English• Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, Business Person,

Company Manager, Police Officer, etc.



Rule-6 Be Creative

CREATING Something is MUCH Harder than USING Something• e.g.; The difference between READING a

story, and WRITING a story

In the Professional World Creativity Leads to very VALUABLE outputs• NEW products and/or Services• Competitive ADVANTAGE• SOLVED Problems



Rule-6 Cont.

CREATIVITY and PRODUCTIVITY are Closely Related• Both Require Getting Something DONE

Develop Your Creativity Thru Practice• Draw Pictures• Write Stories• Build Things• Solve Puzzles TV & VIDEO GAMES

are NOT on The

Creativity List

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://members.tripod.com/~adhuff/pics/abegame.jpg&imgrefurl=http://members.tripod.com/~adhuff/pics.html&h=151&w=200&sz=13&tbnid=pP4VXlvZEbgJ:&tbnh=74&tbnw=98&start=4&prev=/images?q=video+game&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8



End Product of Systematic Creativity



Rule-7 Draw Diagrams for Math

Science, Math & Engrng Have a HUGE Advantage Over the Written Language Disciplines – The use of Graphics

If you have difficulty with a problem• Chart it• Graph it• Sketch it• Flow Chart it• Diagram it



Rule-8 DON’T Sell Your Books If you follow Rule-2; then you

will Build a LIBRARY of PERSONAL Reference material• Since Math & Sci Education Builds, Your

Text and The Study Materials associated with it are VALUABLE References

Many of the Underlying Laws of Science Cross Discipline Boundaries

Odds are you WILL use Your Texts as PROFESSIONAL References



Book Seller ShortSightedNess

A TextBook Seller unconsciously says this to Her/Him Self:

This attitude is a SELF-FULLING PROPHECY• Of Couse if a person DISCARDS a

TOOL, then he/she will never use it!!!

I DON’T NEEDTHIS Anymore…



Sell Books? I don’t think so…

From The Journal Thin Solid Films

http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/issn/00406090



TS

F TextB

oo

k Refs

Chabot CHEM-1A/B Text

http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/issn/00406090



Sell Books? I don’t think so…

From The Journal IEEE TSM



TS

M TextB

oo

k Refs



TextBook Refs for: IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing

MTH1 TextBook from Cabrillo College



Sell Books? I don’t think so… From The Journal APS/AVS JVST



JVST TextBook References



Rule-9 PUT in the TIMEAcademic (Study) Time Per Lecture-Hour

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5

Gra

d-S

ch

l4

Yr

Un

ivC

ha

bo

tH

i-S

ch

l

Ed

uca

tio

nal

Lev

el

Weekly Study Time (hrs per Lecture-Hour)file =



Rule-9 cont.

From the Chart on the Previous Slide, the MINIMUM Study Hours per week• 6 Hours for a 3 unit Chabot Course• 10 Hours for a 5 unit Chabot Course• 9 Hours for a 3 unit SJSU or CSU-EB or

UCBerkeley Bachelor’s Level Course• 12 Hours for a 3 unit CalPoly or UCDavis

or UCBerkeley Master’s Level Course• Even MORE for Ph.D or MD Level Course



R9: clueLESS vs clueFILLED

Request from a ClueLESS Student

I don’t have time to Study…Tell me how get

an “A” AnyWay Observation by a ClueFILLED Student

There is No Substitute for Personally Struggling with the Course Material



R9: You think it’s tough at Chabot… Consider this Sp10 advice from

UCBerkeley Prof. Bernhard Boser to his 2nd Year, 4-Unit EE40 class• “Effort: You are expected to spend

approximately 12 to 16 hours each week on this course, broken down as follows:– 3 hours of lecture– 1 hour of discussion – 3-4 hours reading (book & notes)– 3-5 hours homework– 3 hours labs and project”

B. E. Boser

http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~boser/courses/40/index.html

http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/boser.html



Rule-10 Study EXTRA for Exams

Preparing for Exams or Quizzes requires ADDED study time beyond the 6 Hrs/Wk for a 3 unit Chabot Course

Exam Study/Prep Time Guideline

3 Hours StudyTime Per 1 Hour of ExamTime



Rule-10 cont.

Exam Week Study-Time Example → Chabot 5 Unit Math or Science Course• 1 Hour Midterm Exam = 13 hours total

– 10 Hours Normal Study Time– 3 Hours Exam Prep Study Time

• 2 Hour Final Exam = 6 hours Final-Exam Prep Time– At the University Level Final

Exams are 3 Hours long, which requires NINE (9) hours of Final-Exam Study time



Rule-11 Get EVERY Point

If the Instructor/Professor offer the OPPORTUNITY to earn Grading Points, then TAKE IT• Do EVERY Assignment• Do NOT incur LATE Penalties• Do Any & All EXTRA CREDIT Offerings• Learn how to Earn PARTIAL CREDIT and

then DO IT– e.g., if SHOWING WORK earns Partial Credit,

then Show your work

http://tricias-list.com/video-tutorial/earn/



Rule-12 Join/Form a Study Group

LEARNING a subject is one thing, TEACHING a subject is Another

The depth of Knowledge required to TEACH a Subject is much Greater than that needed to LEARN the same Subject

In a good Study Group ALL Students will be BOTH Learner and Teacher

Study Groups need NOT be Large; two people can make an effective group



Rule-13: LEARN All You Can A Four-Year Degree offers the

Opportunity to Learn at a Level of DEPTH & DETAIL that will Likely NOT be Available LATER in Life

Higher Education In California is EXCELLENT – Take Advantage of it• Study Hard; Party Later• Learn Everything you Can

You will NEVER regret having done WELL at the University Level



1960 CA Master Plan for Higher Ed

California Public four-year Universities allow for seamless CC transfer as provided for by the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education. An excerpt from this plan:• “The transfer function is an essential component of the

commitment to access. UC and CSU are to establish a lower division to upper division ratio of 40:60 to provide transfer opportunities to the upper division for Community College students, and eligible California Community College transfer students are to be given PRIORITY in the admissions process.”

CaliforniaHigh SchoolGraduates

CaliforniaCommunity

Colleges

CaliforniaState

University

UniversityOf

California

100% 33%12.5%

2.4 GPA 2.0 GPA

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/~ucalhist/archives_exhibits/masterplan/heart.html



UC & CSU Engineering Programs UC programs CSU Programs

CSU Campus Degree Reqd UnitsBakersfield BS 204 qtrChico BS 128 semDominguez Hills BS 120 semEast Bay BS 187 qtrFresno BS 130 semFullerton BS 134 semHumboldt BS 130 semLong Beach BS 130 semLos Angeles BS 198 qtrMaritime Academy BS 164 semMonterey Bay BS 120 semNorthridge BS 126 semPomona BS 198 qtrSacramento BS 138 semSan Bernardino BS 201 qtrSan Diego BS 140 semSan Francisco BS 135 semSan Jose BS 135 semSan Luis Obispo BS 204 qtrSonoma BS 128 sem



LEARN it USE it (on the Job)

Virtually EVERY TECHNICAL (and ENGLISH Composition) CLASS I took I actually USED On The Job during by 24+ Year Engineering Practice Career• See Previous slides on TextBook Refs

The Deeper you Learn SomeThing in the Technical & English Classes at Chabot and the University the More Likely you are to APPLY IT when you join a Math/Sci/Engineering Profession



LEARN it Return on Investment Students are (or should be) PAYING for

Their College/University Education NOT Learning DEEPLY is like Paying

for a Gym membership, and then doing “Mickey Mouse” WorkOuts

To Get a RETURN on his/her Educational investment the student should LEARN the Course Content

NoEffort NoGain



LEARN it Return on Investment

A excellent Perspective on RoI → “When I was a senior [in college], one of my professors asked wonderingly, ‘Why is it that you guys spend so much time trying to get as LITTLE AS POSSIBLE for your money?’”• M. McArdle, “Is College a Lousy Investment”,

Newsweek, Vol. CLX, No. 12 (17Sep2012)



Case Study: ClueLess ClueFilled Consider the Test

Performance Data For an Electrical Circuits & Devices (ENGR43) Student

The student did about 3-times BETTER on the Exam that was about 3-times HARDER!!!

What PRODUCED this tremendous Improvement from MidTerm-1 to the Final Exam?

34.5%

56.1%

91.1%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

MTE1 MTE2 FinalExam

Te

st-

Sc

ore

• T

es

t Ea

sin

es

s In

de

x

Term

ENGR43 • Sp11� -Student Test Performance Progression

Student SCORE

Test EASINESS

RSweetMan_Test_Improvement_Sp11.xlsx



Case Study: ClueLess ClueFilled When ASKED about the Improvement

the Student Replied:>>> Robbie Sweetman <[email protected]> 05/31/11 11:52 AM >>>Hey Mr. Mayer, thanks! I think I finally realized that understanding the concepts and actually being able to analyze different problems were two different things. About a week and a half before the final I started doing problem after problem after problem. I think the only way that I was able to improve in that class was by seeing a lot of different problems and FINALLY PUTTING IN MORE TIME. And to me the final [exam] was the EASIEST of all three tests SIMPLY BECAUSE I HAD DONE SO MANY PROBLEMS that I UNDERSTOOD how a circuit worked. I knew the concepts AND how they actually applied and I think that made the difference. On the other tests I knew the general concepts, but DIDN'T SPEND ENOUGH TIME applying them to actual circuits.

Thanks again Mr Mayer! I think your classes have helped me REALIZE HOW MUCH TIME I have to spend when I transfer [to UCDavis in AeroSpace Engineering]. - Robbie Sweetman

http://www.chabotcollege.edu/sports/swimming/imgs/2010/IMG_5849.JPG



Case Study: “Sac State” BSCE Robert Curry –

Chabot Transfer Student to CSU Sacramento in Civil Engineering• BSCE in Dec2009• SacState GPA 3.95• Now a Civil Engineer

with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR)

>>> Robert Curry 03/14/08 4:00 PM

…I do have to tell you , my time at Chabot was VERY HELPFUL IN PREPARING ME to go on to Sac State. I think that ALL THE ADVICE you gave us, and the TYPE OF WORK YOU HAD US do put me in a GOOD POSITION TO DO WELL.

During my first semester at Sac State, I saw a lot of OTHER STUDENTS STRUGGLING with things that I found to be familiar. Not necessarily the material, but the WORK that was required AND THE METHOD to go about learning the material. I've seen that everything that you are doing to help your students will PAY OFF for them if they choose to use it. Thank you very much Mr. Mayer. Without your help over the previous three years I don't think I would be in such a good position to succeed in my goals.



Comments from Former Student Mr. Nicolas Celeste transferred from

Chabot to San Francisco State University; majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

He eventually became the PRESIDENT of the SFSU American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Student Section

What Follows are some of his comments from a Guest Lecture he Made at Chabot about his Transfer Experience







Guest Lecture by UCB M.E.

Excerpts from a Guest Lecture to the Chabot ENGR10 Class made by Chabot Engineering Transfer Student (Now Mechanical Engineer) Robert Moore



Guest Lecture by UCB ChemE



Ms. Zhang Advice on Learning



Ms. Zhang notes on “Life in Chabot”1. Take every class seriously, especially these basic science classes like math. at the

beginning, you may not see the connections between different subjects. Your goal is NOT to get an A in the class, but to LEARN something. Lecture is very important, you want your study to be efficient.

2. THINK INDEPENDENTLY. Group study is great, but I encourage you to do the homework independently, and then you can discuss-with and compare-to classmates. Because, in group study sometimes will avoid you from knowing where you need to improve.

3. Start early. There are a lot of advantage of starting the homework early, you have plenty of time to think, and you will have time to go to Office Hour, (OH is important in UC), you don’t need to stay up late at night and fall asleep in the other morning. For the career, I highly recommend you to look for some part-time job in the industrial sector, may be too challenging to be engineer, but try operator that require minimum course work. From your work, you can build up the network, keep good reference, update your resume. The truth is, for 2-year program, you only have one summer to look for internship.

4. Be a tutor; it helps your UC application. Solidifies your class material. 5. Classes completion. Because the class load would be very heavy in UC, and you

need to apply principles from these basic classes in your major classes. And also, in UC, the lower division classes are lectured in huge class size, may up tp 600 ppl



Comments from ENGR Transfers >>> Evan Manrique <[email protected]> 10/24/2012 10:53 AM >>>Hello Mr. Mayer, I just wanted to thank you for the preparation you have provided me during my time at Chabot College. Getting though the first round of midterms at Cal Poly, I found myself in both of my EE classes, receiving the highest grade on the midterms. The work ethic that I had to acquire in taking your classes at Chabot has truly made me a more confident and stronger student. I hope everything is going well for you this semester and thank you again for all your help and guidance.Evan Manrique (CalPoly-SLO Electrical Engineering Student)

******************************************************

>>> dadaspeaking <[email protected]> 10/28/12 9:50 PM >>>Mr. Mayer,It is super nice to hear from you again!! How have you been? I am using the method you taught me to study every course at Cal. I totally survived in the first round of midterms with all A's!! : ) I very very appreciate for it and again, thank you so much.Best Regards, Weida Yin (UCBerkeley Civil Engineering Student)

*************************************************************************

>>> Andrew Koth <[email protected]> 10/28/12 6:41 PM >>>Mr. Mayor,Your tests really prepared me for the rigor of my current classes. I thought the study skills packet was particularly helpful. I hope everything is going well for you. Andrew (UCBerkeley Electrical Engineering student)



I’m Just Not at Good at Math/Sci

Have you ever said “I’m just Not at good at Math (or something similar)?”

– If So, Please change you mind, and read below …But the truth is that everyone can become smarter at math

[or sci/engr] if they practice in the right way. If a weight lifter watched other people exercise all day long, he wouldn’t get any stronger. And if someone tried to learn how to juggle by just reading a book about juggling, they wouldn’t learn. You actually have to practice the right way — and usually that means the hard way — to get better at something. In fact, scientists have found that the brain grows more when you learn something new, and less when you practice things you already know… • (See appendix for full text)

http://seattlecentral.edu/faculty/jwright/math91/Assignments/due_10_03/

YouCanGrowYourBrainArticle.pdf



More Liberal Arts

http://search.dilbert.com/search?p=R&srid=S3-USESD01&lbc=dilbert&w=liberal%20arts&url=http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2004-05-25/&rk=1&uid=178566141&sid=2&ts=custom&rsc=xKNx-o7kT-yPJVo2&method=and&isort=date&view=list&filter=type:comic

http://search.dilbert.com/search?p=R&srid=S3-USESD01&lbc=dilbert&w=liberal%20arts&url=http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1999-05-09/&rk=2&uid=178566141&sid=2&ts=custom&rsc=GbG:U99R80-vkbQk&method=and&isort=date&view=list&filter=type:comic



LiberalArts & MBA’s



DilBert BrainStorming



All Done for Today

StudyGroups

can Help

But Remember YOU take the TEST; NOT the Study-Group



Book Seller ShortSightedNess

A Book Seller (BSer) unconsciously says this to Her/Him Self:

This attitude is a SELF-FULLING PROPHECY• Of Couse if a person DISCARDS a TOOL,

then he/she will never use it!!!

I’ll NEVER NEEDThis Again…










[email protected] Study_Skills_for_Chabot_College_Students.ppt 1 Bruce Mayer, PE Chabot Math, Science, and Engineering Bruce Mayer, PE Licensed.

Documents

pe chabot math

math science education

chabot ucberkeleyhe

math sci courses

jpl gpa

n s j o h n s o n c

jpls gpa policy

minimum gpa requirements