Course Information & Policies

Module-specific measurable outcomes are provided at the beginning of each module notes.

16.20 and 16.90 are being offered with a new pedagogic approach this semester. While there are some differences in the details of the organization of 16.20 and 16.90, our goals for changing the pedagogy are the same.

The basic objective of the new approach is to de-emphasize the role of traditional lectures in favor of a much more active student participation and instructor-student engagement. Class sessions will adopt a tutoring style, where we are going to learn the subject matter by solving problems together. This is sometimes known as the apprentice model of learning. To do this in an effective manner, a number of conditions need to be satisfied:

• student attendance in person or via remote access is primordial.
• student preparation through a thoughtful advance reading of the material assigned and the attempted advance solution of the problems given.
• student preparation of questions prior to each session and proactive inquiry and discussion with instructors and peers during class.

While this approach places increased demands on students before and during class sessions, it is hoped that much more efficient learning will be achieved and that homework assignments and test preparation will require less time.

In order to facilitate the process of recalling class discussions, all the material presented and discussed will be recorded and made available online via Webex or AdobeConnect.

In order to encourage students to respond to this format, an important part of the grade (20\%) will be attributed to class participation. This will be assessed on an individual and daily basis.

In addition, students will be allowed the flexibility to participate in the class activities remotely via live broadcast of the class sessions. The hope is to create an environment that provides some flexibility for students to participate in activities that may require some time away from the classroom (e.g. participating in an engineering competition; presenting at a conference; etc).

If as the semester proceeds you have suggestions for how we can better meet these goals, please let us know!

16.20 will broadcast the instructor's computer and voice during class sessions through a Webex or AdobeConnect. This will allow students that cannot be in the classroom to observe most and engage in many of the classroom activities if they have access to the Internet. As well, movies of each Webex session will be made available typically within a day of the session. Details for participating in a Webex class session and accessing the movies of past class sessions will be available on the course web site.

While these options for remote access will be available, we believe the best opportunity for learning will be in the classroom and so we encourage students to attend class whenever possible.

All office hours will be held in the Seamans Lounge (lounge area on the first floor of Building 33) 4-5pm every Wednesday. During these office hours, the faculty and TA will be available on Skype. However, it is possible that we will be busy helping students in the Lounge, and may not be able to respond to a Skype request.

Students can also set up appointments (in person or via Skype) with the faculty and TA. Please send an email to the person you would like to schedule an appointment with.

Homework will include:

• Required advance reading assignments from a set of notes available on the course website and suggested reading from the course textbook. Due: the class following that in which the assignment is given.
• Required advance answer of concept questions and attempted solution of introductory-level exercises which are included in the notes as part of the reading assignments. The exercises are designed to improve your understanding of the material while you are reading. Due: the class following that in which the assignment is given.
• Problem sets given most weeks, will consist of problems designed to be more challenging and will include a combination of look-ahead and look-back problems. Look-ahead problems will be based on material that we have not yet discussed in class (though you will have had a reading assignment on the material). Look-back problems will be based on material that we have discussed in class. Due: on Fridays at 9:00am in class

Late homework submission will not be accepted.

While discussion of the homework and projects is encouraged among students, the work submitted for grading must represent your understanding of the subject matter. Significant help from other students or other sources should be noted in writing (at the top of your assignment).

There will be two exams: an oral midterm and an oral final. Midterm exams will be scheduled for March 20--23, i.e., during the week preceding spring break. The final exam will be held during final exam week, May 21--25. Individual times for the midterm will be scheduled 2--3 weeks prior based on preferences from each student. Individual times for the final exam will be determined within 3 weeks of the Institute's final exam schedule being announced.

Each exam will be assigned a letter grade based on the standard MIT letter grade descriptions.

The subject total grade will be based on the numeric grades obtained in the following three categories: Class Participation, Problem Sets and Exams. The weighting of the individual numeric grades is as follows:

• Class Participation (20\%). Class participation will be assessed daily on an individual basis at each table by the table tutor. The assessment will be based on: evidence of advance reading, attempt to solve look-ahead problems, proactive question posing and active engagement with tutor, peers and rest of the course instructors. Students are encouraged to provide any written evidence (e.g. own derivations, drawings, answers to concept questions and problems) that may help in participation assessment. In order to provide participation opportunities for students connecting remotely, students will be asked to provide a skype userid so that they can be contacted by course staff during class sessions to join a specific table group. It is expected that these students participating remotely will engage at the same level as those physically present. It should be emphasized that attendance per se whether physical or virtual will not be considered as part of the assessment.
• Problem Sets (20\%)
• Midterm exam (30\%)
• Final exam (30\%)

The final numeric grade will be converted into a final subject letter grade. For the subject letter grade, we adhere to the MIT grading guidelines which give the following description of the letter grades:

1. Exceptionally good performance demonstrating a superior understanding of the subject matter, a foundation of extensive knowledge, and a skillful use of concepts and/or materials.
2. Good performance demonstrating capacity to use the appropriate concepts, a good understanding of the subject matter, and an ability to handle the problems and materials encountered in the subject.
3. Adequate performance demonstrating an adequate understanding of the subject matter, an ability to handle relatively simple problems, and adequate preparation for moving on to more advanced work in the field.
4. Minimally acceptable performance demonstrating at least partial familiarity with the subject matter and some capacity to deal with relatively simple problems, but also demonstrating deficiencies serious enough to make it inadvisable to proceed further in the field without additional work.

Course Information & Policies