Lesson 1 - Learning Goals



1.1 Course Contents


1.2 Course Format and organization

1.3 Required course facilities.

1.4 Course evaluation process

1.5 Techniques to do well in the course

1.6 Quick quiz to guage your degree of computer literacy


Computers in Engineering - 308-208

Course Outline

A- Introduction + E-Mail                                 1 week

B- Computer Programming in FORTRAN      4 weeks

C- Computer Programming in C                      4 weeks

D- Computer Algorithm                                   3 weeks

          Sorting, Searching, Numerical Integration,

          Root Finding, ODEs, Gaussian Elimination


Course FORMAT

Lectures - 3 hours per week Tuesday and Thursday 2:30 - 4:00

Tutorial - 2 hours per week Tuesday and Thursday 9-10 in EMF

Labs/teaching assistance/demos - 1 hour per week.

Labs and assignment - 6 hours per week.


COMPUTER LABS

MacDonald Harrington G15, 60 HP Vectra/Pentium computers DOS/Windows/Novell.


TEXTBOOK

FORTRAN and ALGORITHMS by G.Ratzer , Bookstore ~$45


ASSIGNMENTS

4 assignments in FORTRAN

3 assignments in C


GRADING

Assignment 30% Mid term 20% Final 50%


Now the BAD News...

University Regulations include :


GOOD MANNERS include :

  1.           
  2. Being Courteous           
  3. Being Considerate to others           
  4. Being Cooperative           
  5. Respecting other people           
  6. Respecting others' property           
  7. Being clean and tidy

This is YOUR course :

Your learning is in your hands !

          o Be responsible for your learning

          o Have an open mind

          o Participate freely

          o Be willing to experiment

          o Act in a positive, sensitive manner

          o Smile

          o Have fun

          o Make friends


Saying :

          TELL me and I'll forget

          SHOW me and I might remember

          INVOLVE me and I'll LEARN

Studies show Percentage of RETENTION :

How much do you RETAIN/REMEMBER:

          25% of what you HEAR

          45% of what you HEAR and SEE

          70% of what you HEAR, SEE and DO


The message : - GET INVOLVED

Active LEARNING

Come to lectures

LISTEN (Don't chatter)

ASK questions

Take notes - to supplement Web material.

READ notes and course handouts

READ course texts

READ PROGRAMS (over 100 on web/course diskette)

RUN programs on diskette

WRITE your own programs

SEE programming consultants in LAB

SEE Teaching Assistants ( TAs ) during Lab/Office Hours

SEE your Instructor during Office Hours

DO ASSIGNMENTS

LEARN from tests

SELF STUDY


WEB/COURSE DISKETTE

1) 50 programs in FORTRAN

2) 50 programs in C

3) 50 programs in PASCAL

4) QUIZZES (20 modules)

          cd CANPC     (for diskette version)

          testme

5) ALGORITHM PROGRAMS

          cd ALGO

          ALGO208

          (graphics demo of all algorithms)

6) SOURCE CODE OF ALGORITHMS

          cd ALGO

          dir

          (you will get a list of all the programs)

7) COURSE MATERIAL

          cd lecture

          cd L1 (for lecture #1, L2 for lecture #2 and so on)


How to get rich?

Education and hard work are the keys to financial success, according to an Environics Research poll of high-income Canadians. The following survey was done for Royal Trust. It asked the top 10% of wealthy households what advice they would give others...

Get as much education as possible 27 %
Hard Work 16 %
Save 9 %
Invest 7 %
Start financial planning early in life 6 %
Limit debt 6 %
Start RRSP early 3 %
Start own business 2 %
Will to take risks 2 %
. . . . . .

Source: MacLean's 8 July 1996


McGill University

Computers in Engineering

Introductory Quiz

YOUR LAST NAME ____________________________________

YOUR FIRST NAME ___________________________________

YOUR STUDENT NUMBER _____________________________

YOUR DEPARTMENT (e.g. Mech, Civil)___________________

1. Have you programmed a computer before?

YES ___ NO ___

If so, how many computer courses have you taken? _______

2. What computer languages have you used?

Basic ____ Pascal ____ FORTRAN ____ C ____

Other (specify) ____________________________

3. Do you have access to a computer at home? YES ___ NO ___

If so, which type (e.g. IBM, compatible, Mac) _________

4. Have you accessed the Internet? YES ___ NO ___

5. Do you use E-mail? YES___ NO ___?

6. What is an algorithm?

7. Give an example of a numerical algorithm.

8. Give an example of a non-numerical algorithm.

9. This question is open ended and you are supposed to be as creative as possible! Use any computer language you know or pseudo code (any structured combination Mathematics, English, French(?), and/or computerese) to answer this question.

Write as MANY DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT sections of code to perform the following simple operation :

A variable, call it K, can have a value of 1 or 2. If it is one change it to two, if it is two change it to one. (use the reverse of this page as necessary).


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