First week over!

The first week of school is over. It feels like going to college for the very first time. I am so excited to have a chance to really prove myself, it is very exhilarating. I've been devoting a lot more time to my studies and am readying myself for the exams and labs. This first month will be a true gauge of what's to come.

Studying!

Nothing really interesting happening, just studying a lot these past 2 weeks. Received a 96% on my Physics test, but I have no idea how I'll do on the Linear Algebra test this Monday. It's not so much knowing the content as knowing all the terminology, which is a pain. Three different ways to represent the same thing, along with each having it's own terminology as to how to do the same thing. Oh well, just gotta keep studying.

Too much work

Math consumed my entire weekend. I have no time for my electronics. I'm bummed. Next week is 3 tests, I still have 3 more chapters to finish homework wise in Calculus 3 before I will be ready for Wednesday's test, the teacher crammed in 4 chapters last Thursday. Engineering Physics test also coming up, should do well, but still have homework for that to finish also (2 chapters). Statistics is my one salvation, I hope. I have to do some homework for it, which will be due either Thursday or next Tuesday, but the problem is that it requires the lab which is open at the worst times for me. Hopefully I can do it all on Wednesday. Typically the first string of tests sets the mood for how things will be in the future, and gives me an accurate idea of what the teacher's expectations are for us. Wish me luck!

Hate for Homework

After next Wednesday (11-07-07) I will be able to report all my midterm grades. I'm a bit curious of my score for the test I took yesterday in Medium Voltage. The only concern I have with my academic performance is the homework that I still need to complete. If there is one thing I hate it is homework. Homework is typically busywork given by teachers who want to make sure you're busy even outside of their class. Others think of homework as a way to practice on what you learned, and to hone your knowledge of the material covered in class. I consider homework to be a lazy tool used by educators who assume that homework will be affective as a means of learning and becoming better. For many, including me, homework is nothing more than an annoyance I mindlessly burn through in an attempt to get it done with. I do it for the grade, not to learn.

In all the classes that require homework, I have never found it to be helpful, not even once. But, for the classes that give out homework as supplemental and optional, I have found it to be extremely beneficial. In my Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 classes, homework assignments are given but are optional and are not graded. In this way, I can focus on problems that I am not familiar with, and know what material I can use to be prepared for class. If anything, the optional homework guides me and prepares me. The same can be said true for my Chemistry class that I took my freshman fall semester. Although homework was given, it was optional and was not graded. I used this homework as a means to know what would be covered in the tests and through that I was able to achieve an A in the class. When homework is optional, it becomes a tool to be used when needed.

I cannot say the same about required homework assignments. Although I have scored 90%+ on my Electronics 2, Microprocessors and Circuit Analysis classes, I have yet to even start on the homework. If I have proven my knowledge of the material through tests, why must I still do the homework? Why is it required in the first place? In some ways I don't hold it against the professors who assign the homework, as homework is a traditional part of education. Hopefully educators will eventually overcome this widely held belief that homework should be required as a means of succeeding and understanding the class. Anyways, I have homework to do, even if I won't remember a thing from it as I mindlessly drudge through it.