How to Succeed in Class -Advice from Dr.Soe

Your education is part of your preparation for your career. The same habits that make you a success in class will help you build a successful career. Remember -- your teachers at Cal Poly are here to help you be successful -- we don't want you to fail!  We want you to succeed!

In my classes there are enough different kinds of projects and exams that contribute toward your grade, that you will be successful if you try hard, and complete everything.

  1. Read the assigned readings and come prepared to discuss them. Look up words you don't understand in the glossary

    2. ~ Be able to explain the main concepts in your own words
    ~ Think of examples of the concepts in real life
    ~ Be willing to speak up in class, but don't dominate the discussion

  2. Review the main concepts for the exam

    3. ~ This conceptual knowledge is the part that you will continue to use throughout your career. The technologies will change, but the conceptual knowledge changes much more slowly
    ~ Conceptual knowledge ("those big words") will impress interviewers when you are looking for a job, and will impress co-workers once you get the job. Conceptual knowledge is part of your education.

  3. Complete all the assignments on time

    4. ~ Review the requirements and make sure you do all of them
    ~ Deliver the deliverables

  4. If you have a crisis that interferes with your performance (e.g., death in immediate family, accident, prolonged illness, etc.), please communicate the problem to me

    5. ~ When you have a crisis, it's important to take care of your responsibilities
    ~ We can usually work out some solution as far as class is concerned, but only if you communicate!
  5. Ask questions if you don't understand the assignment, the discussion, etc.

    6. ~ Post questions on the discussion database for your peers
    ~ Send me email questions
    ~ Come to my office hours

  6. Don't give up, but finish up your projects. Everything counts.

  7. When you can't figure something out, take a break. Take a walk, clear your head, sit back and think!

    8. Try answering the Polya questions --
    ~ What do I know (what is the known, the data)?
    ~ What do I need to find out (what is the unknown)?
    ~ What is the relationship between them? The conditions? (e.g., the Normalization rules)
    ~ Is there some way to diagram the relationship?
    ~ Have I ever seen this problem or a similar problem before? If so, how was that problem solved?
    ~ If not, could I solve part of the problem? Or if I changed the unknown and the data to something more similar to what I know, could I solve the analogous problem? And then go back and solve the real problem?
    ~ Check the results of the solution for accuracy. Can I derive the same result differently? Can I see the solution at a glance (is it obvious)?
    ~ Later, can I use the result or method to solve another similar problem?