The
connection between lecture, the problem sets, and lab assignments could be clearer.
The problem sets were incredibly difficult, and we all believe that
collaboration should be allowed. MIT undergrad culture is built around working
together on psets. Not allowing collaboration on homework means we have to
suffer alone, but everyone knows misery loves company. Please allow students to
work together and bounce ideas off of each other; learning is much more effective
when students can debate answers to problems in the moment rather than looking
at solutions and problems they got wrong weeks after they were turned in. Along
those lines, more informative slides that properly define variables when
showing equations could also be useful, as well as actually working out
problems on the board.
Needing
to have lecture quizzes during these last few weeks could probably be avoided
by having a lecture that is not only still interesting, but very much connected
to our specific project. When we talked about injection molding and
thermoforming, the attendance was higher because it was incredibly relevant.
Bur understanding of, say, casting wasn’t as great because most people haven’t
needed the knowledge for any project and won’t use it for their yo-yos anyway.
One recommendation for a clearer connection between lecture and life is to
focus on one specific product at the beginning of every lecture or set of
lectures to give us more intuition and solidify the context, unlike reading a
list in the textbook of possible things that could be sand casted. The day we
brought in the iPod shuffles is a good example. We all really liked the guest
speakers we’ve had during lecture, too! Especially the two girl alums at the
beginning of the semester and the guys from NVbots.
As far as content, a few people would have liked to learn about
water jetting rather than 3D-printing, because many MIT students are exposed to
3D-printers and laser cutters by the time they take 2.008, but water jetting is
not as common and very interesting. It would also be nice to have a lecture on
sourcing materials to teach students how to find unprocessed goods and gain an
intuition for prices and negotiations, as well as interactions between
businesses and suppliers. And one quick suggestion for the plant tours, Dragon
Innovation does some cool stuff and was recommended by one of our teammates as a possible contact.
For the labs, many people would like a more engaging way to learn
how to use MasterCam. Having step-by-step instructions and allowing students to
learn at their own pace would be helpful so that nobody is bored or struggling
too much, and instructors can walk around and offer help. The paperweight was a
nice project, but following verbal instructions for how to use mastercam made
remembering the process difficult.
The final stretch has been has also been a bit of a challenge.
There seemed to be a lot of weeks in the middle of the semester with no
assignments due, but these past three weeks have had many deliverables and
since it’s crunch time for many other classes, it seems like a lot of work that
we could have easily done earlier if pushed to do so with deadlines.
Overall the shop staff was awesome and helpful and helped with
intuition for how to use machine while superbly making sure we were safe!
Thanks for the incredible amount of work and effort you all put into running
this class class, especially for a lab course that needs so many materials,
time, and supporting instructors/staff. <3
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