30 Chapter 2 Preparing for an Engineering Career
in some areas. For example, you may want to consider not taking as many credits in a given
semester and follow a five-year plan instead of a four-year plan. Depending on how many hours
a week you need to work, you can rebudget your time. The purpose of this time budget example
is mainly to emphasize the fact that you need to learn to manage your time wisely if you want
to be successful in life. Every individual, just like any good organization, monitors his or her
resources. No one wants you to turn into a robot and time yourself to the second. These
examples are provided to give you an idea of how much time is available to you and to urge you
to consider how efficiently and wisely you are allocating and using your time. The point is that
budgeting your time is very important.
With the exception of a few courses, most classes that you will take are scheduled for
50-minute periods, with a 10-minute break between classes to allow students to attend several
classes in a row. The other important reason for having a 10-minute break is to allow time to
clear your head. Most of us have a limited attention span and cannot concentrate on a certain
topic for a long period of time without a break. Taking a break is healthy; it keeps your mind
and body working well.
Typically, as a first-term freshman in engineering you may have a course load similar to the
one shown here:Chemistry (3)
Chemistry Lab (1)
Introduction to Engineering (2)
Calculus (4)
English Composition (3)
Humanities /Social Science electives (3)Table 2.2 is an example of a schedule for a freshman engineering student. You already know your
strengths and weaknesses; you may have to make several attempts to arrive at a good schedule that
will fit your needs the best. You may also need to modify the example schedule shown to allow for
any variability in the number of credits or other engineering program requirements at your partic-
ular school. Maintain a daily logbook to keep track of how closely you are following the schedule
and where time is being used inefficiently, and modify your schedule accordingly.2.3 Daily Studying and Preparation
You start studying and preparing from the very first day of class!It is always a good idea to read the
material that your professor is planning to cover in class ahead of time. This practice will
improve both your understanding and retention of the lecture materials. It is also important to
go over the material that was discussed in class again later the same day after the lecture was
given. When you are reading the material ahead of a lecture, you are familiarizing yourself with
the information that the instructor will present to you in class. Don’t worry if you don’t fully
understand everything you are reading at that time. During the lecture you can focus on the
material that you did not fully understand and ask questions. When you go over the material
after the lecture, everything then should come together. Remember to read before the class and
study the material after the class on the same day!Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).圀圀圀⸀夀䄀娀䐀䄀一倀刀䔀匀匀⸀䌀伀䴀圀圀圀⸀夀䄀娀䐀䄀一倀刀䔀匀匀⸀䌀伀䴀