ENGR 101 FAQ

Nope! You do not have to have any coding experience to be successful in this course. In Engineering 101, we will be teaching as if nobody has coding experience. This class is graded on a straight scale, so it is completely up to you to earn the grade you want.

ALL engineering disciplines use coding in one way or another. Many engineering fields use MATLAB for complex calculations. Learning C++ gives you the tools to implement decision-driven problem solving that will help you manage the large amounts of data that are the core of modern engineering. The problem solving techniques that we learn in 101 can be used in many, many engineering applications and using many different programming languages.

ENGR 101 is an ~okay~ indicator if you should do computer science. The important thing is that you pick a major that you will like doing rather than a major that you are good at. You can do poorly in ENGR 101 and still be successful in computer science.

It totally depends from student to student. The important thing to remember that the instructors, GSIs, and IAs are committed to helping ALL ENGR 101 students, and they understand that different people learn through different ways.

The best way to succeed in ENGR 101 is to not procrastinate on projects and go to office hours early.

ABSOLUTELY. ENGR 101 is not a “weed-out” class by any means. You can still be an awesome engineer even if you don’t do well. The important thing is that you learn why you did not do well and respond to adversity.

In ENGR 101, we will be learning basic principles of programming computer code and simple algorithms used to tackle engineering problems. We will learn these concepts by first programming in MATLAB (which is really good at processing data and visualizing it) and then C++ (which is really good at automating decisions and creating a process). We have done our best to use wide-ranging real-world examples for as much of the class as possible. So, no matter what engineering major you are interested in, you should find something that interests you in ENGR 101!

ENGR 101 is a class on using computing to solve engineering problems. We try to teach computer programming concepts and not specific computer programming languages. But, we have to use something to program in! MATLAB and C++ are two languages that are heavily used in the College of Engineering, so that’s why we use them. MATLAB goes first because not many ENGR 101 students have programmed in MATLAB yet, so the hope is that we start everyone off learning something new.

Grades are not curved. We use a straight grade scale so you don’t have to worry about how your classmates will affect your grade. Our goal is that students leave ENGR 101 with a specific skill set in computer programming. If you want an A, we will help you get that A!

Yes, that's totally fine. You do need to attend the lab you are registered for, though.

ENGR 101 has a lab component so you can have time to practice the concepts taught in class. The lab exercises can be thought of as mini projects. The cool thing is that your lab is taught by a GSI or IA who is a fellow Michigan student. Your GSI or IA took ENGR 101 previously, and they know the course very well. They are also cool people to talk to and can give you advice about majors and other Michigan-y things.

Yes.

Labs are mandatory as you will be working in small groups within your lab section. The labs are designed to be collaborative, and groups will need all members working together to complete the lab within the lab period. We also know that ENGR 101 students that engage and participate in lab do significantly better in the class. This is because you can ask questions if you don’t understand something and can get real-time answers if you are struggling.

If you are sick and have to miss lab, please contact your lab instructor prior to the start of lab (if at all possible).

That’s okay; we know sometimes conflicts are unavoidable. Contact your GSI or IA at the start of term and they will help you find an alternative ENGR 101 lab to attend that week.

There are no "exams" in ENGR 101. We will have four assessments spaced throughout the semester. These assessments are hosted on a platform called PrairieLearn; you will receive a lot more information about PrairieLearn and how to do the assessments once class begins. The assessments have a variety of questions, including multiple choice, dropdown fill-in-the-blank, and “select-a-statement” to create a working program. The assessments will be open note and you can use your computer to actually test out code if you want to. However, the assessments do have a time limit, and you will not have time to look up everything, so you will still have to prepare for the assessment. Look for the assessment prep messages on ECoach to help you out, and be sure to do the practice assessments that will be available!

Each assessment in ENGR 101 will be open for 48 hours, so you can find a time that works best for you to take the assessment.

Learning computer programming/computing is like learning anything else: you will learn easier and faster if you do a little bit each day rather than trying to do all your ENGR 101 stuff on one day per week. There is no penalty for turning things in early, though! All assignments are open for a minimum of 48 hours (and most are available to you for a lot longer than that). So, you can arrange your ENGR 101 work schedule around your other commitments; you don’t have to do the assignments on the day they are due.

We have everything set to be due at 11:59pm Ann Arbor Time to try to make it a little bit easier for you as you make your own schedule of when things are due across your different classes. For ENGR 101, at least, you just have to keep track of what day something is due, and not necessarily the time, since you know that as long as it is “that day” in Ann Arbor, the assignment is still open. And remember: that’s just when things are due. If you want to binge some tv that night, just be sure to plan for that and get your work done earlier in the day.

Yes, we allow you to submit work a little bit late for most assignments. Late submissions have a small grade penalty, but you can still get an A on the assignment.

However, we want to make sure that everyone is staying roughly on pace so that you will be able to actively participate in lectures and lab. So, most assignments have just a 1-2 day grace period for late submissions.

See the syllabus for a lot more information on our late submission policy.

There is no required textbook. All learning material will be provided to you at no additional cost to you.

PrairieLearn is an interactive learning platform that houses our weekly homework. Each homework assignment consists of short videos with interactive examples and exercises, with walkthrough videos provided in case you get stuck. The work in PrairieLearn is completed asynchronously, so you can fit it into your schedule in whichever way is best for you. Access to PrairieLearn is free, you just need to create an account and register for our course and semester (details will be provided to you on how to do this). Student feedback on PrairieLearn has been incredibly positive so far, and we hope you will enjoy learning on this platform, too!

PrairieLearn also houses our lecture reflections and assessments. You will receive more information on these, too.

Yes.

When you retake ENGR 101, your work in a previous semester does not roll over to the current semester. You will need to register for the current semester’s course on the different online platforms we use and complete each assignment just as you did before. We’re continually revising the content in ENGR 101, so be careful not to go through it too quickly! It’s also a good way to review the course content and learn what you’re still “fuzzy” on and hence what to focus your efforts on.

Students that are retaking ENGR 101 complete projects individually (meaning, without a partner). See the syllabus for more details.

The best place to get help is at office hours in B521 Pierpont, right around the corner from where you have lab. Office hours are listed on the course website. If you are unable to make office hours, post your question on Piazza and an instructor or fellow student should have your question answered within the day.

The Engineering Center for Academic Success (ECAS) is also a great place to go for additional review sessions and free tutoring!

All of the projects are open for two weeks. The ENGR 101 staff will be holding lots of office hours and answering questions on Piazza throughout each project period. However, we have our own lives outside of ENGR 101 (just like you!), and we want to make sure ENGR 101 doesn’t take over our every waking moment. So, to help our work/life balance, we stop answering Piazza questions at 10pm each day. You may continue to post questions overnight if you wish, and we’ll catch up on them the next day. If you have a last minute project question, you could still post on Piazza and perhaps another student in the class might happen to be on and can answer your question. We strongly encourage you to find a work/life balance of your own that works for you!

Even though it might seem like our job is to make your life as difficult as possible, it is not. The projects are designed to have you implement methods taught in class (and practiced in lab). Everything that you need to complete the projects is presented in class. The biggest challenge is giving yourself time to implement those methods. START EARLY so that when you get stuck you will have time to get help.

We encourage working with a partner on the projects. You will need to make a group on the “Manage Partner Groups” tab on the autograder to make the partnership official for that project. Having a partner is completely optional and you can change your partner for each project. You’ll be working in small groups in lab, and it is our hope that this is one way to meet some new people in class. Don’t be afraid to reach out and say, “Hey, anyone want to partner?”

The Autograder is a webpage (autograder.io) that you will submit your projects on. It will grade your projects, show your project score, and tell you a little bit about what you got wrong. You will get five submissions per day, with each submission giving you feedback on the different test cases. You can continue to submit more times per day, but you won't see the feedback.

If your code doesn't pass any of the test cases on the autograder, it is highly unlikely that the autograder has crashed. We have worked very hard to make it as resilient as possible. If you do think you crashed the autograder, please show a GSI or IA and we will help you troubleshoot your code (hint: read the project specifications very carefully!).

Debugging code is like editing a project’s final report. It can be hard, and it can be tedious. In ENGR 101, we will be teaching you techniques that will help you systematically debug your code. Everyone debugs unless you are perfect. (FYI: Nobody is perfect.)

YES. We perform automated and manual cheat-checking on all project submissions and assessments.

We are required by the Engineering Honor Code to report all suspected violations of the Honor Code. We write a report that documents the students involved and the evidence we have found. This report gets submitted to the Honor Council, and we give the student(s) an Incomplete for the semester. We really hate doing this, so please don’t cheat. Fun fact: if we don’t know you but we do know your uniqname, that’s not a good sign...

You will be notified by the Honor Council that a report has been submitted. You will temporarily receive an Incomplete for ENGR 101; this Incomplete means that you will not be able to register for any class that has ENGR 101 as a prerequisite. You will then go through the Honor Council procedures for determining guilt; you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. At the end of the procedures, the Honor Council will make recommendations as to the guilt or innocence of the student(s) in question. Guilty students will have grade penalties assessed, and we are told what those penalties are. We apply the penalties and then resolve the Incomplete into a letter grade. The Honor Council procedures can take many months, and since you can’t register for classes that depend on ENGR 101 until the Incomplete is resolved, you might end up having to pay for extra semesters’ worth of tuition.

So PLEASE… don’t cheat!

Technically, you do not need a laptop for this course. You will need reliable access to a computer that can run the MATLAB and C++ tools that we will use in this course, and there are CAEN computers in the labs and office hours rooms. However, for the best course experience, we do strongly recommend that you have a laptop that is no more than three years old.

Additionally, we have found that Chromebooks are typically not sufficient for your engineering work here at U-M. If you need assistance with access to a computer, refer to the programs available in the College of Engineering.

MATLAB should be compatible with Macs, PCs, and computers using Linux. If you have a problem with loading MATLAB, come to office hours.