General Engineering Introduction/Tutorials/quiz

1 Scaffolding is where teachers:

ask you to learn on your own
where you develop tutorials
where you read tutorials teachers have written
where you listen to a lecture and try to turn it into a tutorial

2 Scaffolding is different from a tutorial in that:

was created by someone not on a project
was created outside the project context or peripheral to the project
is something widely known by most students
is something all students should know
is something widely known by most engineers

3 Scaffolding could come from:

teachers
engineers
other students
team mates

4 If scaffolding is wrong, if it doesn't apply to a project

it can be ignored
it appears in project documentation rather than tutorials
is included in the finished tutorial
it still needs to be looked up and referenced

5 Scaffolding occurs when:

personally shows you how to do something
instructor lectures to the entire class
someone draws on the white board during project presentation
someone says "look this up"

6 The best response of a student to an instructor sitting next to them and showing them something is:

take detailed notes
write in notebook only what is being learned personally
instructor can duplicate this at any time, so I will just learn what I can
everyone seems to know this, I am an idiot

7 The group mind is not scaffolding. Why?

If engineers where homogenized, they would all produce the same solutions.
Scaffolding implies everyone is learning the same thing.
Everyone knows, therefore scaffolding is not needed.
Most everyone knows, so anyone can be asked anytime to learn.

8 Scaffolding is always good and needs to be recorded.

true
false
only if pursuing scaffolding has been approved by client
only if it happens naturally during a presentation

9 Scaffolding is the prerogative of the client.

true .. you could have been put on the project precisely because of what you do not know
false .. the engineer must decide whether they need to leverge existing knowledge

10 Including scaffolding in project documentation is the prerogative of the engineer.

true, it may blind the project
false, any scaffolding by someone outside the project in response to hearing about the project, whether used or not needs to be included in the project documentation.

11 Looking at past documentation is something that should be negotiated with your instructor.

true, your instructor has read past documentation and may want to compare what you design with previous designs
false, you need to see past work in order to improve upon it

12 Letting the materials at hand inspire is bad for engineering for what reasons?

No documentation before, during. After documentation lacks enough context to be useful.
Requires a junk pile that is not replicatable or sustainable
Does not promote team work, just one leader and everyone else trying to figure out what is going on.
There is no design

13 Prototyping Engineers often work without documentation because:

Goal is to create the first version as cheaply, as quickly, as simply as possible
They are a special type of engineer
Documentation cripples their productivity
They are generalists and can do anything
They are more often very narrowly focused with technician like expertise

14 When asked to do something you don't know how to do

Panic, worry and try to find someone that does
Ask your instructor "Should I learn on my own or find a tutorial?"
Worry about breaking, destroying things
Worry about safety, security, politics
Ask your instructor "Can I take it apart to learn?"

15 Tutorials

Document success
Document alternative designs
Document next steps
Document decisions
Document testing methods, test results
Document failures
Document frustrations

16 Excellent Tutorials

short on words, long on video and pictures
offer steps using pictures in the frame wiki tags
like a text book
full of polished english

17 Reuse

means leveraging the collective mind
means describing how every day objects were used in a different way
means describing easily available materials were used creatively
means recycling

18 Frustrations

are worked through by creating lots of steps/pictures/video's
are documented by a narrative in the tutorial
are expected to be shared by everyone
cost a lot in terms of time and therefore need to be included

19 Tutorial can not be copied out of a Notebook because

Notebooks are 90% failure documentation
Notebooks are chaotic in terms of the order in which steps are tried
Notebook success descriptions do not fill up notebook pages
Details are scattered through out it

20 Tutorial as a place holder

Tutorials may not be perfect, not contain the best pictures, not be in exactly the right order
Tutorials have to be perfect before being turned into an article