General Engineering Introduction/Notebooks/quiz

1 Click on the triplets that will get you points for writing in the notebook:

GoingToDo Doing Rant
Hypothesis Procedure Conclusion
Problem Solutions Testing
Design Details Next Steps

2 Which are appropriate responses to mistakes or anticipation of mistakes?

drawing a light horizontal line through text .. so that it is still readable
taking a black marker and obliterating something so that it can not be read
putting a big X through what one doesn't want considered
ripping out the page
writing in pencil or eraseable ink
using white out, nail polish or something similar to hide the mistake

3 Why does using the margins appropriately inspire respect?

understanding design purpose of a tool and using it appropriately
efficient use of the pages
there is meaning to the pattern in which white space is used
randomness arouses suspicion

4 Why is it important to form paragraphs, lists, drawings, draw diagonal lines through unused parts and skip one line between paragraphs?

efficient use of notebook
makes impossible to go back and add text, drawings without destroying pattern
patterns inspire respect
makes it impossible to leave space to write in later

5 Why is it important to write in a font that fits between the lines?

efficient use of notebook
fonts way too small or large indicate a brain tumor
easier for the instructor to read many notebooks
indicates an attempt to make the notebook attractive and easy to read

6 When the course is over, what happens to your notebook?

you take it home
becomes school property
you leave at school to inspire other students taking this class
it is destroyed because it is no longer needed, everything important is in electronic form

7 Why should you always write in the first person using "I" when everyone is working together?

to make it clear what you are doing versus what others are doing .. transparency
inspires confidence in engineering project managers .. who is doing what becomes clear
project managers expect completely different details from engineers observing the same events, writing in first person inspires this
writing the exact same "I" statements in engineering notebooks makes manager feel comfortable that there is a consensus
differences resolved are more respected by project managers than instant consensus among everyone involved

8 Which of these indicates Chronological Integrity?

leaving blank spaces in the notebook to go back and write in later
signing in and out
using diagonal lines through blank spaces that are never going to be written in
patterns in pen color/texture
patterns in mood
patterns in white space utilization

9 A title is needed at the top of the page when

all the time
at the beginning of a project only
when new page is started because of a new activity/topic
when a new page is started because of a new day
when a new page is started because the previous one filled up

10 SignIn starts engineering. Why is this important?

record time so can get paid or get points in the class
record time for future project estimations
begin engineering, feel like accomplishing something
creates an open vessel to capture the unknown engineering accomplishments that might occur

11 Why is it important to only write down the odd pages and never leave blank spots to write in later?

helps fill up then notebook
violates chronological integrity
capture next step thinking in RANT, not in blank spaces
logical flow of thoughts and concepts is important
need to write like a lab report or book

12 How does the discipline of notebook writing help an engineer get paid for being ignorant?

helps you learn from nature
helps you get better, faster at learning on your own
helps you establish trust, transparency, accountability and respect
helps you get better at reading manuals that do exist and improving them

13 Most students don't initially want to Rant or Signout. Why?

afraid of loosing the creative flow
worried brilliant thoughts will be lost forever
don't want to earn the three points
think the current interruption can be dealt with quickly
want to prove they stayed up all night

14 The best notebook drawings are:

orthographic showing 2 or 3 sides
look like a patent drawing with arrows leaving letters or number pointing to features
don't need words to describe them
are also described in words as if the drawing is not there
are large
start small and get bigger as detail is added
are drawn separately on paper then tapped or pasted into the notebook
are similar to sketches made in art classes

15 What are the reasons for stopping in the middle of a page and leaving the rest of it blank?

new day
want to draw a big graphic, can not in the space left
title doesn't reflect what plan to do now
trying to fill up notebook quickly

16 Suppose it is time for lunch. You are planning on coming back from lunch. What do you do?

sign out, draw diagonal line to the bottom of page
sign out, no diagonal line so can sign in underneath sign out when come back
Finish the GoingToDo Doing RANT triplet
write note "spent one hour at lunch" in the left margin

17 The english policy in this class is

spelling has to be correct
has to be readable
don't need to worry about capital letters and periods
grammar has to be correct

18 How does a notebook turning playing into engineering?

helps time fly, helps one focus so much that a sense of time passing is lost
re-reading helps one continue the playing, the focus of the previous day
notebook slows one down so that grokking can mature
writing, re-reading helps one remember, reorganizes the brain
notebook turns into a muse

19 Why are small triplets rewarded by counting them, rather than large triplets when grading notebooks?

indication of time management
indication of dealing with OCD problems
creation of engineering boundaries
helps prevent freshman messes

20 Writing after the fact can be detected by:

lack of random detail
more rational linear thought than usual
line thickness changes in writing
pen color changes
fewer graded triplets than normal in the time claimed
uniform emotion in the handwriting

21 Initially writing in a notebook feels like it is slowing you down, making you less efficient. But soon, it will speed you up because:

your hand will stop cramping
you will develop photographic memory
you will stop running around in circles lost in the forest of confusion and fog
you can pick up where you left off faster
you do things once rather than over and over again
you will do things over again clearly expecting to see something new

22 GoingToDo do is typically stimulated or related to:

the project
the title
previous RANT
previous Testing
previous GoingToDo

23 GoingToDo captures:

intention
success
chaos of the moment
memories
expectations

24 GoingToDo is trivialized and can result in the triplet not being counted if:

repetitive for no reason
no intention, expectation or anticipation
logically makes no sense
seems disconnected from any stimulus

25 Examples of doing are:

documenting program bug
writing a program
documenting what trying to do that the drawing program is not letting you do
drawing
documenting google keywords that are closest to what is being searched for
writing url and successful google keyword searches
describing steps and what is working/not working
describing only steps of the shortest path to success
uncommon tools used
lists of trivial materials and tools repeatedly used over and over again

26 The dangers in doing are:

trying to prove you did something by writing
writing huge doing and not getting as many Project triplet points
logically not relating to GoingToDo
RANTing inside of Doing
avoiding RANTing by making large Doing

27 Doing is where design emerges. How?

issues are discovered that stimulate new designs
data is collected that helps choose between designs
problems emerge that kill designs
scope is discovered that constricts or opens up many more possibilities
possibilities, alternatives are discovered

28 RANT in the context of notebook writing means:

let loose, emphasize anything that makes you mad and write about it
explore your feelings
Reflect, Analyze, NexT steps
Run ANTs through everything to dig up detail

29 The Reflect part of RANT means:

explore personal meaning, growth, values, goals, feelings, morality
summarize the chaos of Doing
compare with intentions and expectations of GoingToDo
list all the things that went wrong

30 RANT can be done

at any time
only when there is enough doing
once per GoingToDo, Doing
only when feelings are strong

31 The Analyze part of RANT includes:

logically consistent
say nothing new .. everything has to already be said in GoingToDo and Doing
looks at what went right/wrong and why
picks through Doing looking for errors, how could be done more accurately
laments that if had more time would have ....
describes a better (perhaps invents) tool for the job
if could do over again would ...........
would automate (turn into robot) this .... in the future

32 The Next Step part of Rant includes:

short summary of GoingToDo and Doing
suggests possible next GoingToDo
what was expected and not expected
at minimum is a list of the next steps

33 The goal of this course is to:

Push students through the playing, doing it first, designing and problem solving narrative
Turn students into problem solvers
Turn students into designers
Turn students into people that do things first

34 Issue characteristics include:

No ownership
Complete awareness by everyone
Avoidance by everyone
Possible engineering problem

35 Which below are owned by an individual engineer?

Issues
Problems
Solutions
Problem/Solution Pairs

36 How is an engineering problem different from what most people call a problem?

Possible solutions are not part of the problem description.
The next step is not finding the one solution, but visualizing many solutions/designs.
The are no consequences because nothing is in production or use yet ... the engineer is doing something first.
There many not be a solution.
problems emerge from projects
projects form around problems

37 Who is responsible for fixing an engineering problem?

project teams of engineers form around problems, they attempt to fix them together
the engineer who owns the problem
the engineer that turned the issue into a problem
a different engineer than one that created the problem, forcing engineers to communicate and document
perhaps nobody because there is not a solution

38 Who comes up with problem/solution pairs?

engineers
technologists/technicians/experienced experts
students doing homework
teachers creating the answer key

39 Big Projects with out problems are:

Rare
Not engineering projects
Always have a blame game associated with them
Have clear requirements

40 Big Projects with requirements are:

engineering projects
each requirement is the result of a known "problem"
require technologist expertise
require scientist expertise

41 Whose problem is it that you don't know something?

You, the engineer
The world
The teachers
The text book

42 Whose problem is it that you can not follow any of the existing tutorials?

You, the engineer
The world
The teachers
The text book

43 Whose responsibility is it to create/revise/polish a tutorial you understand for others like you in the world?

You, the engineer
The world
The teachers
The text book

44 Whose responsibility is it to take this issue of not being able to follow a tutorial or non-existence of a tutorial and turn this into an engineering project?

You, the engineer
The world
The teachers
The text book

45 When an engineer is blamed or is frustrated, the engineer

finds someone else to blame
defines a problem
creates a project
creates project requirements
starts designing solutions
methodically checks solutions

46 An engineer deals with frustration by:

ignoring it
exercises, medication to deal with the pain
leveraging it into inspiration
reviews the frustrations in anticipation of solutions appearing in dreams
reviews the frustrations in anticipation of 1000 questions flowing creatively
reviews the frustrations in hopes of seeing more clearly the answers in the scavenger hunt of life

47 Engineering problems are

lists of causes
symptom details
pain of change
hopes, expectations, possibilities
solutions
form and function
unit testing input and expected output
algorithms

48 Frustration is caused by

lack of training
fog, uncertainty
knowing what we don't know
knowing what we want to know
not knowing whether anyone else knows

49 The three parts to testing are:

negotiating the test protocol
describing the test
performing the test
analyzing the test results

50 Suppose you need to work on an engineering project, but do not have your notebook. What should you do?

Write on a piece of paper as if you had your notebook and staple the paper into the notebook at a later date.
Give up trying to get notebook points for what was done.
Write a summary of what you did in your notebook at a later date and signing in and out at the later date.
After the notebook is found, sign in with the date of the work done, write in as much detail as possible in the usual format and sign out at the estimated finish time.

51 When writing in an engineering notebook, sometimes one must stop writing on a page, draw a diagonal line to the bottom and then start writing on a new page. When is this necessary?

Were interrupted (bathroom, lunch)
new day
somebody else has arrived and joined the team
Switched to a different project/title