APSC 100

Course Description

This is your first course in engineering design. APSC 100 is a very project-based class with extensive collaboration. This course is infamous for its ambiguities when it comes to exams and quizzes and locking feedback on minor assessments such as Canvas quizzes and surveys. The course is structured into four modules.

1. Engineering Design Process (Cardboard Chair Project & Presentation)

2. Sustainability Project (Cycling Lane Presentation)

3. Technical Memorandum for Assistive Living Device

4. Ethics & Professionalism
   

APSC 100 is similar to APSC 160 in the sense that this class also follows a flipped-classroom approach. Online lectures are presented in the form of screencasts and they are followed by self-test questions (not for marks) and then Canvas quizzes (count towards your final grade).

Types of Assignments To Expect

• University Learning Screencasts - These screencasts are a great highlight of APSC 100. They give useful advice on research-backed study strategies and ways to manage stress, physical health, and other indicators of well-being. Completing the quizzes for these screencasts can also replace some of your lowest marks for the individual quizzes. Although they are optional, It is highly recommended to complete these screencasts.

• Intro to Engineering Specializations - Each week, the APSC 100 instructors release a video on an engineering specialization and then there is a survey to fill out. At the end of each week, professionals and students present their engineering specialization by explaining what the specialization is, how it differs from other engineering specializations and the job opportunities you can receive from that specialization.

• Individual Quizzes - After each screencast, there is a multiple-choice Canvas quiz.

• Team Quizzes - At the start of each week, teams will complete a quiz together based on the content of the screencasts. The team quizzes are usually similar to the individual quizzes.

• Midterm - There is only one midterm for this class. Since there are significant ambiguities with APSC 100 tests, they are usually scaled because not every test has equivalent difficulty.

• Group Studio Submissions - Studio submissions are documents that are meant to prepare groups for major projects.

• Group Projects - In APSC 100, the first three modules have a major project due while the last module just has studio submissions due. These projects will involve design building, presentations, and technical documents.

• iPeer Reviews - After each module, team members will assign scores to other team members based on their professionalism, work ethic, and communication.

• Evaluations & Others: There will be other minor assessments such as giving constructive feedback on other group projects, an intro to computer-aided design assignment, and a letter to write to a prospective first-year engineering student.

• Final Exam - The final exam is all multiple choice/select all that apply.

Advice/Study Tips

• At the end of midterms/final exams, try to write comments about the ambiguities of the test. Trust me, there are always ambiguities with APSC 100 tests and they will take this into consideration when curving exam scores.

• This may be an unpopular opinion, but you can study effectively for this course. Many of the test questions can feel counterintuitive because they rely on understanding the content presented in the lecture, not necessarily on common knowledge. In fact, if you are inclined towards memorization and source-based interpretation questions, this course might be a lot easier for you than most first-year engineering courses.

• Pay attention to the lectures! This sounds obvious but most people end up distracting themselves with homework assessments from other classes or other distractions. While people believe that the screencasts are sufficient for preparing for tests in this class, there is additional information taught during the lecture that appears on tests.

• Take notes during the screencasts and know all of the engineering specializations. At first, I wrote them down by hand but ended up typing them because of how long they took to write by hand. Also, it's easier to read your notes when on a computer. You can also collaborate with people for note-taking to maximize efficiency. It can be difficult to understand which parts of the screencast are important to take notes on, but the least you can do is write down steps for processes, definitions, and diagrams.

• Don't re-watch all of the screencasts! Not only is it the equivalent of passively reading a textbook, but it is more time-efficient if you actively take notes the first time. With this method, you will not have to re-watch all of the screencasts. Reviewing my notes took a third of the time that I would have used to watch screencasts.

• If you find using computer-aided design (CAD) tedious or extremely challenging, use Fusion360. This application is the most user-friendly CAD design software to use. Fusion360 will save you the most time and stress out of all of the CAD design software applications.

• Keep organized with a calendar or online management system. APSC 100 has a diverse range of assessments to keep up with and many students end up missing the deadline for minor assessments that can boost their grades.

• The projects in this course are extremely time-consuming! Make sure to stay on task with studio submissions and start meetings outside of class as early as possible.

• Make your presentations as audience-friendly and on-topic as possible. Avoid large blocks of text and distracting colour themes.

Resources

• There are midterm/final exam study guides on StuDocu that you can use to study. Note that these require uploading study documents to have full access (no payment required).

APSC 100 Study Documents

• A guide for creating effective presentations.

Presentation Tips