1:1 Introduction - Course Conduct, Deliverables, Expectations, Opportunities
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Overview
Derek Elsworth introduces Penn State's EME 303 fluid mechanics course, explaining its blended schedule, Canvas and course-resource materials, and the value of practicing with 16 years of past exams. He outlines weekly homework, group presentations, three midterms and a final, plus grading, academic conduct, course topics, exam logistics, and classroom safety expectations.
Key takeaways
- Students do not need to buy the EME 303 textbook to complete assignments because Canvas supplies the problems and accepts numerical answers through quizzes.
- The course-resources page and Canvas are the two main online hubs for lecture notes, grading information, presentation examples, assignments, and exam materials.
- Past midterms and worked solutions are a central study resource: Elsworth recommends practicing relevant problems alongside each topic rather than waiting until exam week.
- Midterm grading emphasizes the final numerical result, with full credit requiring an answer within 10% of the correct value, reflecting the course's focus on accurate engineering calculations.
- The course includes 13 weekly assignments worth 15% and a group presentation worth 15%, alongside three 20% midterms and a 10% final.
- Students can work together on homework, but each must submit their own work; teams for presentations are assigned rather than chosen.
Chapters
0:00
EME 303 Format, Instructors, and Course Resources
- Derek Elsworth describes EME 303 as a blended fluid mechanics course, with most classes scheduled Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 a.m. in the Chemical and Biomedical Engineering building.
- The ninth edition of Munson, Young, and Okiishi is a useful reference but is not required for assignments; older editions, including the sixth, can provide adequate background.
- Canvas and Elsworth's course-resources page provide the syllabus, lecture notes, assignment questions, presentation examples, and grading information.
- Students enter numerical homework answers through Canvas quizzes; Elsworth strongly recommends downloading past exams and worked solutions for practice.
9:00
Weekly Homework, Group Presentations, and Grade Structure
- Thirteen weekly assignments, generally due Thursday at midnight, contribute 15% of the grade; the first is due after Labor Day.
- Students are assigned groups of about four or five to create a narrated, slide-based, three-minute presentation on a fluid mechanics topic; presentations account for 15%.
- Three midterms contribute 20% each and the final contributes 10%; exams are scored out of 110%, with extra-credit opportunities also available through online quizzes.
- Canvas may overestimate the current grade when closed assignments still appear unsubmitted, so Elsworth provides a separate grading rubric.
13:50
Exam Rules, Fluid Mechanics Topics, and Test Preparation
- Midterms take place during class periods in weeks 4, 9, and 13; each is nominally 30 minutes and awards full credit when the final numerical answer is within 10% of the correct value.
- Students may use a calculator and a provided equation sheet on closed-book tests; the course-resource page includes past tests, solutions, and recorded review sessions.
- Course topics progress through fluid statics, introductory fluid mechanics and Bernoulli's principle, conservation laws, thermodynamics, pipe flow, flow around bodies such as wind turbines, and open-channel flow.
- Elsworth recommends matching past-exam problems to the current lecture topics and attempting them as the class progresses.
18:55
Academic Conduct, Online Class Weeks, and Classroom Safety
- Students may collaborate on homework but must submit their own work; assigned teams are intended to reflect workplace-style group assignments.
- During midterm weeks, students use recorded online classes and can earn one-third of a percentage point for completing each 10-point quiz, up to about 1% across three missed weeks.
- For an emergency in the classroom, Elsworth gives the run, hide, fight guidance: exit through either classroom door if possible, barricade if escape is not possible, and fight only as a last resort.
- The first week's lectures cover fluid statics, and students are asked to view the online introduction before attending class.
Summary, takeaways, and chapters were generated by AI from the video's transcript and may contain errors. The video belongs to its creator, Derek Elsworth.