Chemical Engineering Students Syllabus
Chemical Engineering Students Syllabus (Source: Department of Chemical Engineering – University of Cape Town)
With every new weather, comes a new semester, new subjects, new professors and a new syllabus. And in the beginning, it’s just an introduction to the subject, where the Professor may probably take one class to explain the syllabus. While the Professor explains, here are things students first take a look at in a syllabus.
Grading:
Chemical Engineering Students Syllabus (Source: Giphy)
This is the first and the foremost important thing in the syllabus. Why? Because it’s very important to know how much it will take for us to pass the subject! Usually, for us, most of the subjects have the passing grade of 70-72 (that is, a C-), however, there are a few subjects that grace students by 58-63 or even 55-60 as a passing grade. Students gain confidence, that ‘YES! AT LEAST A B’, but, we even think, ‘How hard is the subject, that its passing grade is so low?’. Regardless, grading scheme is a very important factor for us students.
Attendance percentage:
Chemical Engineering Students Syllabus (Source: Giphy)
Especially when it’s an 8 a.m. class, students like me and my respective friends, DEFINITELY have to see if there is any attendance percentage. Some Professors have attendance percentage, some don’t. But, regardless, the Professors still take attendance. The only ones who don’t take any attendance are the Maths and Physics Professors. They know very well that we give a crap about their subjects and if the subjects are not given utmost importance, then we are going to be crapped upon by our Engineering department. Yes. They are very VERY important prerequisites to us.
Quiz Percentage:
Chemical Engineering Students Syllabus (Source: Giphy)
Are they important or can we just shove them to the side? Oh, the latter is an impossible option, basically all the time. But, the important thing is, how much do they weigh? Because some Professors drop 1-2 quizzes, so if we mess up more than 2, can the quizzes still save our grade? For example, in one of my subjects, the Quiz percentage was 15% and there would be 7-8 quizzes in a semester. So, yes, we can mess up more than 2, only if we do well in the other exams. In my other subject, the Quiz percentage was 20% and there will be on 4 quizzes during the entire semester. Literally, MY MIND FLIPPED! I mean, 5% for ONE quiz?! So, yes, it depends from subject to subject, but, quizzes do indeed help in improving or downgrading your final grade letter.
The topics covered:
Chemical Engineering Students Syllabus (Source: Giphy)
More like, the number of chapters we will read and if the final is going to be comprehensive or not. Well, the final exam is ALWAYS comprehensive, even if there are 373653264 chapters. Both ways, it’s troublesome, if there are less chapters, then more content in each chapter, if there are more chapters, then more number of slides to go through. So, yes, I don’t know why, some people actually look at the number of chapters. Not like they will bring some good news, Ha-ha.
The weight of each exam:
Chemical Engineering Students Syllabus (Source: Giphy)
Once you decide what grade you want to get in a subject, the student goes through the weight of each exam. The first exam always has the lowest weight and in which students always do well. The second exam has maybe 5-10% more weight than the first exam and in which students usually get their asses kicked. This is the problem. We never learn, at least me and my friends don’t. So, what the students need to see is whether the Professor is willing to change the weight of each exam, for example, the highest exam grades are worth more percentage and lowest exam grades are worth less percentage. If that’s the case, then it’s pretty good news for us. Anyways, there is always the final exams, always willing to show us the depths of Hell on earth or showing us the depths of Hell on earth. That was not a mistake. These are the only two options finals have for us.
So, the way to do good in a subject is to, STAY ON YOUR TOES! Not literally, I mean, just work hard! Do well in the midterms, so that even if you do bad in the finals, you know that your letter grade won’t go that down! This is what we care about now, but, at the end of the day, honestly, it’s what we learn from the subject, how things work, how stuff happens from scratch. As a student, for me, everything seems to be amazing. From atoms to reactors, everything little thing I have come across till date in this major is just ‘WOW! THAT’S HOW IT HAPPENS?’ for me. I know it’s hard, it’s difficult, but, enjoy. Enjoy the subjects, enjoy the major.
Chemical Engineering Students Syllabus (Source: Giphy)
