ENGR10004: Engineering Systems Design 1

*5% - Mid Semester Test
*5% - Reflective journal weekly submission and marking (full marks if you do it)
*10% - Reflective journal final submission
5% - Team contract (at start)
10% - In-workshop presentation (based on final report / big project but this is done partway through)
5% - Draft report for big project
35% - Final report for big project
*25% - Final exam, 2 hours
* The individual assessments (indicated by *) form a combined

This subject heavily relied on group work, the group work making up 55% of your final mark! I rate this subject as 4 due to being lucky enough to have a dedicated group, but could easily have been 3 without them. There were very few requirements to get into this subject and so there were a lot of different kinds of people.

Content / Lectures:
The first half of the subject was usually straightforward but boring. It had some difficult application-style questions (engineering bernoulli equation was annoying). I'd call this half of the subject confusing rather than difficult, and it felt like a lot of it was spent not learning anything
The second half of this subject was taught by Ray, and it felt like a lot of things were just thrown at us, and he assumed we knew more than we did. We had integrals and a lot of various equations thrown at us without enough time to understand them. This area was particularly difficult for those not strong in maths, and even for those strong in maths it was difficult to keep up. For this half, you really need to put in the extra time to understand what's going on

Individual Assessments:
The weekly submission of the reflective journal took time (1-2 hours per week or so, depending on effort you put in and how fast you are at writing) but was an easy 5%.
The final submission of the reflective journal shouldn't take too long (maybe 3 hours or so to do referencing and looking over it), provided you've done the weekly submissions. This is worth 10% and it should be relatively easy to get 80%+ if you put in the time.
The mid sem test was short (25m) and not worth much, but was also confusing and tested a lot of random things that you don't use much, eg a MATLAB function we used once. You should be able to pass this but it's hard getting 80%+ as it really just chooses questions from random parts of the course without much of a focus on using concepts you've been taught. It's only worth 5% though so it's alright.
Having these individual assessments was a hassle but put a lot of the pressure off the exam, as it's a combined hurdle. If you put in the work throughout the semester, you shouldn't have to do too well to pass the subject and hurdle.

Group Assessments:
55% of your final mark is made up from group work, so it's essential to find a good group. There are a few "peer assessments" throughout the semester so, while your assignments are graded as a whole, your individual marks can be adjusted depending on how your peers rate you. While this system is flawed, it does encourage everyone to put in effort.
The big final report and associated assessments require a lot of time and work. My group had a 2 hour meeting and a 4 hour meeting weekly on top of the 3 hour workshops, we worked hard and got ~87%. You need a good team that's willing to put in the work and if they aren't, you'll struggle with the assessments and getting the marks your want.

Exam:
While past exams are provided, only part of them are and no solutions are given which makes it really hard to prepare. However, the past exams are very similar to the actual exam so it's understandable, just annoying. The final exam is much better than the mid semester test. The multiple choice questions are pretty straightforward , and the SA questions usually test content you've learned so do some practice questions and you should be alright (the MATLAB question/s is annoying though as you have to write out code when they don't clearly specify what they want). The exam is only worth 25% so it means you don't have to stress over this exam as much as the others and it's not the end of the world if you don't do well.

This subject wasn't amazing and relied a lot on who your team members were. The workload was very high (14 hours per week excluding travel time and study time for me) however, the continual assessments took a lot of the pressure off the final exam which allowed me to focus on other subjects during that time period. Ultimately, I feel like I didn't learn too much but it did give me some minor skills that I expect will help in ESD 2 (eg MATLAB skills). It's a pretty mediocre subject, taught alright, not great, lots of time but not too difficult. If you're interested in engineering it's probably best you do both this subject (ESD1) and ESD2 but other subjects will probably be more interesting.

Yes, with screen capture

Gavin Buskes (first half, aerospace engineering, tanks/pipes)
Ray Dagastine (second half, chemical engineering)

2 Past exams, only part B on the exam is provided, no solutions.

3-4 Out of 5

No textbook required

3x 1 hour lectures (two streams)
1x 3 hour workshop

2017 Semester 1

High H1

-Weekly subject reflective journal (10% in total, Hurdle requirement*). -Intended Learning Outcome (ILO) 1 is addressed in the reflective journal
-Short quizzes, held during semester (5% in total, Hurdle requirement*). Addresses ILOs 2 and 6
-Team online blog, submitted three times during semester requiring 10 hours of work (10% in total**). Addresses ILO 1
-In-class team-based project assessments due throughout semester (15% in total**). Addresses ILOs 2, 3, 4 and 6
-Two hour written examination held in exam period (25%, Hurdle requirement*). Addresses ILOs 2,3 and 6
-A written end of semester group report, 40 pages in length (including diagrams and calculations), due in the exam period (35%**). Addresses ILOs 2 - 6.

* The indicated individual assessment items (totalling 40%) are a combined hurdle requirement.

** Students work in teams of 5-6 on these indicated assessments and thus the workload is expected to be divided equally within the team.

(The hurdle changes a lot, I took this subject in 2014 semester 2 and the hurdle requirement was only the final exam)

Yes, with screen capture

Lecturer(s):Gavin Buskes, Carolina Tallon

Yes, only about 4 in the past exams Ballileu library, and it was only up to 2011, whereas now the style of questions have changed a lot. No answers, tutors don't give complete answers. This part of the subject sucked because workshop questions were limited, so I did not have a lot of practice before the exam. The lack of a subject syllabus made it hard for me to do questions from other resources (which questions apply to me and which don't).

Rating: 4 Out of 5

Just borrow the intro to engineering from ERC, no need too much. Maybe buy MATLAB if you are definitely taking engineering/physics as a major, but if not then just use MATLAB at ERC computers.

3x1 hour lectures per week, 1x3 hour workshop per week

Semester 2, 2014

Your Mark/Grade: 86