An engineering degree is a very lucrative degree that will frequently provide you with a variety of post-graduate work opportunities once you have completed your studies. While you can memorize just enough to pass an exam, it is important to dedicate a proper amount of time to studying the material in order to fully understand the content.
Let’s get into some specific ways you can ace your next engineering course…
1. Take the prerequisite engineering courses seriously
Although it may appear obvious, engineering students must pay close attention in class. Particularly in prerequisite classes required by your school. Most students believe that schools force them to take certain courses for no reason other than to get an extra dollar out of them, but in reality, these classes are the foundation for your future success. Many engineering subtopics have patterns that can be understood and predicted. By learning to recognize these patterns, you can streamline and accelerate your learning process.
2. Take good notes, and hold on to these notes for future study sessions
Engineering textbooks are frequently difficult to understand without taking annotations and ensuring you fully understand each page. You may not want to read or study for your next class on some days, but you must convince yourself that doing so is necessary in order to grasp the key concepts you are learning.
This may appear to be a simple task to some, but it can be overwhelming to others. Because people learn in different ways, not everyone can take effective notes. Some people think better by writing things down and taking notes with pen and paper, while others think better by typing their notes. Regardless of the method you use, learning is difficult if you don’t take good notes. Anyone can understand key engineering concepts by following the few simple tips provided below.
- Draw Pictures: Pictures are much easier to remember than words, and take much less time to write down
- Use Your Own Words: If possible, try to summarize your professor’s lecture using your own words. This will make it much easier for you to recall in the future
- Limit What You Write Down: If you try to write everything down, you will get distracted and will often write down irrelevant information. Stick to writing down key concepts that your professor keeps coming back to
3. Form your own engineering study group
Working alone can be tedious and overwhelming at times. Working with a study group is more beneficial for any major, but it is especially important for engineering students studying for engineering classes. Because engineering is a constantly evolving and innovating profession, it is not uncommon for students to encounter difficulties while studying or completing a homework assignment. Working in a group provides you with a variety of perspectives to help you solve problems.
Study groups develop an organic environment in which members begin teaching concepts and ideas to those who do not fully comprehend the material. Because teaching is one of the most effective ways to learn a subject, this collaborative environment is an excellent place to hone your engineering skills.
Finding a study group is fairly easy, especially in college. Simply ask those that sit around you in class, finding a study group is relatively simple, particularly in college. Simply ask your classmates, post a message on a class GroupMe, or request that your professor send out a mass email inviting students to meet outside of class to study if they wish.
Once you have your study group formed, you must realize some study groups can be more effective than others. Some guidelines to follow when choosing your study group are:
- Keep the groups limited to 3–5 students
- Do the work by yourself first, then collaborate when needed
- Ensure each student in your study group is able to come up with a solution to each problem
4. Try to solve an engineering problem before asking for help
When you don’t know the answer to a specific question, it’s easy to give up. No one, however, wants to do your homework for you. People are much more likely to assist you if you have already started the task. Attempting to solve a problem on your own before seeking help from professors or classmates will force you to expand your knowledge while also teaching you problem-solving skills that will be useful in the real world.
5. If you are struggling, ask your professor for help
If you are struggling after hours of staring at questions and continue to run into homework problems while studying for your next engineering test, there are many support systems to help you ace the course and get some additional practice.
For example, you can reach out to your professor or teaching assistant (TA) to schedule an office hour for them to walk you through the ideas, you can reach out to help centers at your university that have upper years who can help you as well, you could find a private tutor who could help you 1 on 1 to resolve your burning questions, and finally, you could also access homework help apps like Kunduz to help. The problem with the first two options is that these resources are not available all the time, and thus it would take quite some time for your professor or TA to respond to your problems. For private tutoring, it is expensive, as tutors often cost more than $50 USD an hour! Thus, we recommend that homework help apps would be the best option for students.
Kunduz helps students in a wide range of subjects including Engineering, Math, Physics, Economics, and many more. They are available 24/7 and respond to questions as fast as 15 minutes while providing step-by-step homework help. It has a vast network of 40,000+ tutors globally and has answered 58M questions in 11 different subjects. It offers one free and two paid subscription plans:
- Free: free question credits for any subject matters
- Standard Plan: $9.99 USD / month for 50 questions
- Unlimited Plan: $14.99 USD / month for unlimited questions
Thus, if you are looking for an affordable solution that can provide you with 24/7 Psychology support, Kunduz would be an excellent supplement to your lectures, allowing you to excel in your Psychology class!
6. Learn to play the game
If you’ve spent some time studying for classes at your school’s engineering building(s), I’m sure you’ve come across the students who lock themselves in for 24 hours a day.
But simply, this is not the way to approach your engineering program. You can get a good GPA, get 8 hours of sleep, and have a good social life. How tips to consider when learning what is important to know for your engineering class include…
- Study Your Syllabus: Determine which assignments will contribute to the bulk of your grade. Often times homework accounts for a very little % of your grade and is often the part of the engineering curriculum that students spend the most time doing. Yes, Homework is a great practice for your upcoming engineering exam, but oftentimes includes run-around problems that you will never see on future exams.
- Look for past exams on Koofers: If you’re lucky, professors will tell you general information about what is going to be on your next exam. But oftentimes, you have no idea what is going to be on your test or exam. Giving you little to no information to prepare for your upcoming test. Koofers will allow you to reverse engineer your exam, and determine what exactly you need to focus on.
7. Take mock engineering tests While To Help Study
Try taking a self-test after a study session or a long hour of reading. Testing yourself on what you know and how much information you can retain will give you a good idea of where you are right now. Especially when studying in a group setting with other engineering students who may know certain engineering topics better than you and vice versa..