FAQs | Notion

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Question	Answer
How do we submit assignments?	Gradescope. Everything. Gradescope.
How can I calculate my grade?	Grade Calculator This gives an APPROXIMATE grade not your official final one. Keep track. Achieve your goals.
Should I come to class?	It’s worth it. I make it worth it. You’ll see….
What are the course videos for then?	Pre-lecture videos should be watched BEFORE you come to class. The lecture time is an interactive conversation with worked out problems, ideations, team assignments, Sawyer stuff…….
What happens if I MUST miss class (sickness, official event)?	Full recorded lectures of every topic is available in the Library link
Are course notes available?	All nicely handwritten course notes (by Prof. Patterson) are in the Library link. But my lecture style is dynamic and interactive. It’s different every time because of the questions YOU ask. Content covered in the notes is covered consistently every semester. Sorry, I can’t post the lecture notes from these once in a lifetime live learning occurrences. I can’t repeat it. You should COME. TO. CLASS!
What are the exams like?	Challenging. Exams are custom to the semester I teach in. Why? I make exam questions based on the interactions we have in class. Study the content. Take good notes and stay engaged.
Do you have back exams available?	Yes. Every single one I can find is under Relevant Review Materials. 10+ years
If I submit before the late deadline do I get penalized?	No, not at all! The “Double Deadline” practice is great to use in real life. I use at in my professional life ALL. THE. TIME. Get it done before the first deadline, perfect it by the second. THIS is how excellence is accomplished.
Is this class hard?	ABSOLULTELY, YES, but in a good way, you need the time to study, focus, and stay engaged…
Are office hours recorded?	If you come, they can be, just ask! WebEx.
Where are your office hours?	Mercer XLab (day/time TBD) and WebEx
Do I need to turn in my assignments (before the late deadline)?	Do you want to fail this class? If yes, then no. If you don’t want a grade below your learning potential, please communicate with me BEFORE assignments are due if you are struggling. Come to office hours. I'm happy to help you find what you need to learn! Late assignments are not accepted.
How long should I spend on the course each day?	This is a high workload course: For every hour you are in class or lab per week, you need ~2 times that studying/working outside of those hours on average for the highest grade.
Why should I spend THAT much time learning stuff in this course?	Electric Circuits is the pre-requisite for EVERY ECSE course. The more you understand in this course, the easier future courses are.
Can I speak with other students while working through the materials?	This is a learning community. Submit your own work. Talk to everyone! Find the TAs. You actually are required to help each other in this class.
What about AI? Can I use it?	Electric Circuits AI policy
Did you use AI for this site? Did you use it for any course content?	I tried a bit of AI features in Notion for the Alpha Omega Logo, and the two sentence summary under the “Welcome to Circuits!”. Every piece of content was painstakingly written, created, developed, or curated without use of AI. I like the struggle of thinking creatively and critically. I like what I learn from mistakes and the adjustment to make things better.
What kind of calculator should I get?	TI-89 or TI-Inspire is best (they allow complex matrices). BUT you may also use TI-83 or TI-84 (do not allow complex matrices). HP-50 is not permitted (smart little thing can solve circuits)! If you know RPN I’d be impressed though.