Joe:
I will give you my initial thoughts on this, but will probably add things later as I think of them. In my opinion, in order of effectiveness:
- Go back and rework your homework problems. Make sure you know how to work them.
- Go back and review our class note problems. Don’t bother reviewing the videos – that would take too long, unless you don’t understand something in the notes and need to get into the video for an explanation.
- Review the old exams listed on the syllabus. Start with the latest ones and work back to the older ones. Since the course constantly changes the order of presentation you may have to study Quizzes A and C, for your Quiz A review. For example last semester, loads may have been covered on Quiz C, whereas this semester it may have been covered on Quiz A. Just find which old quiz covers what you are responsible for this time.
- Some old quizzes cover topics that we no longer cover. You can ignore such a topic. If you haven’t been asked to read something in the text, or if it hasn’t been discussed in class or on a homework problem, it won’t be on the quiz. Thus you may find that we no longer cover the Moment Area method for solving for deflections, then it won’t be on this exam. That by no means implies that you can say that because we never worked a problem with a cantilever beam, only simple beams, that you aren’t responsible for moment diagrams for every type of beam, frame, truss, etc. in existence. You are. You are also responsible for knowing the area of a circle.
- The old exams are supplied at the pleasure of the prof, so read the terms of use carefully or you may find they get taken down if those terms are violated.
- Get together with others and study. You should try and find someone who is truly lost and doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on, seldom comes to class, sleeps, talks, and texts during class, … That’s one person you should invite to come study with you. You will be amazed how showing someone else how to work an engineering problem will increase your understanding of it by a factor of 10. It’s truly amazing and effective. I promise you.
- Study in the order of need. Thus if you are making an A in thermo, a D in water resources, and a B in 345, you should put much more effort in water resources, some in thermo, and more in 345. In the long run, 3 B’s looks much better on your transcript, than A, B, D. No comparison.
- Note that these notes will, and probably have changed this semester. If you see something wrong in them, plese let me know what and where.