Your Problem-Solving Tool Kit

By ‘tools’ I don’t just mean your calculator. Of course it’s one of your tools. But not the only one:

• Suitable paper. Lined notebook paper is not suitable. Neither is graph paper. Green engineering paper is best, for multiple reasons. Unlined printer paper is next-best.
• Acceptable writing utensils. Pens are a really bad idea. Please do not think that scratching out mistakes with your pen and scanning in a page covered with crossed-out patches is acceptable. It’s not. If you use a pen, you should be prepared to re-write your finished problem on a clean sheet, with no cross-outs or scratched out errors.
• Scientific calculator. Of course you already have one. But do you use it to its fullest potential? If you don’t know how to solve a system of linear equations with your calculator, you are wasting your own valuable time. I also strongly recommend, if your calculator can do it, mastering vector multiplication (particularly cross-products).
• Online solver. Don’t waste time on arithmetic and unnecessary algebra. You already know where your mathematical weak spots are; an online solver like Wolfram Alpha can help you avoid falling prey to them. It’s a totally legitimate tool; you’re an engineer, use all your tools.

Choosing Your Problems

You must choose problems from every chapter. Your portfolio should contain an even distribution of problems. You may not complete extra problems from one chapter in lieu of working problems from another. Plan to complete a minimum of five problems from each chapter.

You may have a (slightly) different number of problems from each chapter. Once you have completed the minimum five problems, then you may decide how to round out your portfolio. A fully complete portfolio will have eight problems from each chapter. However, you might choose not to complete that many. Your portfolio might have eight from one chapter, but only six from another chapter, and so on.

You may not submit Preliminary or Fundamental problems. Select problems from the sections simply labeled Problems. Your minimum five problems must be evenly distributed across the sections we have covered. You may not choose all your problems from the same section, and you do not have to solve problems from sections we have not discussed.

You may not submit the same problems as everyone else. I have shared a Google sheet, which you should use to register which problems you have chosen for your portfolio. Problems are first come/first served, and the first person to register a specific problem gets that problem. You should register your problems before you solve them, or you run the risk of solving problems only to discover that someone else already has priority.

Setting Up and Solving Your Problems

Develop your own style. You have many examples of how the textbook author sets up problems. You’ll have more examples of how I set up problems. Just like you have your own unique ‘voice’ when you write a paper, you’ll develop your own unique style. But you should be paying attention to proper formatting conventions.

Don’t skimp on the set-up. You should always clearly establish the problem parameters before launching into any sort of solution. You will always need a sketch of the situation, and possibly a second sketch to illustrate the approach you’ll take to solving. You will always need to list and label your variables: neatly, completely, and with units.

Don’t show all your work. What?!?!? Did I really just write that? Yes, but now you need to read very carefully: You must always show your problem-solving approach (like the summation of your forces). But you do not need to show every laborious step of algebra you take. And if you are using your tools correctly, it’s perfectly legitimate (and quite possibly more accurate) to set up your system of equations, or your quadratic, or whatever, then say: System solved with calculator (or Wolfram Alpha, or whatever tool you used). Work smart.

Neat + complete = sweet! If you submit a disorganized page full of random numbers, ink blotches, no figures or sketches, and unlabeled variables which mysteriously change names halfway down the page, you should not expect to be rewarded. Look at your page and ask yourself: ‘Would I be enraged if my instructor threw this up on the board and expected me to learn from it?’ If your answer is anything other than, ‘No! I am very proud of my work! It’s very clear and easy to read and understand,' then re-write it. No excuses. Own it. Take pride in it.

Blackboard Portfolios

You must use Blackboard’s Portfolios tool. Paper portfolios will not be accepted. Here are a few YouTube links to video tutorials for setting up, populating, and sharing your portfolios:

• How to Create and Share Blackboard Portfolios
• How to Create an e-Portfolio on BlackBoard

Your artifacts must be in pdf format. However you choose to work, you must end up with a pdf file that can be uploaded into your Blackboard portfolio. If you work on paper, you can scan your pages using your iPhone (sorry, I don’t know if Androids can do this). Within the Notes app, you can tap the camera icon and pull up a scanner which will allow you to scan and save as pdf. If you typeset using L^AT_EX, you already know how to export your code as a pdf.