Inspired by the TI89 thread.
Let me say that, for math classes, I can understand not using a calculator. In a math class, the sole purpose of the class is to solve the question asked. In calc, diff eq, etc, there is nothing to really to set up, per se. You either know the integrating/differentiating/diff eq methods for that particular equation, or you don't.
But engineering is different. You are not going to school to learn to solve equations but rather to solve problems. There is a difference. The skill of an engineer comes from the ability to look at a problem and set up the equations to solve it, not to actually solve them - the solving is just arithmatic, although very complex. Anyone with a 11th grade education can solve most steady-state circuit problems, so what's the big deal about gloating about doing it by hand?
The whole issue reminds me of my logic design class. My professor has written the book we use for several years, and it has been proclaimed a spectacular book in it's current version. but his earlier versions he was ragged on because he didn't have any VHDL. All the companies and other professors were not approving of his book because it focused on solving of the individual equations, rather than the solving of actual problems. You'd never design anything at the gate level, so why spend an entire book on it? I can buy a CPLD with something like 4500 gates for $10 or something equally insane. Most other EE stuff seems the same way. I mean, you'd never be asked to solve any real system by hand, so what's the point? I'd understand the whole 'by hand' thing if you were just setting the problems up in terms of the variables given, but that is more or less restricted to physics, because i've never seen an EE test like that....
Let me say that, for math classes, I can understand not using a calculator. In a math class, the sole purpose of the class is to solve the question asked. In calc, diff eq, etc, there is nothing to really to set up, per se. You either know the integrating/differentiating/diff eq methods for that particular equation, or you don't.
But engineering is different. You are not going to school to learn to solve equations but rather to solve problems. There is a difference. The skill of an engineer comes from the ability to look at a problem and set up the equations to solve it, not to actually solve them - the solving is just arithmatic, although very complex. Anyone with a 11th grade education can solve most steady-state circuit problems, so what's the big deal about gloating about doing it by hand?
The whole issue reminds me of my logic design class. My professor has written the book we use for several years, and it has been proclaimed a spectacular book in it's current version. but his earlier versions he was ragged on because he didn't have any VHDL. All the companies and other professors were not approving of his book because it focused on solving of the individual equations, rather than the solving of actual problems. You'd never design anything at the gate level, so why spend an entire book on it? I can buy a CPLD with something like 4500 gates for $10 or something equally insane. Most other EE stuff seems the same way. I mean, you'd never be asked to solve any real system by hand, so what's the point? I'd understand the whole 'by hand' thing if you were just setting the problems up in terms of the variables given, but that is more or less restricted to physics, because i've never seen an EE test like that....
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