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Finite element method - Structures 2012, TME245

Your own effort

1. How many hours per week did you spend on this course?

37 svarande

At most 15 hours/week»		2		5%
Around 20 hours/week»		10		27%
Around 25 hours/week»		13		35%
Around 30 hours/week»		10		27%
At least 35 hours/week»		2		5%

Genomsnitt: 3

- The projects was too easy. It should be more things to do during the course.» (At most 15 hours/week)
- The projects where the most time consuming.» (Around 20 hours/week)
- during some weeks it was even more, in order to get the projects done and study all of the theory at the same time.» (Around 25 hours/week)
- Most of the time on the assignments» (Around 30 hours/week)

2. How large part of the teaching offered did you attend?

36 svarande

0%»		1		2%
25%»		3		8%
50%»		2		5%
75%»		7		19%
100%»		23		63%

Genomsnitt: 4.33

- Missed some lectures due to the assignments» (75%)
- There where no time to attend 100% since the other course I took was so time consuming (Timber engineering).» (75%)
- I think it was quite hard to follow the lectures, but maybe that was becouse I didn"t read so much until the end of the course. But Fredrik is a good teacher» (100%)
- Almost all, but I thought it was very hard to follow in the Pace at the lectures.» (100%)
- Almost 100%» (100%)

Goals and goal fulfilment

3. How understandable are the course goals?

I have not seen/read the goals»		15		40%
The goals are difficult to understand»		4		10%
The goals give some guidance, but could be clearer»		9		24%
The goals clearly describe what I am supposed to learn»		9		24%

Genomsnitt: 2.32

- The teacher didn"t really explain in a structured way what things in the course were...He mainly just explained the way to solve equations and create forms - the methods to get from a to b. Would prefer more text and explainations on what we are doing, because many times I had no idea.» (The goals are difficult to understand)
- Lectures and projects were equally important in order to reach to full understanding » (The goals clearly describe what I am supposed to learn)

4. Are the goals reasonable considering your background and the number of credits?

27 svarande

No, the goals are set too low»		0		0%
Yes, the goals seem reasonable»		26		96%
No, the goals are set too high»		1		3%

Genomsnitt: 2.03

- seems a lot like the course was for students taking mechanical engineering more than us structural engineering. all examples and links to other courses was directed to the mechanical engineers. » (Yes, the goals seem reasonable)
- Since the goals where unclear I cannot really answer this one. Sometimes the projects were far to difficult - in comparison with how bad the explaining of the course parts were. One had to consult with classmates and complete the task by trial and error, rather than understanding.» (Yes, the goals seem reasonable)

5. Did the examination assess whether you have reached the goals?

No, not at all»		0		0%
To some extent»		11		37%
Yes, definitely»		16		55%
I don"t know/have not been examined yet»		2		6%

Genomsnitt: 2.68

- The exams covered lots of fields from the knowledge we were supposed to have gained, but the structure of this particular exams didn"t help a lot to write the answers with a good pace.it was a bit difficult to get a nice rhythm and flow in the answers,due to the variety of the fields that the exams thesis tried to cover. » (Yes, definitely)

Teaching and course administration

6. To what extent has the teaching been of help for your learning?

Small extent»		5		13%
Some extent»		18		48%
Large extent»		9		24%
Great extent»		5		13%

Genomsnitt: 2.37

- The lectures didn"t give much understanding at all. It is clear that the teacher is knowledgeable and intelligent. But perhaps he doesn"t realise that more explaining is needed than just to write down equations and solve them on the blackboard. He needs to write some correposing text to equation - explaining them - and have more structures lectures in that way. Sometimes he mentiones and explaines stuff well - but he needs to write it down clearly as well - because it"s advanced enought that we forget or don"t follow it when he just says it! If he writes it down we can think about it and read it, try to understand it better later on.» (Small extent)
- It would help a lot if the lectures were spent on conveying the main idea behind each topic instead of mathematical derivations.» (Small extent)
- As said before, I thought it was hard to understand since it was so abstract» (Some extent)
- Have not used the oppertunity to ask the teacher. My own choise is often to study alone.» (Some extent)
- Since there was no time to calculate examples there was no time for repetition of what had been said in the lectures.» (Some extent)
- Lectures were great help, due to the choice of writing at the board, instead of powerpoint slides.Also, the exercise sessions at the computer gave answers to lots of specific questions. » (Great extent)
- Fredrik is great.» (Great extent)

7. To what extent has the course literature and other material been of help for your learning?

Small extent»		5		13%
Some extent»		7		18%
Large extent»		17		45%
Great extent»		8		21%

Genomsnitt: 2.75

- Sporadic literature - i.e. hard to find what one is looking for. » (Small extent)
- Read another book by J.N.Reddy. Liked it much more than the suggested textbook.» (Small extent)
- hard to read and understand everything in the literature.» (Some extent)
- the compendiums where very good help» (Large extent)
- The theory in the compedia that were handed out was very well explained. It would be nice though to put some more specific examples between the theory.» (Great extent)
- The compendia have been very usefull, much better then any all-composing book with to much non-important information» (Great extent)
- The book is very good eventhoguh we did not use it a lot in this course. The compendiums were of great help.» (Great extent)

8. To what extent was the examination helpful for learning the topic

Matrisfråga

- ABAQUS was just a repetition of what we did in FEM Basics. »
- I think all of the tasks above were very helpful, but I think that Abaqus lab could be even more improved.»
- The students of structural Eng. had a very good abaqus lab considering dynamics and eigen-frequency in a course called Timber Engineering. In that project a timber floor (Bjälklag) was analysed. So the abaquslab in FEM-structures was somehow överflödig.»
- The first project was much funnier, it was a real life construction.»
- Buckling harder to grasp, ABAQUS LAB little understanding and much just clicking.»

Project 1 - Axi-symmetry and plates
37 svarande

Small extent»		1		2%
Some extent»		6		16%
Large extent»		19		51%
Great extent»		11		29%
No opinion»		0

Genomsnitt: 3.08

Project 2 - Non-linear FEM
37 svarande

Small extent»		0		0%
Some extent»		0		0%
Large extent»		20		54%
Great extent»		17		45%
No opinion»		0

Genomsnitt: 3.45

Project 3 - Buckling
37 svarande

Small extent»		0		0%
Some extent»		3		8%
Large extent»		19		52%
Great extent»		14		38%
No opinion»		1

Genomsnitt: 3.3

ABAQUS LAB
37 svarande

Small extent»		17		45%
Some extent»		13		35%
Large extent»		6		16%
Great extent»		1		2%
No opinion»		0

Genomsnitt: 1.75

Written exam
34 svarande

Small extent»		0		0%
Some extent»		10		30%
Large extent»		16		48%
Great extent»		7		21%
No opinion»		1

Genomsnitt: 2.9

9. How well did the course administration, web page, handouts etc work?

Very badly»		1		2%
Rather badly»		2		5%
Rather well»		18		48%
Very well»		16		43%

Genomsnitt: 3.32

- Seriously!? How is it even possible not to make sure that all flies related to the Project are uploaded when we are supposed to start working with them? In project three we had to make our own mesh generator, we didn"t know that you forgot to upload it. It was like this for every project. Inexcusable!! » (Very badly)
- Acces problems to often» (Rather badly)
- It was good except the ABAQUS lab where the instructions should be clearer. For example som steps were missing in the meshing part.» (Rather well)
- In all the courses I met on MPSEB masters programme the teacher used PING-PONG system. therefore studentportal is confusing and unfriendly for me. Also it didnt work properly always.» (Rather well)
- When updated versions of something is put on the webpage, a oral notice could be given at class. Otherwise it is very easy to miss that something has been updated. » (Rather well)
- Even easier to use pingpong» (Rather well)
- Use pingpong next year, its a much better platform.» (Rather well)
- Everything was in place and easy to reach.» (Very well)
- But I would prefer you to use pingpong instead since the student portal do not always work so well.» (Very well)

Study climate

10. How were the opportunities for asking questions and getting help?

Very poor»		1		2%
Rather poor»		2		5%
Rather good»		6		16%
Very good»		24		64%
I did not seek help»		4		10%

Genomsnitt: 3.75

- Poor computer rooms - crowded and too few teachers.» (Very poor)
- The assistans was rahter poor in explaining and their pedagogical skills were lacking. In addition to that the assistans spend to much time helping a few. 4 groups in 2 hours is not much help for the other students, and as said, the help was poor.» (Rather poor)
- At the computer sessions there were not enought teachers for everyone to get the help needed.» (Rather poor)
- I know that you have a lot to do.» (Rather good)
- We got much help from Andreas» (Very good)
- There were many opportunities to get help during every week.» (Very good)
- Fredrik has been very helpfull with all types of questions.» (Very good)
- Very helpful lecturer and project tutors.» (Very good)

11. How well has cooperation between you and your fellow students worked?

Very poorly»		0		0%
Rather poorly»		0		0%
Rather well»		4		10%
Very well»		30		81%
I did not seek cooperation»		3		8%

Genomsnitt: 3.97

- In this course it has been essential to work with other students - since the lectures didn"t provide any guidance and the opportunities for questions to teachers were few. It was hard to find any guidance in the literature as well.» (Very well)

12. How was the course workload?

Too low»		0		0%
Low»		1		2%
Adequate»		19		51%
High»		16		43%
Too high»		1		2%

Genomsnitt: 3.45

- Perhaps only adequate since I had another course with a light workload in parallell to this one. Otherwise I think the workload in this course might be a bit to high.» (Adequate)
- The course work load was high, which sometimes didn"t allow for further deepening the knowledge of the fields covered.» (High)

13. How was the total workload this study period?

Too low»		0		0%
Low»		3		8%
Adequate»		13		35%
High»		12		32%
Too high»		9		24%

Genomsnitt: 3.72

- Low, but not due to the courses - It is due to a crisis situation - fire in the studenthousing - which I chose to deal with primarily and deal with the courses best I could.» (Low)
- FEM course was ok, the projects took some time, but the exam is "just one point" if you are not looking for 5. my other course was TIMBER ENGINEERING - 16h every week, BIG project and difficult exam too. so sometimes i was under pressure, but not by FEM.» (High)
- Both courses, FEM structures and Timber engineering had project tasks that required lots of hours of work, but I think that worked for our benefit at the end.» (High)
- Due to this course, not to composite» (Too high)
- Most because of the Timber engineering course I took.» (Too high)
- I had three courses this quarter» (Too high)

Summarizing questions

14. What is your general impression of the course?

Poor»		1		2%
Fair»		3		8%
Adequate»		7		18%
Good»		19		51%
Excellent»		7		18%

Genomsnitt: 3.75 (bidrar till totalt genomsnitt/jämförelseindex)

- The course is good and the teaching is great. However, for those of us who have taken the finite element course at the mechanical engineering program, there is a great deal of the course that feels like repetition. Now, when the course is finished, it does not feel like I have learnt as much new as would correspond to 7.5 points. » (Adequate)
- It could have been helpful if some basics of FEM were revised for a lecture in the beginning of the course, just to refresh the major concepts and clear the track for further topics. » (Good)
- The course was very interesting and covered very well the specific topics it dealt with. » (Excellent)
- One of the more interesting courses I have taken at Chalmers thus far.» (Excellent)

15. What should definitely be preserved to next year?

16. What should definitely be changed to next year?

17. Additional comments