<p>Everyone works at different speeds. Don’t pay any mind to people who brag about how fast they got their homework done and don’t dread the idea of having to struggle for 15 hours. The important part is that you get it right, and that comes from understanding. You may actually find you enjoy struggling with the material on your own once you start internalizing some concepts and gain confidence. </p>
<p>That said, don’t be afraid to utilize any and all resources, including the professor, your classmates, online video/tutorials, practice problems with a solutions manual, etc etc. I like to state: “I don’t care where the knowledge comes from as long as it ends up in my head.” To really test your knowledge though, tutor and/or help someone else out. You’ll find that explaining the material to someone else solidifies your understanding.</p>
<p>“10-15 hours on a single problem?” - I agree… probably per problem set (one or two per week). I was in DD’s engineering dorm when students were discussing the fact that the calc prof did not assign a problem (good forme - it was Parent Weekend). They were practically giddy. </p>
I never said it was easy. I never said ANYTHING in engineering is easy. If it was easy, a lot more people would do it but it would pay half as well. Get used to it being hard.</p>
<p>I have certainly been in the position of taking a test where I didn’t understand how it even related to the previous material. I have certainly been in the position of spending hours working on a single problem (yes, on a single problem!). I have certainly been in the position where I understood the concept but not the application, or where I was blinding applying a concept that I did not understand.</p>
<p>You are struggling. There are two things you need to do:</p>
<p>First, get used to struggling. Like I said, engineering is hard as college majors go, even for the A students. You will likely spend your entire college career watching other people have an easier go at it on other paths. The reward comes after, when you are making half again or twice as much as they are in your career.</p>
<p>Second, change what you are doing. Your current method of studying and solving problems is not working for you. I and a few others have offered some alternate methods for you to try. You will still struggle if you do these, but the result of that struggle will (hopefully) be struggling and succeeding rather than struggling and failing.</p>
<p>That’s excellent to hear. If you do go to the professor, don’t be afraid to ask questions about old assignments like that either, even if it won’t count on your quiz anymore. It shows that you care and that you genuinely want to learn the material and are willing to work to do so even without the grade motivation. As someone who has taught a college course before, it’s a refreshing attitude that not enough students have, honestly. Many are just working for the grade. Keep it up and it will help.</p>
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<p>Absolutely they count. Keep in mind that if you are comparing your own grasp of the material to your professors or graduate students, you are bound to come up short. These people have spent years more with the material than you have. They didn’t learn it overnight, and most likely a substantial number of them had to really work to get through the same material you are studying now when they first took the course, too. If you stick with it, it will be easier. There are definitely courses I took as an undergraduate that just totally blew my mind at the time, but years later I look back and wonder how it was so difficult (the C I got in electric circuits comes to mind).</p>
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<p>Most people consider mechanics to be easier than E&M. E&M generally requires a little more advanced knowledge in calculus and, like you said, isn’t usually as easily visualized. That said, some people find it easier. I think someone in another thread already told you this, but the biggest sorts of things you will need to carry over from mechanics to E&M are the basic problem solving methodology, calculus, and some of the simple things like F=ma. So yes, there is some overlap, and you will find that a lot of physical laws across different branches of physics take similar form, but struggling in mechanics doesn’t mean you are doomed for E&M. At the very least, when you take E&M you will have experience with the problem solving methodology required for physics, which is no small thing. That may be your biggest problem at this point rather than the concepts.</p>
<p>I definitely meant problem <em>set</em> … not a single problem. If you’re spending that long on one standard homework problem, and getting nowhere, you’re doing something wrong.</p>
<p>10-15ish hours for 8-13 problems (many of which may have 4 or 5 different parts).</p>
<p>& yes, that’s for my calculus II class. Engineering takes a bit less time, computer science took about 20-25 hours/wk (or, rather, it should have; I dropped it because I couldn’t handle the time commitment).</p>
<p>@lldm21 Oh, well, im in calc 2 now and my problems are never that long… well except when I mess up on trig substitions lol…Im taking computer science this semester as well, it takes a lot of my time, but since i know what i’m doing i don’t mind the extra time. What engineering classes have you taken? Fundamentals of engineering design ?</p>
<p>@Shipsarecool Electromagnetics is typically considered more difficult than mechanics. However, since you are a EE, you’ll probably find it more interesting! If so, that will make a world of difference while studying. You may even find yourself “day dreaming” about oscillating magnetic fields haha</p>