Review of 1A

2021-06-04

thoughts
uni

Some (very late) thoughts on 1A

Welcome back! As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I wanted to do a recap of what happened in 1A since I never got around to it. Unfortunately though, because I have also completed 1B, and 1A is a much more distant memory, so this post will be quite short. It also only covers classes, since the more “reflection-y” parts will come later on in the 1B and overall first year look back.

Classes

Just some quick thoughts on each class. If you were ever wondering what the course descriptions of any courses at Waterloo were, you can check out the course descriptions page. There is also the degree requirements page for computer engineering.

MATH 115: Linear Algebra for Engineering

An interesting course that was taught very well! Linear algebra was a brand new topic for me, so it was a bit challenging but still doable.

MATH 117: Calculus 1 for Engineering

Calculus course, covers largely what you learned in high school, with the addition of a few theorems and integration (not all high schools cover integration). Generally manageable, although the final exam was interesting to say the least. You can probably find some discussion about it on Reddit

ECE 105: Classical Mechanics

Likely the hardest course you will encounter in 1A (if you are completely brand new to programming then ECE 150 might be more difficult). The focus is more on the manipulation of equations instead of arriving at a final numerical answer, so actually understanding what you are doing might be helpful

Fun fact: I forget which unit, but there was something called the watermelon method to solving certain types of problems

ECE 150: Fundamentals of Programming

Language of instruction is C++. Starts off from the basics at a reasonable pace (loops, if else statements, variables) and then speeds up around midterms (pointers, classes). Also generally manageable!

Note: The course is supposed to be designed for people with no prior programming experience, so it is definitely possible to complete the course like that. If you do have time or are interested in programming, it does help to take a look at some of the concepts before school starts (It will also make looking for a coop much easier!)

ECE 190: Engineering Profession and Practice

Relatively straightforward course, covers some information on engineering profession and practice. There is a good chunk of group work, so it is one way to meet new people in first term!

ARTS 190: Communication in the Engineering Profession

In previous years this was ENGL 192 or SPCOM 192, but our year the course code changed to ARTS 190. The content should be roughly the same though (communication in engineering). Also relatively straightforward, and somewhat relevant to future coops and jobs since clear communication is quite important!

There was also supposed to be some kind of project studio (ECE 198), but due to COVID-19 and other administrative events that did not end up happening for us. Maybe in the Fall 2021 term!

WEEF TAs

WEEF TAs (where WEEF stands for Waterloo Engineering Endowment Foundation) are upper year students on their co-op term who help out with first year courses. They are super helpful! Most first year courses have at least one WEEF TA, and for ECE students they were in MATH 115, MATH 117 and ECE 150. Would highly encourage anyone who needs help, wants to ask questions or just chat to meet with them!

From what I understand, in normal circumstances there is a WEEF office where you can drop-in for help. Online, they did it through Microsoft Teams which also worked quite well (you join the call which is the “help desk”, they submit a request for you and then a WEEF TA reaches out to you). There are certain times where they get more requests, like the day an assignment is due, but usually the wait times are quite short.

Piazza

In addition to the LEARN page for the course, typically there will be another platform where students can ask questions and the teaching staff/other students can answer them. In 1A, most (if not all) the classes used a platform called Piazza, where you can post questions and answer other questions, usually with the option to be anonymous to your classmates (but not the teaching staff). I found it very useful, since a lot of other people have the exact same question as you, and you can help each other out!

Closing Thoughts

In terms of academics, at the time 1A seemed quite stressful, but since I am writing this after 1B, well, I know that it was actually not that bad Transitioning into university with online school is probably also easier than into in-person school, since there is more leeway in terms of how you schedule your time to watch the largely asynchronous lectures and do homework. Overall though, manageable!