Hi Folks! The Mid-Term Assessment was completed by 13 out of 37 students in this class. Most seemed reasonably happy; a few were unhappy, one or two extremely so. That is usual. Here are the specific written comments. Since you are in your first semester in College, you may find the instructor's reactions to these comments to be of help as you refine your attitudes towards college life. Some of these may surprise you.

In general, comments about how you are learning, and specific topic areas where you have difficulties, may be of more help than comments like  "Tests Were Too Difficult" which the professor may print out and post on his/her office door. Of course, as you see, all comments are considered very seriously.

Student Comments about the Class or Instructor, and Comments of Instructor on These Comments

Professor Komerath has been an excellent teacher. He knows the material very well. He also writes them down on the board in a
succint fashion which makes it very easy to take notes. However, the only thing he could improve on would be that he could slow down
the pace a little bit. He covers the material very fast and it is very difficult to take notes and fully absorb what he is saying.

Comments from Instructor are in italics:

Thanks for the comments. You are doing exactly what you should be doing: trying to listen to the instructor AND write down notes, and you are evidently being kept busy. AND you are not just giving up and going to sleep!

The pace has increased continuously throughout the course. At the beginning, I  would cover the same material several times, and watch people's eyes to see if they were following me, looking lost, or looking sleepy. Then the pace of note-writing was gradually increased to see how many were scrambling to keep up. There have been a few (very few in this class) instances of someone saying: "wait please" as I was about to erase something. Recently, this has not happened, though the pace is now MUCH faster than in the initial lectures. You are getting better, and fast!  I aim to keep just a little ahead of you so that you keep being. Of course you should stop the professor any time you feel that you are being left behind.

The Teacher assumes we already know this. He doesn''t take time to explain how to work problems, much less the assignment itself.
Most of us are only freshman and haven''t had physics and he assumes we know all of the formula''s. Some of the HW is vauge too.

.....But despite these horrible cruelties,  there is practically 100% success in doing these unfairly difficult and vague assignments, and the performance on the midterm, which tested what you had learned from the assignments, was quite awesome. Over half the class  scored above 90 in absolute grading, and many of you commented that the midterm test was easy and finished well ahead of time.  The progress made by people who are "only freshmen" so far, in designing fighter aircraft, can be seen by going to the web-pages  listing student performance (soon to appear off the ae1350 page).

At Georgia Tech's School of AE, I am not in the business of asking you to do what you are already expert at doing, and are sure of being able to do easily. I am in the business of showing you that you can do far more than you ever imagined yourself capable of doing. Most of your classmates will not have time to sit back and say "we are only freshmen" until the end of the semester: then they will look back and their confidence and capability levels will be far  beyond what it was on August 22, 1999. And yes, I do expect that you still say then: "I learned to do a great many things, but mostly because I am so good: the instructor certainly did not help me solve these problems: I did them on my own!!!" That would not be possible if the instructor just handed you the answers all the time, or stuck to topics which you had learned in high school.

"He doesn''t take time to explain how to work problems, much less the assignment itself."
If you take the trouble to ask the instructor, he will try to help you, IF you have already put some thought and effort into solving the problems yourself. If you sit back and wait for the answers to be fed to you, you will find yourself left behind very quickly. Most of the students in this class are doing extremely well], and are not shy about asking me for help when needed.  So will you, if you try. You probably are doing well already.

could be a little more clear in what he expects out of the assignments and when they are due.

Yes. But won't.  Isn't that terrible?

(a) This is an engineering school, not a law school. The expectations are stated on the first day: "The very best that you can do". Nothing less will suffice. To specify exactly what you should do to be "satisfactory" , or even to "get an A" is to hold back those who would go very far beyond that.

(b) Every assignment has the due date and time specified clearly across the top.  That is when it is due. Now do I "punish" people who are "late"? Probably not at the beginning, considering that they are first-semester freshmen, but I certainly will later, if I decide that the delay is unwarranted. When someone seeks extra time to do a better job, I am usually happy to oblige. Its better than getting half-done pieces of work and "punishing" people. This policy  will never be allowed to hurt those who do their work on time: those folks are noticed and well cared-for, if indeed they need my help. Meanwhile, you will be kept guessing on what constitutes excellent performance, so you keep trying to do better. You are far  too young to retire into mediocrity and comfort.

The instructor always starts 5 minutes before time for class so many students miss material at the beginning of every class.

Now I realize that this is an anonymous survey, but anonymity places the burden on you to be responsible about the statements you make. The class starts at 9:05 on the clock in the room, a clock which is, if anything, slow. Exactly the latest time when I am allowed to start a 9am class at Georgia Tech.  There has been only one exception to this, the day when I was late and that day I started at 9:08.

I realise that there is a chemistry class across campus from 8:05 to 8:55am. And  10 minutes is rather tight to walk across campus, though not unreasonable: I''ve done that walk myself, many times, in less time than that.  This is why there has been no crackdown on late-comers. Consider asking your chemistry teacher not to keep you past 8:55, and get moving to our class: there is no time for dilly-dallying. I am not allowed to wait past 9:05.

I noticed early that its not the Chemistry teacher who is delaying people: most of the students in that class do make it to our class pretty-much on time.

I am in Professor Dancila''s section but they are still making me fill this out.

My sympathies are with you. The Administration probably did that on purpose, just to spite you in particular ?  You could have written out constructive comments regarding Dr. Dancila instead of just whining about it, but that's your prerogative.

the instructor knows the material very well, but he has a problem teaching it. he needs to be more organized when discussing topics in class, instead of jumping back and forth between topics. also, he needs to address students individually, instead of yelling at them in front of their peers.

Glad to hear from someone who knows aerospace engineering so well as to certify that I know it very well.

The course organization was laid out on the sheets that you were given on the first day. It was also explained in class. If you have notes, you should check them and you will see that the organization is being followed. I am sure there are other ways to organize an Introduction to Aerospace Engineering, but yes, this is my way.

"Jump between topics": Yes, sometimes topics other than the precise sequence of the course material are discussed. This is why the course is taught by an experienced human instead of a robot. You are expected to stay alert, and FOLLOW the logic of what is being discussed. If you do not follow it, you are supposed to say: "I don't understand". No need to expect that lectures will simply follow the notes on the web, or the textbook: they don't need me to do that since a recorded message  can do it just as well. And the approach of not paying attention in class, and then trying to make sense of notes, is bound to fail, as it should. Pay attention in class, and the organization will begin to makes sense to you.

"Needs to address students individually instead of yelling at them in front of peers". I am truly confused by this. At least the comment about "always starting courses 5 minutes early" was a clear and obvious lie, but this one really takes the cake.

Just out of curiosity, isn't "yelling at someone in front of their peers" the purest  form of "addressing students individually"? (Just kidding!!!)

The problem that I have, however, is that in AE1350, Fall 99, to-date, I can't imagine any occasion for anyone to feel "yelled-at". It has been  a very pleasant semester. Do "wake up, please" or "take notes, please", or "sit up straight and write: it will help you stay awake" or "please get your calculator out and press the POWER button instead of waiting for me to solve the problem",  all said with a smile, count as "yelling"? If so, I suggest that those  who feel this way have much worse emotional trauma to come. Other than that, if anyone can please let me know what this comment is about, I would greatly appreciate it.

The instructor does not completely explain the material, therefore it is difficult to understand the assigned topics and homeworks. The class has never been organized in a way to accommodate the students and I feel like the professor is unapproachable.

I understand that a comment like this comes from a severe lack of self-esteem, which is quite unnecessary at Georgia Tech: you are a student just like any of the others, and you are considered to be as smart as anyone else. In this class, to-date,  your classmates have sent over ninety e-mail messages, usually at odd hours and usually received a response within the hour. The professor, who does indeed have many other things to occupy his time,  follows  an open-door policy for students in this class, and has spent countless student-hours of discussion in the hallways, in the professor's office or in the research lab, wherever the students ask him questions. Students frequently ask questions in class, and the professor frequently asks you whether you are following the material. You have a standing instruction to raise your hand if you feel lost.

Perhaps you should consider who is "unapproachable": the professor or yourself. You are absolutely right in that the professor will not "accomodate" those who do not try very hard. Nor will "assigned topics" be "completely explained": you are expected to use your brain.

We do try very hard to clear the path for interested students,  but not to "accomodate" such nonsense.  Teaching is a real joy, except when one reads comments such as these. You should consider improving  your attitude, turning a new leaf and becoming a little more honest about the sources of your discomfort, if any.  Definitely quit whining or get out of Georgia Tech.

The projects take way too long for a 2 hour course. Many people might not do them for that reason.

People who don't do the projects have two options: Drop the course, or get the F at the end and do the course again, until they feel like they can afford to spend their valued time on such things. In fact, there are at most two students who have not turned in all the homework.

I am a little confused about what we have learned in class so far. I am missing how homework and in class notes correspond with each other. Homework appeared to be a great deal of tedious work. In the future could you explain the importance of the homework and what we are to gain from it, what are we learning that is covered in class besides applying equations and surfing the internet. Thank you, otherwise I am enjoying the class.

I really appreciate this comment. It says to me: "I am doing a variety of things in this class, and don't yet see where they all connect up. Isn't homework supposed to be just to continue with problems like those worked out in class, so we can practice for the same problems on tests?"  Let me try to explain:

What you are to gain from homework is the experience of thinking and solving a variety of problems, well beyond what can be covered in class.  Glad to hear that you are surfing the internet, though I hope ( in fact your work makes me quite sure) that you are finding information on rockets, aircraft designs, etc. for use in your homework. You (practically everyone in the class) did a fabulous job of finding information on designs related to the one that you are doing this quarter. Also on finding accurate information on how the Space Shuttle flies.   Is that just mindless "surfing"? Well, it produced useful results, did it not?

A few years ago,  such information would have had to be handed to you as "hand-out sheets" with no idea of how one would go about finding such things from scratch. At most, I might have asked you to go to the library, where I might have previously placed one or two copies of a reference book on reserve for 37 people to fight over.  Today, though you are "only freshmen" as someone else said, you did all that searching, finding and analysis  in just a few hours, tedious as those hours may have been. (wish someone gave me that kind of info!)

Feel free to tell prospective employers on summer jobs etc. that your cruel instructor in AE1350 asked you to do such "tedious" work in the first few weeks of college, and you succeeded. See what their reaction is.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying the class.

"Tedious work". Yes, that's why you are doing it as homework, not I as lecture. Someone has to do it, better you than I, since I have ballgames to watch.  :-)

"Applying equations" On Midterm Test Number 1, given problems expressed entirely in words or pictures, with no equations or math symbols, the vast majority of you, yourself probably high among them, easily related the issues to things that you had done in homework, and did extremely well. Maybe you did learn something quite well: how to reduce a problem stated in words to a mathematical problem, and solve it. No one was there to tell you which equation to apply. Not possible unless you had some idea of what those equations meant, and where they came from. Also, not possible unless you knew that the unkind instructor would NOT tell you what equation to use.

One of the many real joys of being a professor at Georgia Tech is the experience of watching the expressions of a class taking an exam in my class. The intense concentration of people who are doing the very best that they can do, and who will not give up, is very inspiring to watch. (Not that it makes the grading any easier, sorry!)

Correspondence between homework and class notes:  Glad that you noticed that the homework is not just to repeat what was covered in class. Obviously you are applying what you learned, extremely well, as you "surf the internet" and "apply equations". These are all different aspects of learning.  Not repetitions of the same thing for memorization.  Much better, in my view, than my writing on the board all that you are expected to learn, for you to go home and memorize and regurgitate on tests.

The other side of all this is that as a GTAE student, you are indeed expected to learn the notes, do the homework, absorb the experience of creating web pages, "surfing the 'net" for useful information under pressure, and still do well on tests. You're doing well. See below, what you have learned so far.

Instructor's View of the Class, So Far

Concepts Learned so far (7 weeks from high school)

Physics, Chemistry, Atmospheric Science, Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics
1. Overview of the design process for aerospace vehicles.
2. Concepts  of vectors, velocity, momentum. Vector addition and vector equation.
3. Newton's Laws of Motion, applied to finding
    (a) acceleration vectors of aircraft in linear acceleration
    (b) trajectories of rockets in simple cases, without using calculus.
    (c) radial acceleration
    (g) "g-forces" on an aircraft during a turn or other maneuver.
4. Concept of Moment, applied to determining equilibrium.
5. The control surfaces of an aircraft, and how they are used to achieve various changes in attitude.

6. Mean Molecular Weight of a gas mixture.
7. Perfect Gas Law.
8. How to find conditions at different levels of the atmosphere above a planet, given the temperature variation and gas composition.
9. Troposphere and Stratosphere of the Earth.
10. Ratio of specific heats.
11. Speed of sound.
12. Mach number.

13. Relation between static pressure, speed and stagnation pressure: Bernoulli equation
14. The dynamic pressure or "q".
15. Lift generation.
16. Nondimensional coefficients: Lift coefficient and drag coefficient.
17. Angle of attack.
18. Lift curve slope of an airfoil.
19. Camber and its effect on lift.
20. Vortex.
21. Lift generation by a vortex.
22. Wings and tip losses.
23. Planform area
24. Aspect ratio
25. Lift-induced drag
26. Profile drag
27. Speed for minimum drag of an aircraft.
28. Finding the slowest speed at which an aircraft can fly at a given altitude.
29. Finding the thrust required to fly at a given speed and altitude.

Design Concepts

1. Mission Specification
2. Mission Profile.
3. Payload.
4. Gross weight.
5. Preliminary weight estimation
6. Benchmarking by comparing with other designs.
7. Wet and dry Thrust of engines.
8. Engine weight fraction of modern fighters.
9. Forming and working with a team.

Computer Skills

1. Using the Internet to browse course pages and notes.
2. Using the Internet to find data on aircraft designs.
3. Using the Internet to find specific data on the Space Shuttle.
4. Using Excel to perform simple calculations.
5. Using Excel to perform a time-stepping calculation to solve a rocket trajectory
     problem, side-stepping need for calculus.
6. Using Excel to plot results.
7. Using graphs to determine limiting conditions for flight.
8. Error estimation, where the effect of different terms on the rocket trajectory was examined.
9. Developing web pages for technical results.
10. Posting graphs on web pages.

....and accelerating faster than a fighter on afterburner...