APSC 101
“This CLASS FEELS LIKE HAVING A FULL TIME JOB.”
THE BEAUTY OF 101
OVERVIEW
APSC 101 is a great intro to engineering at Queen's. Yes, although it may be one of the most frustrating classes of first year, it’s definitely the one that will give you the most hands-on experience. You'll work in teams of 5-6 to solve a given problem using concepts from your other courses. Generally, each person will focus on a different part of the project, and you'll get hands-on experience with tools like Arduino and CAD software. Last year, for example, Sci ‘27 had to build an automated fluid dispenser, which included mechanical, software, and electrical components. EVERYONE in your year is working on the same project, including Tron and ECEI students.
The way this course is structured is much different than other courses. You’ll have “studio” time with your team members, where you’ll be given lessons about how to work as a team and how to approach certain elements of the project. This is not time to physically work on your project. You’ll also have meetings with a project manager. They’ll essentially check in on your project’s progress, your team’s dynamic, and be available if you have any questions. And to work on your project and deliverables, you typically schedule work sessions with the rest of your team.
SOME TIPS FOR DOING WELL
It can be a bit unclear as to how to succeed in APSC 101 is assessed, and that’s mainly because it’s very “team-work” based. Here are a few tips I’d like to share:
GOOD MODELING
When I say “modeling”, it’s generally everything mathematical. For your project, you can’t just start building and hope for the best. For mine, we used digital and mathematical models to help you create a solution that has a better chance of working correctly. I found that this was typically evaluated through the reports in the second half of your project.
TEAMWORK
Probably THE MOST important part of APSC 101: it’s all about how you can work with your team members. This can be especially challenging, since you’ll be working with people you’ve never met prior to Queen’s. I found a lot of your grade was dependent on peer review, so making sure you have good relationships with your team members is essential.
BEING PROFESSIONAL
Although “professionalism” is partly based on the interactions you have with team members, I’m referring primarily to the reports. APSC 101 puts a lot of emphasis on delivering a project that is economically viable, sustainable, environmentally-friendly, safe, and innovative (because that’s what your real-life projects should be like). In my reports, it was SUPER important to describe how we’d incorporated all of these elements into the project.
HAVING A GOOD DESIGN
This includes pretty much the entire design process of your machine and considers how much effort you’ve put into each step, such as ideation, modelling, evaluation, testing, etc. The course will teach you everything they’ll expect for the design process, so it’s extremely important to pay attention to exactly what the instructors are asking for.
COMMUNICATING WITH EVERYONE
This isn’t only “team” communication; it’s how well and concise your reports are. I found we were strictly graded with this because of how heavily communication is valued. This also includes the graphical elements in your reports, which can be one of the easiest ways to improve your communication in reports.
WRITING GOOD REFLECTIONS
For us, we’d have quite a few reflections that happened throughout the project. You might have a chance to reflect on the design process, how your team approached problems, and how you’d proceed if you were to redo the project. Make sure you’re putting in a lot of time into this, because this is a) one of the most meaningful parts of the class and b) where a lot of your marks come from.
BEST ADVICE FOR APSC 101
FINISH THOSE REPORTS BEFORE THE SUNDAY DEADLINE
APSC 101 is undoubtedly the most time consuming course of first semester. The reports take an extremely long time to write, so it’s essential to finish these (or at least the first draft) before the weekend to allow buffer time for mistakes. If you’re relying on using computers in the ILC to complete the CAD, it can get extremely busy the nights before these deadlines.
Make your groupchat over text
Do NOT use platforms like Snap because the messages will disappear after 24 hours. If something in your team goes disastrously wrong, you’ll want to be able to have communication receipts to show course faculty and your project manager.
KEEP your project manager updated
Every team is going to have struggles. If these struggles ever get out of hand, you’ll want to have faculty aware of what’s doing on so that appropriate measures can be taken. Remember that your PMs and the faculty have the power to change/adjust your final grade based on your contributions as a team member (this happens more frequently than you’d expect). The more you keep your project manager updated (CC in emails, individual meetings, etc.), the more they’ll be able to take action.
DON’t GET DISCOURAGED BY THE GRADING
APSC 101 is notorious for grading reports harshly (ask any upper year ever). Even if you feel you’ve written an incredible report, it won’t always be reflected that way in the marking scheme. It generally improves as the course progresses. Just remember that most of the course’s evaluation is on teamwork and applying concepts you’ve learned in class.
BUILDING YOUR PROJECT
BUILDING YOUR PROJECT
Budget as much time as possible for building your actual prototype. I would have budgeted at least two weeks, because the chances of one of your parts breaking or being the wrong size are high.
Find a good space to work in for a few hours in a row. It’s important to set aside LOTS of time to work on your project for assembly and testing. I would recommend 3-5 hour blocks in a residence study room, someone’s house (if they live off campus), a room in the ILC, or anywhere that you can work on your project without disrupting others.