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ME 325 - Machine Design
Disclaimer: This review is based off of my experience with Professor Coburn in his ME 233/L class. The option for 233 was not yet available when I wrote this.
In my opinion, Professor Coburn is one of the best professors in the ME department. He is ...
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Disclaimer: This review is based off of my experience with Professor Coburn in his ME 233/L class. The option for 233 was not yet available when I wrote this.
In my opinion, Professor Coburn is one of the best professors in the ME department. He is an extremely driven, kind, and experienced/knowledgeable teacher who has a passion for teaching. He constantly seeks to better himself and asks for student feedback frequently. His lectures are clear and USUALLY kept pretty interesting by his enthusiasm, relations of the material to real world applications, and student interactions. Honestly, I wish I had him for statics, dynamics, and strengths because he explained concepts from those classes so well, that I think he would have been better than the teachers I actually took for them. Occasionally his lectures seemed to be a bit long and hard to follow, but I am almost positive that this was due to the fact that I had to take the class at 8am. Oh, and HE DOESN'T MAKE YOU BUY A TEXTBOOK. Instead he makes you a "softbook" with 90% of the pertinent information you need (the other 10% is in his lecture notes which he posts online).
The way Coburn structures his grading system is absolutely ideal in my opinion. When I took him, the grading system was as follows:
Homework = 20%
Quizzes AND In-Class Exercises = 20%
Projects = 30%
Test #1,2, and Final = 10% each
The homework for this class usually isn't very demanding, which is nice since it allows you to focus more on your projects (which are due once every three weeks). There was only one assignment that was a nightmare for everyone, but Coburn apologized for that and recognized it was due to a lack of information and was generous on grading that one. You can usually get extra credit on homework for being remarkably neat or for showing a bit of additional effort into any design questions he gives you.
The quizzes were probably my biggest complaint about the class. They were never really hard, but Coburn is the biggest hard ass when it comes to grading quizzes. One tiny mistake will probably bring you down to a C and a formatting or lay out error will likely leave you at an F. It's at least reassuring to know that your quiz grade is combined with the in-class assignment grade. The in-class exercises are always fun little design projects that you work on with a partner or group and finish before the end of the session. Coburn is awesome because what he looks for in these is thought, effort, and following of directions. If he sees these three things, you probably won't get any less than an A. He's not super hung up on seeing that all your calculations are correct, which is nice and allows you to focus more on coming up with cool ideas, nice drawings, and a well-constructed report.
The projects for this class aren't insane like the ones I've heard from a couple other professors. I think these ones are perfectly made for a 200 level class. The ones for my class included the dissection and explanation of the functionality of a tool, toy, or mechanism, construction of a marshmallow shooter, and construction of a spring or lever-powered all-terrain vehicle. Coburn is usually pretty nice about grading the projects, as long as you follow directions and your thing works. Again, he's not super picky about seeing that your calculations are 100% correct, as long as you have reasonable-looking ones that obviously apply to your project. He'll also give out extra credit for these if he says you put a bit of extra love into them.
The midterms aren't bad. Honestly, if you pay attention in class and put a few hours of studying into it, you should do pretty well on them. He definitely doesn't throw in stuff that he hasn't covered, so again, just make sure you study the equations well and what everything means.
On top of all this, he offers extra credit in class to people who participate and also assigns two manageable extra credit projects for a decent amount of points.
Bottom Line: Professor Coburn is fantastic. Awesome teacher, nice guy, offers tons of extra credit, doesn't make you buy a textbook, and genuinely cares about his students. His only downside is his harsh grading. You should definitely take him if you can.
Pros:
Knowledgeable
Pretty good at teaching and explaining concepts
Really energetic
Lots of extra credit opportunities
Could potentially be a very fun class
Workload is pretty much perfectly balanced
Incredibly friendly and approachable
Funny
Always asks about how he can improve
He lifts
Cons:
Really harsh grading for quizzes and tests
Lectures can drag a bit sometimes (but that's not necessarily his fault)
Professor rated by: Accounting Student on 5/21/15
+43 Helpful