Benefits of Attending Class.
A post on the newsgroups by Prof. Narayan Rangaraj. Prof. Rangaraj teaches Operations Research at IIT Bombay.
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Dear people who are registered for ME 408(IEOR-2)
After deep thought arising from a decade of teaching this course, and collating the feedback of thousands (well, eight hundred or so) of seniors and colleagues, this is the deal (all my own work).
Top five reasons for attending the course
1) Ever since the dawn of civilized man and the early Phoenicians invented something and the Indus Valley guys invented something else, man and woman have thirsted to learn more about how the world is organised, how the stars move, how inventory is
managed and how the central limit theorem can be used to control product quality.
2) Minimum 85% attendance is required in the course, otherwise there is an automatic XX in a core course, which is a real pain to deal with, later on.
3) IE and OR provides a fascinating window of learning, with its unique mix of engineering and mathematics, management and science, theory and practice, computation and common sense, and one other thing. For some reason, faculty in management schools who are interviewing IITians feel that engineers should know more about this, more's the pity.
4) The instructor feels really happy at seeing large numbers of people coming into class and where he has to use a mike, but doesn't because his voice is loud enough. The instructor then takes a benign view of the class, quizzes and everything else (but don't bet on the last part).
5) You might actually learn something interesting, or even useful.
Five reasons which will be accepted as valid excuses for not attending (with supporting documents)
1) I broke my leg while entering the classroom as there was a stampeding crowd of people behind me trying to get at the last few seats in the class. Copy of X-ray.
2) I had to assist the Director and Dean as a student representative in the signing of an MOU with Mars Institute of Technology (one of the top schools in the universe). Press photograph with you in it with the Director and/or Dean and people from Mars.
3) My brother/sister got married yesterday. Copy of marriage certificate.
3a) Only for children of Elizabeth Taylor -- my mother got married yesterday. Copy of birth certificate.
4) There was an earthquake in the hostel. Copy of disaster relief disbursement from the Commissioner.
4a) I was attacked by a leopard on the way to class. Photograph by friend in which leopard and you can be spotted.
5) I'm actually dead and could not make it from heaven on the day of registration. Death certificate from competent authorities.
Five reasons which will NOT be accepted as valid excuses, even if true.
1) My friend's two wheeler has gone for annual maintenance.
2) My room partner did not wake me up.
3) I did not know the lecture timings (it is Tue 9.30, Thu 10.30 and Fri 8.30, so there goes that excuse)
4) I am interested only in control theory, not in IEOR.
4a) My brain is suffering from course overload in this, my sixth or eighth semester. Why did I get into this thing? I didn't realize it would be so painful to get through. Enough is enough, etc.
5) I did not know that attendance mattered. You do now.
With regards, and hoping to see you, you know where. I promise I will speak loud enough to keep you awake and can even arrange for pillows (at Rs 5 per lecture hour) if your head keeps hitting the desk from a height (some advance notice needed for providing this service). ONLY non-negotiable part of the course is that cheating is not permitted in exams, tests, quizzes and assignments and will be penalized heavily.
Everything else about the course is negotiable, provided you show up.
Narayan Rangaraj
--
Dear people who are registered for ME 408(IEOR-2)
After deep thought arising from a decade of teaching this course, and collating the feedback of thousands (well, eight hundred or so) of seniors and colleagues, this is the deal (all my own work).
Top five reasons for attending the course
1) Ever since the dawn of civilized man and the early Phoenicians invented something and the Indus Valley guys invented something else, man and woman have thirsted to learn more about how the world is organised, how the stars move, how inventory is
managed and how the central limit theorem can be used to control product quality.
2) Minimum 85% attendance is required in the course, otherwise there is an automatic XX in a core course, which is a real pain to deal with, later on.
3) IE and OR provides a fascinating window of learning, with its unique mix of engineering and mathematics, management and science, theory and practice, computation and common sense, and one other thing. For some reason, faculty in management schools who are interviewing IITians feel that engineers should know more about this, more's the pity.
4) The instructor feels really happy at seeing large numbers of people coming into class and where he has to use a mike, but doesn't because his voice is loud enough. The instructor then takes a benign view of the class, quizzes and everything else (but don't bet on the last part).
5) You might actually learn something interesting, or even useful.
Five reasons which will be accepted as valid excuses for not attending (with supporting documents)
1) I broke my leg while entering the classroom as there was a stampeding crowd of people behind me trying to get at the last few seats in the class. Copy of X-ray.
2) I had to assist the Director and Dean as a student representative in the signing of an MOU with Mars Institute of Technology (one of the top schools in the universe). Press photograph with you in it with the Director and/or Dean and people from Mars.
3) My brother/sister got married yesterday. Copy of marriage certificate.
3a) Only for children of Elizabeth Taylor -- my mother got married yesterday. Copy of birth certificate.
4) There was an earthquake in the hostel. Copy of disaster relief disbursement from the Commissioner.
4a) I was attacked by a leopard on the way to class. Photograph by friend in which leopard and you can be spotted.
5) I'm actually dead and could not make it from heaven on the day of registration. Death certificate from competent authorities.
Five reasons which will NOT be accepted as valid excuses, even if true.
1) My friend's two wheeler has gone for annual maintenance.
2) My room partner did not wake me up.
3) I did not know the lecture timings (it is Tue 9.30, Thu 10.30 and Fri 8.30, so there goes that excuse)
4) I am interested only in control theory, not in IEOR.
4a) My brain is suffering from course overload in this, my sixth or eighth semester. Why did I get into this thing? I didn't realize it would be so painful to get through. Enough is enough, etc.
5) I did not know that attendance mattered. You do now.
With regards, and hoping to see you, you know where. I promise I will speak loud enough to keep you awake and can even arrange for pillows (at Rs 5 per lecture hour) if your head keeps hitting the desk from a height (some advance notice needed for providing this service). ONLY non-negotiable part of the course is that cheating is not permitted in exams, tests, quizzes and assignments and will be penalized heavily.
Everything else about the course is negotiable, provided you show up.
Narayan Rangaraj
posted by Puru Iyengar at 10:30 PM
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