Course Description

ENGR 1410 Programming and Problem Solving: 3 credit (contact hours: 2)

Students formulate and solve engineering problems individually and on teams using MATLAB and other computer
applications; estimate answers for comparison to computed solutions; read, interpret and write programs, instructions
and formatted output; create and interpret plots and trendlines; evaluate and compose conditional statements and
looping structures; and debug. Various forms of technical communication are emphasized. Preq: ENGR 1020 with a C
or better; or ENGR 1060 with a C or better; or ENGR 1520 with a C or better. Coreq: ENGR 1411.

Course Meeting Times and Instructor Information

Section Day Time Room Instructor Email Office
MWF 10:10am – 11:00am 015 Lowry Professor
-523 [email protected] Freeman 278
Thu 8:00am – 8:50am 015 Lowry Chelsea Spence

Course Delivery
All class meetings will be conducted synchronously in-person, meeting at the time and location listed above.

Important Course Dates

A full academic calendar is available at the following link, but below are the summarized important dates for Fall 2023.
 First day class meets in person ......................................................................................... Wednesday August 23
 Last day to add a course............................................................................................................. Tuesday August 29
 Last day to drop a course without receiving a W on your academic record ............................ Wednesday September 6
 Midterm grade deadline.............................................................................................................. Friday October 13
 No class – Fall Break .................................................................................................................. October 16-17
 Last day to drop a course ........................................................................................................... Friday October 27
 No class – Thanksgiving Break .................................................................................................. November 22 – 24
 Last day to submit bonus† .......................................................................................................... Friday December 8
 Last day of class for courses ...................................................................................................... Friday December 8
 Quizzes (7 quizzes on Fridays)........................................................................................... 9/1, 9/8, 9/29, 10/6,
10/13, 11/3, 11/10
 Exams (3 exams on Mondays) ......................................................................................... 9/18, 10/23, 11/20
 Final Exam ....................................................................................................................... Tuesday December 13
†Note: Bonus activities related to two beginning of semester surveys close on September 8.

Student Meeting Hours (aka Office Hours)

Student meeting hours will be held in-person. I have regularly scheduled office hours, however, to manage the number of students
at any time I will be using a sign-up system. The link is provided on the Canvas homepage. Generally, I will have appointments
available during these times:
Monday 11:15 – 12:15 Tuesday 9:15 – 10:15 Friday 11:15 – 12:15
The appointment hours may vary each week to offer a variety of time blocks to accommodate student schedules or high
demand. These times may change depending on the instructor’s schedule and the needs of the students; be sure to check the
appointment sign-up link on Canvas for the most up-to-date schedule. If the times available for appointments do not work with
your schedule, please email me to set up an appointment time that works for you.
Grade Distribution
 Homework = 5%  Exams (3 @ 20%) = 60%
 Labs (4) = 5%  Final Exam = 25%
 Quizzes (7) = 5%

* The Lab portion of the grade is based on the work done in ENGR 1411.
Late Policy
Some assignments may be submitted late. Please refer to the course schedule and / or individual assignment requirements for
actual late deadlines and availability. For an assignment using the MyEngineeringLab system, if an assignment is submitted
late, it will be penalized 10% for any portion of the assignment completed after the deadline. For other assignments, submitted
as a single submission, the 10% penalty will apply to the total grade.

Return of Graded Work

For assignments submitted using the MyEngineeringLab system, work is auto-graded and scores are available immediately upon
completion of the assignment although it sometimes take 8 hours for grades to transfer to Canvas. For other assignments,
every effort will be made to post grades and provide feedback within one week of the original submission date.
Previous Work
If a student is repeating ENGR 1410, none of the student’s previous work will be counted. The expectation is that the student
will rework all homework and lab assignments to better learn and understand the material.
Bonus Opportunities
A bonus of up to 2 points on your final grade can be earned by completing approved bonus activities; see the “Bonus
Opportunities” module on Canvas. All bonus activities must be completed and submitted according to the document
specifications and deadlines.
• 1 point may be earned by completing approved bonus activities (such as ASC Workshops) and submitting required
documentation. Bonus points for activities are only applicable to students who end the course with a final course grade
of 70 or higher; this bonus may not be used to raise a failing grade to passing.
• 1 point may be earned by completing approved surveys and the course evaluation. These bonus points are applicable
to all students regardless of grade.
Quiz Policies

All quizzes will be proctored in-person during class using some combination of MATLAB, paper, GradeScope, and/or Canvas with
or without Respondus Lockdown browser at the discretion of the instructor. Details are provided on the course management
system about downloading and installing the necessary software, which is free through Clemson CCIT. It is your responsibility to
ensure you have the necessary software installed. Failure to install it or get it working will result in a zero on that assignment or
quiz. Technical issues such as failure to have a working copy of Respondus downloaded prior to the quiz will result in no
makeup quiz allowed.

All quizzes will be administered on the days listed on the course calendar. No make-up quizzes will be administered. If a quiz is
missed due to an unexcused absence, a score of zero will be recorded. If a quiz is missed due to a documented, excused
absence, that quiz will be excused from your grade calculation and the remaining quizzes will be rescaled. Quiz grades of zero
given for instances where a student is found in violation of the academic integrity policy will not be dropped. One quiz score will
be dropped from the grade calculation; the dropped quiz will be whichever quiz results in the greatest benefit to your grade.

You will be allowed to use a pencil, eraser, FE calculator, and depending on quiz format a laptop and/or up to one 8.5-inch x 11-
inch handwritten notes page (front and back) at the discretion of the instructor. All other electronic devices (e.g., phones, Apple
watch, additional computers) are not allowed to be used during the quiz period and must be stored before the quiz begins. You
will not be allowed to access your textbook during the quiz.
Exam Policies

All exams except the final exam will be proctored in-person during class using some combination of MATLAB, paper,
GradeScope, and/or Canvas with or without Respondus Lockdown browser. Details are provided on the course management
system about downloading and installing the necessary software, which is free through Clemson CCIT. It is your responsibility to
ensure you have the necessary software installed. Failure to install it or get it working will result in a zero on that assignment or
exam. Technical issues such as failure to have a working copy of Respondus downloaded prior to the exam will result in no
makeup exam allowed.

An absence from any exam will result in a grade of zero. However, if a student misses an exam for a reason that would qualify as
an excused absence and can provide the proper documentation, a make-up test may be permitted if the request is made either
prior to or no later than 24 hours after the scheduled exam. In the case a make-up for an exam is permitted, the make-up must
occur within four University business days after the scheduled exam. If the exam cannot be made up by this date or if a make-up
was not permitted, then the final exam score will be used in place of the missing exam score. Note the final exam score can be
used in place of a missing exam score for one exam only.

If the final exam grade is not being used to replace a missing exam score it may substitute for a single exam grade, determined
as the student’s minimum regular exam grade of the semester if it is to the student’s advantage. Exam grades of zero given for
instances where a student is found in violation of the academic integrity policy will not be replaced.

Exams will be individual assessments; you may not receive any outside help other than your instructor during the exam.

You will be allowed to use a pencil, eraser, FE calculator, and depending on exam format a laptop and/or one 8.5-inch x 11-inch
handwritten notes page (front and back). All other electronic devices (e.g., phones, Apple watch, additional computers) are not
allowed to be used during the quiz period and must be stored before the quiz begins. You will not be allowed to access your
textbook during the quiz.

There are no exemptions on the final exam.

Exam Procedures

The schedule, policies, procedures and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating
circumstances, by mutual agreement, and / or to ensure better student learning.
Required Course Textbooks and Materials
Textbook: The textbook for this course is Thinking Like An Engineer: An Active Learning
Approach, Fifth Edition, by Stephan, et al.; Pearson Education.

You are required to have access to both the textbook and MyLab Engineering (MyLab).

Due to updates in the software used in this course, you must have the current edition of this
textbook. Previous editions or international editions are not usable in this course.

You will access the textbook in electronic format (called an E-text) and MyLab directly through
the “Access Pearson” link on Canvas.

You can either purchase access directly through this link on Canvas or through the bookstore.

At either location you will have two options for purchase. Please note the ISBN numbers listed
are only for the Clemson bookstore. These ISBN values will not be valid on other systems, such as Amazon.

• E-text and MyLab access = ISBN: 8220123780562

o This option is listed on the bookstore website as “Thinking Like An Engineer – Mylab, Required”
• E-text and MyLab access plus loose-leaf physical copy = ISBN: 8220126432628
o This option is listed on the bookstore website as “Thinking Like An Engineer-mylab, Recommended”

Please note the bookstore lists both options as “Online access for 1825 Days, perpetual offline download access”. This means
that you have 1825 days from purchase to first access the site; it does not mean you will have access to the site for 1825 days.

If due to financial reasons you are unable to purchase the required text for this course, please speak to your instructor
immediately. A portion of the course grade requires the use of MyLab Engineering, and failure to obtain an access to the MEL
system will result in a poor grade in this course.

FE calculator: The first time each student attempts ENGR 1020, 1050 or 1510, we provide an FE calculator (Casio fx-115ES
Plus 2nd edition) for students to keep and use in all ENGR courses. If students lose or misplace their calculator during the time
they take the ENGR sequence in General Engineering, they will be required to purchase a replacement calculator from an
outside vendor (such as Staples, WalMart, or Target). We do not provide or sell replacement calculators in General Engineering.
** What is an FE calculator? Only a calculator that meets the requirements used for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam may be used. Many of you will
take this exam as seniors. A list of acceptable calculators can be found here: http://ncees.org/exams/calculator/. Acceptable include: Casio: all fx-115 and
fx-991 models /HP: 33 or 35 models /TI: 30X or 36X models. If you have a calculator that you think may be acceptable, please ask for clarification. DO NOT
ASSUME we will have a calculator available for you to use on exams.
ABET Competencies
Clemson Engineering degree programs are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). As
such, every course offered within the College of Engineering, Computing, and Applied Sciences (CECAS) serves to satisfy one or
more learning objectives. The pertinent learning objective for this class is below.

1. Problem Solving: An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of
engineering, science, and mathematics.

Course Outcomes
At the completion of this course, the student should be able to:

Course Outcome 1: Data Input, Manipulation, and Integration

Students will gain proficiency in using MATLAB for data input, manipulation, and integration, enabling them to effectively
solve engineering problems. Students will be able to:
• CO1.a: Use MATLAB to input and manipulate data, including numerical arrays, character arrays, and cell arrays by
following the appropriate syntax and format.
• CO1.b: Apply basic mathematical formulas and built-in functions, including mathematical, statistical, and
trigonometric functions in MATLAB, to solve engineering problems.
• CO1.c: Integrate data from multiple sources by using MATLAB commands and syntax to import and export data
between users, Excel, and MAT files.
• CO1.d: Produce clear, well-documented MATLAB code files following coding practices and documentation
standards, including naming rules, housekeeping commands, appropriate comments, and output suppression.

Course Outcome 2: Conditional Statements and Looping Structures

Students will develop proficiency in utilizing conditional statements and looping structures in MATLAB to effectively
implement engineering solutions. Students will be able to:
• CO2.a: Use conditionals in MATLAB to develop and implement a solution to an engineering problem, using these
tools to check for specific conditions and respond appropriately.
• CO2.b: Use definite and indefinite looping structures in MATLAB to implement a solution to an engineering problem
by repeatedly executing code and processing data until specific conditions are met.

Course Outcome 3: Data Visualization and Modeling

Students will acquire the skills to produce clear, accurate, and insightful visualizations of experimental and theoretical data
using MATLAB, enabling them to identify patterns and relationships. Students will be able to:
• CO3.a: Use MATLAB to produce clear, accurate, and accessible plots of experimental and theoretical data, and use
the plots to identify patterns and relationships in the data.
• CO3.b: Analyze experimental data in MATLAB to identify appropriate mathematical models (e.g., linear, exponential,
power), calculate model coefficients, and generate plots that accurately represent the data and the fitted models.

Course Outcome 4: Excel Mathematical Formulas and Data Management

Students will develop proficiency in utilizing Excel for mathematical computations and effective data management in
engineering contexts. Students will be able to:
• CO4.a: Perform basic mathematical operations and apply functions in Excel to solve engineering problems.
• CO4.b: Use Excel's data validation, sorting, filtering, and conditional formatting functions to organize and format
data effectively, based on specific requirements or objectives.

Students may vary in their competency levels on these abilities. You can only expect to acquire these abilities only if you
honor all course policies, complete all assigned work in good faith and on time, and meet all other course expectations.

Topical Outline
The course is divided into modules. The specific goals of each module are given on Canvas, along with the chapters covered in
the textbook. The topical outline below includes the approximate number of class periods devoted to each module in brackets.
 Module 07: Conditionals and Logic [7]
Module 01: Introduction to MATLAB Programming [3]
• Relational operators
• MATLAB interface
• Logical operators
• Assignment operator
• Conditional statements
• Create, run, and save a program
• warning | error
Module 02: Numeric Arrays [3]
Lab 2 [2]
• Scalars
• Vectors Module 08: Indefinite Loops and Iterative Solutions [6]
• Matrices • while loops

Module 03: Character Arrays and Cell Arrays [3] Module 09: Definite Loops and Variable Recursion [6]
• Character Arrays • for loops
• Cell Arrays Lab 3 [2]
Module 04: Excel Input/Output [1] Module 10: Excel Mathematical Formulas and Data Management [5]
• readmatrix | readcell • Logic and Conditionals
• writematrix | writecell • Lookup and Data Validation
Lab 1 [2] • Conditional Formatting
• Sorting and Filtering
Module 05: User Input/Output [2]
• input | listdlg | questdlg Reviews [4]
• fprintf | sprintf Exams [4]
Module 06: Plotting, Trendlines, and Data Visualization [5]
• Graphing in MATLAB
• Trendlines in MATLAB