Courses What are Special Topics and Directed Study courses in engineering departments?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Willi
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Courses
AI Thread Summary
"Special Topics of Engineering," "Individual Studies," and "Special Projects for Engineering" are non-mandatory courses offered by engineering departments that serve as flexible options for students. These courses typically do not follow a standard curriculum and are designed to allow students to earn credit for work outside of regular classes. The specifics of these courses can vary by university. For instance, a "Special Topics" course may cover unique subjects not listed in the official catalog and can be taught like a regular class, but only for a limited time before needing to be proposed as a standard course. In contrast, a "Directed Study" is student-initiated, focusing on a self-chosen topic under the supervision of a professor, with minimal direct instruction. Overall, these courses provide a way for students to explore individual interests and gain credit for their efforts outside the traditional curriculum framework.
Willi
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Every time I look at the list of engineering courses offered by universities, I notice that " Special Topics of Engineering " or " Individual studies " or " Special Projects for ENgineering" are offered by every engineering department. What are they? I know that these are not mandatory courses. Are they individual research topics of real-life problems? Is there anyone who knows what they are?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Every now and then a student wishes to get credit for some work that isn't part of the normal curriculum, so they put those credits in these "generic" classes on their transcripts.

- Warren
 
chroot said:
Every now and then a student wishes to get credit for some work that isn't part of the normal curriculum, so they put those credits in these "generic" classes on their transcripts.

- Warren

Thanks for your reply. Do you know what topics these classes teach and discuss?
 
They don't teach any specific topics -- that's the point. They're catch-all "classes" for students who are doing work outside the normal curriculum. They normally aren't classes at all in the normal sense. They're just a label for the university to award the credit under.

- Warren"
 
Willi said:
Do you know what topics these classes teach and discuss?

It really depends on the policies of the university and the department. Where I teach, a "Special Topics" course is a more or less normal class, on a subject that is not listed as a regular course in the official catalog. A professor can offer such a course on a particular topic without having to get it approved by our Academic Affairs Council, which has to approve all new regular courses. However, he is allowed to offer it only twice as a "Special Topics" course. After that he must propose it as a regular course if he wants to teach it again. Students register for it in the same way that they register for normal courses, and the professor teaches it pretty much like a normal course.

A "Directed Study" on the other hand, is initiated by the student, who chooses a topic and seeks out a professor to supervise it, on a one-to-one basis. The student studies the material mostly on his own, under the guidance of the professor. The professor does not lecture, but checks on the progress of the student and tries to answer questions when necessary.

This is how we do it; other schools may have different procedures and terminology.
 
Last edited:
TL;DR Summary: What topics to cover to safely say I know arithmetic ? I am learning arithmetic from Indian NCERT textbook. Currently I have finished addition ,substraction of 2 digit numbers and divisions, multiplication of 1 digit numbers. I am moving pretty slowly. Can someone tell me what topics to cover first to build a framework and then go on in detail. I want to learn fast. It has taken me a year now learning arithmetic. I want to speed up. Thanks for the help in advance. (I also...
Hi community My aim is to get into research about atoms, specifically, I want to do experimental research that explores questions like: 1. Why do Gallium/Mercury have low melting points 2. Why are there so many exceptions and inconsistencies when it comes to explaining molecular structures / reaction mechanisms in inorganic and organic chemistry 3. Experimental research about fundamental Quantum Mechanics, such as the one being followed by Hiroshima university that proved that observing...
guys i am currently studying in computer science engineering [1st yr]. i was intrested in physics when i was in high school. due to some circumstances i chose computer science engineering degree. so i want to incoporate computer science engineering with physics and i came across computational physics. i am intrested studying it but i dont know where to start. can you guys reccomend me some yt channels or some free courses or some other way to learn the computational physics.
Back
Top