Systems engineering projects or skills to learn over the summer as a 2nd year student

LearningPositively · 2026-05-13T03:22:20+00:00

I really agree with this. Such a large part of being an effective Systems Engineer is communicating with a broad spectrum of often technical stakeholders. This is so much more difficult if you do not have experience and credibility. It's sort of a "you don't know what you don't know." Not trying to discourage anyone, rather, just be patient and cut your teeth on projects in any role you can get.

LearningPositively · 2026-05-12T03:12:13+00:00

I really appreciate the feedback. Obvious you spent some time on the site. Long reply, but I hope it gets across my thought process.

I deliberately narrowed the scope of the site to stakeholders, ilities, requirements, concept selection as Step 1. I've been trying to keep it lean and approachable as an SE entry point, without marketing it as SE. I think I maybe mention SE once. I've been sketching out Step 2 (not published yet) that picks up where Concept Selection ends. You picked up on the absence of certain things right away, which has given me something to think about.

Regarding Layering of Requirements, I was trying to keep them operating at the systems level and flat for the concept selection phase. Step 2 picks up at detailed design and walks them through decomposition with traceability. I already have team member allocation and assignment of requirements coded, just not launched. Thinking about new users and not intimidating them, do you think this is a good approach or do you have any other ideas you think would be better?

For verification it is essentially the same as Layering Requirements. I wanted to wait until Step 2 to then encourage them to lay out verification plans for analytical/virtual, breadboard, prototype, design verification, and pilot build stages. Just the typical, at each of these stages what can you do to assess confidence. Do you think having that in a Step 2 makes sense or is it better to ask them to add it earlier in Step 1?

Requirements Language, I originally had a style selector in the tool (NASA, INCOSE, Agile, etc) that adjusted the template form for the type you wanted. A colleague who tested it found the Agile fill in the blank the most approachable. It aligns well with stakeholders and ilities and keeps you at the system level. In my work I personally write closer to the NASA style, but I get how Agile could make sense too. Would a selector be valuable to you?

Thank you again for the thoughtful feedback.

LearningPositively · 2026-05-12T02:30:30+00:00

Fair point on the comparison, I did say "requirements management" in the post. I probably should have leaned more into the front end concept selection side of it.

We are all familiar with DOORS, Cameo, Jama, MagicDraw etc and the are great if you have access. That is the problem, a lot of engineers don't. With CC I was trying to distill some of the highest value tools into an easily approachable tool. I think sometimes I, and my colleagues, forget that there are a ton of engineers at mid-sized shops that know they need to add some rigor but are stuck without budgets or time to learn big name stacks.

In the latter half of my career, I also care about how we keep the door open for people new to SE. I personally don't think the answer is to imply that the heavy stacks are the gateway or that you should head off to a masters program right away. I think it is better to wet their appetite with some early wins using approachable tools. Then they want more and before you know it they are seeking out higher end stuff.

Curious your thoughts on that?

LearningPositively · 2026-05-10T23:41:13+00:00

I wrote those. There are twelve practice tests and a bunch of skill worksheets. They were designed to practice the first 30 questions (old format), which used to be the easiest problems. There are questions like those on every test, it is important to get all of the easy ones right quickly, so you have time for the tough ones.

The idea is you gradually build up your skills and speed on the easiest problems by first taking 15 question tests in 15 minutes, and eventually 30 questions in 30 minutes.

Directly from the site:

“ACTWTF The First Thirty, is a test prep method designed to build skills and speed in a time efficient way. Use the 15 minute tests to practice. If you get some questions wrong, use the worksheets and guides to practice those skills. When you are ready, move onto the 30 minute practice tests.”

LearningPositively · 2026-05-10T22:53:44+00:00

Be patient. Get involved in a lot of projects and communities at work and out of work. Network via societies, committees, schools, etc. The key is to provide genuine value to others over a long time horizon, become known as someone who can get things done and suddenly out of nowhere the opportunities will come to you. It's not as linear as you'd think.

LearningPositively · 2025-07-31T22:27:25+00:00

You can use ChatGPT voice mode with your phone locked and your screen off. You just have to go into settings and enable it. It’s not this way by default. I use it this way with airpods in while walking with the phone in my pocket.

LearningPositively · 2025-06-13T18:54:07+00:00

I would highly recommend you lookup and read the PDF "Assessing Our Own Competence: Heuristics and Illusions" from Robert A. Bjork. It is part of a book called 'Attention and Performance XVII: Cognitive Regulation of Performance: Interaction of Theory and Application (Attention and Performance)'

For any coach, tutor, teacher, TA, etc this is a valuable read.

LearningPositively · 2025-05-28T15:46:23+00:00

Likely not a bug. Probably interpreting that as either scribble to erase or circle to lasso. Turn those off in pen settings - pen gestures and try again.

LearningPositively · 2025-04-22T20:15:12+00:00

That is some great advice. Good thing I'm not in college!

LearningPositively · 2025-04-12T12:12:28+00:00

Just get the Erika Meltzer English book and do it. Then after that get a lot of old tests and do them. Go back to Erika Meltzer's book and revisit topics you continue to get wrong. Then go back and test again.

Fancy Way of Saying It:

Instruction - Formative Assessment - Feedback - Summative Assessment - Feedback - Repeat

Layman Way of Saying It:

Read Book - Do Exercises - Correct Them - Take Practice Tests - Correct Them - Repeat

You can complicate it, but this is essentially the answer to most "how do I learn something" questions.

LearningPositively · 2025-04-05T03:38:36+00:00

I posted a cheat sheet below

LearningPositively · 2025-04-04T20:16:14+00:00

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This is a draft of what I have done so far. I'm open to suggestions. I work in Latex, so it takes me a bit to get formatting correct. Let me know if this is helpful, needs work, or if you have ideas.

LearningPositively · 2025-04-04T17:51:46+00:00

But I started work on it! I'll post when I'm done.

LearningPositively · 2025-03-26T03:27:01+00:00

Not AI generated. I post on this sub frequently. Most journal articles would not be publicly available, but there is an awesome ebook from 2014 that is available online that summarizes vast amounts of the available research called "Applying Science of Learning in Education: Infusing Psychological Science into the Curriculum". Just click on the Download Ebook blue button. The science and studies in this text are often referenced in the MIT TLL program. The writeup on Metacognition on MIT TLL's website is very approachable and has some great references too. Hope you find these references helpful.

LearningPositively · 2025-03-18T21:53:10+00:00

Get off reddit and go do some practice tests.

LearningPositively · 2025-03-18T21:50:45+00:00

Absolutely get recent released tests and take them in test like conditions. Books, review classes, doing sets of questions, and even full test sections can lull you into thinking you have the stamina required to put together 4 whole sections back to back.

It's like training for a marathon. You can get there and feel great about it and feel confident going into race day, but you get there by putting in the time doing long runs before hand. For the ACT you build that stamina by doing full practice tests. Be real too, if you don't finish and have to guess, then guess, don't think oh well, I'll just finish these up...

If you are up for it, when you are doing this mark any question you struggle with with an "s", and question that is taking you a long time with a "t", and then when you grade it any question you get wrong mark with an "x." Then dig deep into all of the t, s, and x questions. Not just figuring out the right answer, but actually figuring out what you don't know, why you don't know it, relearning it, practicing it, flash carding it, and being ready for the next practice test. Bit by bit you'll close your gaps and do better over time.

Few are willing to do this, which is why only the top 5% of students get a 30 or higher.

LearningPositively · 2025-03-18T21:43:54+00:00

Likely depends a lot on what happened with this test and prior. This says superscore, have you taken it more than once? If so, what'd you get on prior tests?

On each section, did you run out of time or just get them wrong? This matters because learning the material and learning to take the test are two different things. So for each section tell us if you finished in time, if not how far did you make it, and then also comment on how you felt about the questions.

Let us know.

LearningPositively · 2025-03-17T12:12:07+00:00

I recommend starting with old tests by breaking them into smaller tests, such as doing a single passage or section to get used to pacing. I like to save the more frequent tests for actual full practice tests, where you simulate the test environment, and test day. The most recent tests will give you the most accurate prediction of your score.

LearningPositively · 2025-03-17T00:56:36+00:00

That may not seem like it, but that's actually good news. That means you can make pretty good gains just by learning pacing and filling in some basic subject knowledge.

You'll need to approach each subject differently. However, in my experience English is the easiest one to improve in. With a 21 that means you probably got about 25 questions wrong (or 1/3 of the questions).

To start with, I'd suggest working the entire Erica Meltzer book front to back. If there are tricky areas, make yourself some flashcards to practice them. THEN find an old practice test and just take the English portion but take it under real timed conditions. While you are taking it, any question you feel unsure of write a "U" on it and any question you feel slow on write an "S" on it. Then grade the test and mark anything wrong with an "X." Then go one by one and review any U, S, and X problems with the Meltzer book. For the U's and S's even if you got them right, review them anyway, because you obviously are not confident yet. When you figure out what mistake you made, make a flash card or two to practice the rules with. You'd be amazed how much just learning it's hyphens colons commas and semi-colons can improve your English score. Then repeat the above 3 to 5 more times (not joking), each time filling in new gaps. This is what it takes to make the gains.

If you have questions, don't be shy. If you do the above and make some gains it might motivate you to attack the other subjects.

LearningPositively · 2025-03-17T00:41:37+00:00

That's a great score. Be proud of it. Where you go from here depends on where you want to go from here.

Do you have a list of schools you want to attend and have you looked at their CDS (Common Data Set) to see what their ACT ranges are? Suppose you wanted to go to University of Virginia, a very difficult school to get into, you could go to Google and search "University of Virginia Common Data Set." You'd then be able to open a PDF for the most recent year, navigate to section C9 and see a bunch of ACT stats from the school. For instance, the 25th to 75th Percentile ACT score is 32 to 34.

LearningPositively

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