[Micah]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

I don't know about your teachers, but I've always read every word of my students' work, usually multiple times. I also repeat all of their calculations and analysis on custom student projects to ensure that they've got everything right.

There are lots of places to make mistakes in engineering projects, calculations, and data analysis. Being a good engineer requires tremendous attention to the computational details, and I think it is a big part of the professor's job to impart this attention to detail like carefully checking everything.

If professorial efforts have not successfully imparted the required attention to detail during the course of the semester, nothing finally drives the message home better than a bad grade. Some professors take a "go along to get along" attitude with the training of engineers. I was more concerned about the bridges falling down and the systems failing if engineers graduated who had not learned attention to detail. I was a quality control guy in the education of students.

I bet you're a real hoot at parties!