Engineering sophomores used to be able to use their notes on tests, quizzes, and even on the final, but now due to students not being able to remember the material, engineering teacher Francis Hashimoto’s students will have to rely on themselves.

Mr. Hashimoto has noticed ever since students came back from covid that there was an increase of students not being able to comprehend the concepts unless it was on tests or quizzes. So afterwards when students were asked to do other assignments related to these concepts there was a lack of application of what they were tasked to learn. Mr. Hashimoto has made other minor changes to the class such as removing some class work and rearranging grade scaling as well. Additionally, it used to be that the second semester final would cover all the material throughout the school year, but with the notes policy he has changed it to only being about the material from second semester.

Open notes was not always a liberty in Principle of Engineering as Mr. Hashimoto decided on this policy when we went into quarantine.

“My class used to be closed notes, and then when there was covid, I didn’t have any control over whether students had notes or not when they were taking exams remotely. So when we came back from covid, I decided to stay with that,” said Hashimoto.

The students have mixed feelings about this new change. Knowing that the tests are going to be harder, they feel frustrated when it comes to confronting their new academic environment in the class. They are unhappy with the decision and believe it is unnecessary, worrying that the increased difficulty will be a detriment to their grades.

“I don’t like it personally. I think that the notes were helpful and this will require more studying from students. So I guess that’s fine, but it’s definitely going to make the tests and quizzes harder,” said Landon Bermudez ‘28.

Some of the students are ready for this challenge and are ready to prepare for having to memorize the material. They understand that the expectations are higher and that success will require a lot more effort.

“I feel like a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but I think it’s actually a good thing, because if you’re trying to get something out of the class or increase your knowledge, then it’s good to just go based on memory,” said Ethan Kim ‘28.

The sophomores know that notes remain a valuable resource for studying, reviewing concepts, and reinforcing their understanding outside the exam halls.

“He makes it required that you turn it in, and also the process of writing it down, looking at the presentation, is also just going to help you do better,” said Kim.

The sophomore engineering students want to take measures and create habits to retain the notes now that it won’t be in front of them.

“Now I’ll be doing things like the practice questions he gives us as well as the pre quiz questions and the matching vocab game to make sure I understand the terms,” said Kim. 

Even with this hindrance the Eagles will still keep a good mindset and succeed in Principle of Engineering. They want to have a good year and finish the second semester in  a positive way.

“I don’t know how hard the second semester is going to be right now, but I think we’ll do well,” said Bermudez.