Quote Originally Posted by Melanie View Post
I think in some instances students are given a task by a lecturer and are expected to run with the assigned project (whether it's a good idea or not is irrelevant). The lecturer is looking to see how each student will cope with the assignment.
I think Melanie has correctly assessed the situation; I'm sorry that skimask wasn't a little gentler.

A young friend of mine (he's about 35 now) went to a private (expensive) tech school about 10 or 12 years ago. In one class they were divided into teams and each team was challenged, in addition to regular course work, to design and specify a portable scoreboard for Pop Warner football ("American football"; Pop Warner is the football equivalent to Little League baseball). At the time of the assignment, no student had any experience in specification, nor in microprocessors. They had learned basic digital, discrete analog, and op amps. As Melanie said, they had to "run with it". Anyway, his team needed a simple, reliable clock signal source, so he called me for ideas. I showed them how to do it with a couple of buffer gates and a crystal. (The teacher told them it wouldn't work. I breadboarded it and brought it to his class. Yes, it worked--just not a circuit you find in the textbooks!)

Sanguine, just keep at it. Don't let the naysayers get you down. We were all once newbies!