Saturday 31 January 2015

Week 4

This is my second course in programming, ever. A year and a half ago, I decided to try CSC108, with absolutely no prior experience with any computer language or even the concept of writing code. The course moved slowly, but I quickly gained an appreciation for the elegance and speed of a program. I worked on assignments alone and barely had a hiccup in my understanding. Encouraged, I signed up for CSC148 this winter.
Here, we launched directly into the material, focusing on classes and their implementation, and then transitioning into the utility of recursion. Without the slow and cautious explanations I was used to from CSC108, I have had to adjust to the different environment of CSC148. I spend significantly more time practising my programming skills, preparing for lab early when I have the chance. One of the most fruitful improvements to my learning techniques was joining with a partner in lab.
For the first time this semester, I worked with another student during our weekly lab. This lab focused on the concept of recursion, which I have never been exposed to before during my as-of-yet short programming career. I was surprised at how much easier the content was to grasp! Discussing the questions with someone allows you to admit what does not make sense, consequently helping you to understand and fix the problem or gap in thinking. Not only was the material clearer, but we also went through all of the questions much faster than I would have on my own. This let me be fully prepared for our quiz at the conclusion of the lab.
I am curious to see what new ideas will be presented to us in the future. This upcoming week will be our first term test - time to show off all we have learned thus far.

3 comments:

  1. Working with a partner is great for getting you out of your own head. Everyone has slightly different ways of thinking about each problem, and putting your heads together can fill in a lot of the gaps for both of you! I'm glad that was helpful.

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    1. It certainly was very useful! I am sure it will be even more important to discuss the concepts with a partner as the difficulty of the course progresses.

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