Prior to starting this class, the only “programming” skills I had was that I knew how to use terminal and the bare minimum about HTML and CSS. At this point in the semester, my programming skills have definitely improved. For one, in the beginning, I was very set on simply copying what Professor Port did during the lab lectures, but I have learned to not simply copy and get myself to fully understand the concept of how everything works. One of the main aspects about how my programming skills have improved is my problem solving skills. Usually, whenever I run into a problem, I used to feel obliged to instantly look towards asking the professor or the TAs without actually trying to figure out the problem by myself. Now, I am able to utilize my knowledge to figure out what the problem may be first, and use the option to reach out only if I am not able to figure out the problem.
The biggest thing that I need to work on to improve my programming skills is completely understanding how programming works rather than simply memorizing certain aspects of programming. Right now, we’re learning about server-side processing and I realized that I need to really understand how it works because I won’t be able to simply copy what I learned in the lab to apply it to my assignment. Another thing that I need to work on is asking questions when I need to. I feel as though most of the time, if I get stuck on something during the lab, I wait for the screencast to come out so I can watch it again, but I’ve realized that takes up more time than it would have if I had just asked in class.
Honestly, I would have to disagree with this statement. In the beginning when we were just working on HTML and CSS, I was able to do the WODs without having to look at the screencast solutions first, but once we got to learning about JavaScript, I needed the screencast solutions. Even though I need to refer back to the screencast solutions, I always read through what I am supposed to do and then try it on my own without recording. I usually do the WOD up until a point where I am completely unsure about what to do, then I refer to the screencast. As we moved on throughout the semester, I started needing help starting off the WOD, then I was able to do the rest (or most) of the WOD by myself.
Most of the labs have certainly helped me learn, but I am not able to complete them with confidence if we didn’t work on them in class. While we’re going through the labs, I am able to understand essentially how certain concepts work, but I still need help. Doing the labs in class help, but whenever we needed to complete a few exercises on our own, it took me a long time to figure those out. My only concern about labs is when we would need to prepare for the next lab before we even completed the current lab we were on. I understand that the class needs to be fast paced so we can learn everything that we need, but sometimes I feel as though it’s more important and beneficial to make sure we understand what we’re currently learning and then we can decide if we’re ready to move onto the next concept. Rushing to learn and get through everything, but not taking the time to make sure we understand each individual concept sets us even further back.
I do not feel ready at all to work on the next stage of complexity in programming. When reading the sources, watching the screencast lectures, and going through the lab in class, I feel as though I am thoroughly understanding what we’re doing. However, when I had to work on assignment 1, I realized that I need to do more in understanding the how everything works. With assignment 1, I wasn’t sure how to bring everything that I learned from the readings, screencasts, labs, and WODS together to create a website. I am incredibly terrified about how I will do on the three assignments because I don’t feel like I have learned enough to do those.
One of the things that I think can be improved is something that would have helped in the beginning of the semester. I have mentioned it above, but I think it would have been a lot better for me to focus on one concept rather than moving on to the next when we haven’t even finished learning the current concept. I feel like this made me get confused at times because I still had questions about the current concept, but had to start learning about the next. Another thing that I personally think could be improved, but I understand is not how this particular class can work, is I enjoy having set dates of everything prior to it being due so that I can plan everything out. I am a person who needs to plan everything out prior to organize my day and week so I can efficiently spend enough time per each class. However, I do know that a lot of the time we don’t know how long it would take us to get through certain labs which is understandable. Finally, another way the class can be improved is having the labs completely set up and thoroughly checked prior to the class because sometimes when there needed to be changes to the lab questions or exercises, I would get confused and it also takes up a lot of class time.
The screencasts for each of the concepts we have learned about definitely helped me in understanding the basics of what we would be doing for that day. With the screencasts, I am also able to pause and make sure that I am really understanding what I’m learning about and I have time to practice it myself. The screencasts were able to give me a good overview of what I would be doing in the lab. Another thing that works really well for my learning in this class is Professor Port’s office hours. I didn’t really reach out to Professor Port too often before assignment 1, maybe twice, because I didn’t really have any questions or know what to ask. However, I needed a lot of help with assignment 1 and being able to schedule a time with him helped me tremendously in working on assignment 1. Since I now know how helpful he is, I feel a lot more encouraged to reach out to him more often if I need help.