My programming skills have greatly improved in the following ways: I have gotten a lot more comfortable with trial and error. In the beginning of this course I was terrified of messing up my code and not knowing how to fix it but after a couple of weeks I’ve learned that I can’t be scared to try new things. I have gotten a lot more confident in trying things out. I do believe I have gotten a better understanding on how to make a web page from scratch. When I do make mistakes through my code I have also gotten better with spotting where it is that I went wrong.
I need to work on the following to improve my programming skills: Sometimes I still get stuck on placements of certain lines. I sometimes don’t get why when I move things around they work in some areas but not in others. I can get stuck on finding problems in my code that aren’t just small mistakes (like forgetting a parentheses or comma). It can take me a while to figure out why my code isn’t working depending on where I am placing my line or because of a line not making sense to the computer.
I have learned a lot from doing WODs and I can do them without copying the screencast: I have learned how to problem solve on my own and sometimes with the help of ChatGPT (although there were times that ChatGPT kept me going in circles so I had to figure it out by myself).This really helped with my problem solving and confidence on doing things without the guidance of an instructor. I do take multiple times to finish my WODs but I do feel accomplished once I’m able to complete it on my own.
The labs have help me learn and I am able to complete them with confidence: The labs are very rewarding since I am very much a visual learner. Since we get some take home parts of the labs that don’t have a tutorial or examples I just feel good after completing it because it feels liks I just overcame an obstacle. I had a hard time with the take home portions because when we go through it in class it makes sense to me, but when I read it and try it on my own sometimes it just doesn’t make as much sense anymore. I really think it has to do with the way I learn things but that’s more of a me problem.
I learned a lot from my experience doing Assignment 1 and feel ready to work on Assignment 2: I haven’t completely finished Assignment 1 but I am very excited to continue with it and build a web page that’s to my standards. We’ve done a lot of this code already throughout our semester in this class so I’m not too scared of Assignment 1 but I still have my insecurities. I have gotten a lot better since the start of class but I still have a lot of improvement to go through. I hope to finish up Assignment 1 soon and be prepared to start the 2nd right after!
I think the class can be improved to help my learning in the following ways: I think due to personal reasons I had to do a lot of catch up for this class in the beginning which caused me to be fried halfway through. It seemed like such a fast class with so much work. I was very grateful to be able to catch up but I think because of my situation I just got burnt out a littler earlier than I expected. I think something that could’ve helped me through it is if we had small groups set in class where we can talk with group mates, exchange numbers, and just give reminders to one another when things are due or just struggle together. I missed the first couple of weeks of class so I wasn’t able to meet people but it would’ve been great to have a group just to talk with.
What helps me the most in class are (WODs, Labs, class website, screencasts, readings, quizzes, one on one help, working with classmates, etc.): The class website was always a great place for find everything I needed for WODs and Labs. I also heavily relied on laulima for the due dates on all the assignments and quizzes. I was so grateful for the class recordings due to me not being able to come to class the first couple of weeks. I think without the Zoom recordings I would’ve been very lost trying to catch up. I also liked having the discord to remind me what’s due and what to expect for the next class. In the beginning the screencasts helped me when I wasn’t confident in trying out things but once it was gone it did help me figure things out on my own.