No cohorts for c950 Data Structures and Algorithms II! That cost me $70 to get in some practical python 3 practice. On the advice of another student, I purchased a course (Jumpstart Python by Talk Python) that walked me through 10 programs. Most of it was solid but I ran into a few issues where he didn’t mention a line so my code didn’t work until I compared what I had with the GitHub and found the bit left off. One of the programs was outdated because the website he was scraping had an update. So he reconciled that by adding a note to use other code instead which made me not want to recommend the course to others ... for $70 a pop, you can redo 5 minutes of video!
It seems to be part of that issue I’ve been having where people explain things as if I already knew what they knew ... from books to lectures to people on slack. He assumed everyone watching could see new code and translate it into whatever he was talking about. I couldn’t ... This weird tendency to assume I know the answer to the question I just asked is sooooo rampant in BSCS that I started to avoid asking questions. Every once in a while I’ll mention that the explanation would be helpful to someone who knew more than me but it’s often followed by more unhelpful advice. More often than not, I regret having bothered.
I decided that one of the things I’m going to do is make some YouTube lectures for this (and other courses eventually). This one is pretty important because we otherwise have no help unless we manage to magically mesh something together, submit it, and get it returned for revisions. That’s the ONLY time a mentor is allowed to look at your code which is a horrible way to learn DSA2, the most important course in ANY CompSci program. This will have the added bonus of helping me convince WGU that I want that teaching degree; I figure I can include a link to my channel as part of my application.
Anyway, I started being more active in the Braille community. I’m hoping to take on some projects once I graduate BSCS. The Library of Congress still hasn’t released their Nemeth certification course for UEB yet so I’m part of a growing number of rogue transcribers. But, I need to keep those skills fresh!
I’m thankful for chocolate covered strawberries. Long story, lol.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Thursday, May 16, 2019
C188 Software Engineering
This class was a lesson in procrastination. I came up with the 5 requirements and picked a CRM. Then the project sat for a week (I had meetings after work that week). By the time I got back to it I finished in two days.
I went about this one backward. I picked a CRM first, then I found the requirements that it met. Around that time I built a scenario around why those requirements would be needed. I wrote up unit tests next. Then I worked on the introduction, scope, etc. Of course the last thing I did were the visuals ... I need to take a serious course in data visualization sometime.
One thing I wanted to note about performance assessments in general. There is some leeway when it comes to working with the scenario given. As long as what you're writing doesn't explicitly contradict the scenario, you can make assumptions to help argue a point. For instance, you can say that documentation is important to a company or that documentation is not important to a company and both assumptions would be accepted (just don't claim both in the same paper, lol).
I keep going back and forth between wanting to finish the degree or just withdrawing at the end of my term. I'll keep considering my options. I can't figure out if I'm more likely to get accepted into the math program if I finish it or if I withdraw from the program, lol. I wish they'd tell me what they want. I just want to study math.
I also want to help figure out a way to teach advanced math to visually impaired students. My current path is B.S. Computer Science to B.S. Math Ed to M.S. Computer Science to M.S. Special Ed.
I went about this one backward. I picked a CRM first, then I found the requirements that it met. Around that time I built a scenario around why those requirements would be needed. I wrote up unit tests next. Then I worked on the introduction, scope, etc. Of course the last thing I did were the visuals ... I need to take a serious course in data visualization sometime.
One thing I wanted to note about performance assessments in general. There is some leeway when it comes to working with the scenario given. As long as what you're writing doesn't explicitly contradict the scenario, you can make assumptions to help argue a point. For instance, you can say that documentation is important to a company or that documentation is not important to a company and both assumptions would be accepted (just don't claim both in the same paper, lol).
I keep going back and forth between wanting to finish the degree or just withdrawing at the end of my term. I'll keep considering my options. I can't figure out if I'm more likely to get accepted into the math program if I finish it or if I withdraw from the program, lol. I wish they'd tell me what they want. I just want to study math.
I also want to help figure out a way to teach advanced math to visually impaired students. My current path is B.S. Computer Science to B.S. Math Ed to M.S. Computer Science to M.S. Special Ed.
Monday, May 6, 2019
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE Mathematics Education (Secondary)
I met someone the other month that contradicted the reason WGU gave me for not allowing me to enroll in the math program I wanted. Even the website says this leads to licensure and they said I needed one to get into this program.
I don't understand why they had to be dishonest about their reasons for not letting me switch degree programs. I have a legitimate reason for wanting to study math: I am a Nemeth braille transcriber and my current level of math limits the types of books I'm able to transcribe; I also want to eventually pursue teaching mathematics to VI students (when I'm ready to wind down whatever career I end up with). So I'll try that again when I convince them I'm not planning to finish BSCS at WGU, either because I finished it or because I withdrew.
I don't understand why they had to be dishonest about their reasons for not letting me switch degree programs. I have a legitimate reason for wanting to study math: I am a Nemeth braille transcriber and my current level of math limits the types of books I'm able to transcribe; I also want to eventually pursue teaching mathematics to VI students (when I'm ready to wind down whatever career I end up with). So I'll try that again when I convince them I'm not planning to finish BSCS at WGU, either because I finished it or because I withdrew.
C482 Software I
This is one course in which all the work I did over spring break really paid off. I had completed SoloLearn's Java course and watched Bucky's Java and JavaFX tutorials. I also went over Jaret Wright's SceneBuilder tutorials which really made up the bulk of the work. By the time I started this course, I was able to jump in after watching the cohorts (I built the GUI first because that was fun).
I think I thought the programming was the easy part until I hit the last 20% of the requirements. I started to put in a lot more hours than I normally do and managed to finish in under two weeks (closer to five weeks if you count the work I did over term break).
The mentors give us a lot of code samples in the cohorts that made up a lot of the pieces we need for the project. I spent a good deal of time pulling those apart and putting them back together a few times to make them work for this project. I had to redo the entire program a few times before I build a solid enough skeleton to just keep building. But I think that's not unusual for someone who is still really new to programming.
I think for the most part, I still consider myself a quilt programmer. I can take various pieces of code, edit it to work for my situation, then stitch it all in the right place. It's a lot more involved than what I did in MSDA for sure (you can't do this kind of quilting without a solid understanding of what the code does and how to make it work for your situation). However, I'm not feeling like 'a programmer' just yet. I don't think I could do a lot of it from scratch or figure something out without seeing how someone did something similar to what I was aiming for.
I'll be working on this after my term ends. I want to feel like a competent programmer before applying to Georgia Tech and since their deadline moved from September to July, I'm now aiming for July 2020.
I think I thought the programming was the easy part until I hit the last 20% of the requirements. I started to put in a lot more hours than I normally do and managed to finish in under two weeks (closer to five weeks if you count the work I did over term break).
The mentors give us a lot of code samples in the cohorts that made up a lot of the pieces we need for the project. I spent a good deal of time pulling those apart and putting them back together a few times to make them work for this project. I had to redo the entire program a few times before I build a solid enough skeleton to just keep building. But I think that's not unusual for someone who is still really new to programming.
I think for the most part, I still consider myself a quilt programmer. I can take various pieces of code, edit it to work for my situation, then stitch it all in the right place. It's a lot more involved than what I did in MSDA for sure (you can't do this kind of quilting without a solid understanding of what the code does and how to make it work for your situation). However, I'm not feeling like 'a programmer' just yet. I don't think I could do a lot of it from scratch or figure something out without seeing how someone did something similar to what I was aiming for.
I'll be working on this after my term ends. I want to feel like a competent programmer before applying to Georgia Tech and since their deadline moved from September to July, I'm now aiming for July 2020.
C191 Operating Systems
This course was supposed to last a week because I had completed the bulk of the reading over term break. I finished this five weeks after my term started. Most books on the subject is filled with so much jargon, it took a while before everything started to sound like English.
I eventually ended up creating a test bank with all the questions on sanfoundry (that website doesn't shuffle the questions or answers so it's easy to remember where the right answers are without actually learning the right answer, lol). It took a few days to debug it but working on that helped solidify the terms I was getting mixed up. It also clarified the concepts that didn't make sense because I was getting certain terms mixed up. So it was a good experience and I hope the bank helps others.
I think the exam for this one throws in a little too many oddball questions that I can't imagine most people being able to retain from 900 pages of text. They aren't challenging questions, they just weren't related to any of the major points or any of the overviews we get with the course materials, things that you wouldn't think were important to study thoroughly.
Anyway, I'm glad this one is finally done. I started going over OS topics back in December so I spent A LOT more than five weeks on this course, about four months total though only the past 5 weeks consistently. I think when my term is complete I'll give Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces another read. That was more helpful in understanding what this class was supposed to teach me than any of the materials we were given or recommended lecture sets.
Here's the test bank link again - http://www.quizsail.com
I eventually ended up creating a test bank with all the questions on sanfoundry (that website doesn't shuffle the questions or answers so it's easy to remember where the right answers are without actually learning the right answer, lol). It took a few days to debug it but working on that helped solidify the terms I was getting mixed up. It also clarified the concepts that didn't make sense because I was getting certain terms mixed up. So it was a good experience and I hope the bank helps others.
I think the exam for this one throws in a little too many oddball questions that I can't imagine most people being able to retain from 900 pages of text. They aren't challenging questions, they just weren't related to any of the major points or any of the overviews we get with the course materials, things that you wouldn't think were important to study thoroughly.
Anyway, I'm glad this one is finally done. I started going over OS topics back in December so I spent A LOT more than five weeks on this course, about four months total though only the past 5 weeks consistently. I think when my term is complete I'll give Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces another read. That was more helpful in understanding what this class was supposed to teach me than any of the materials we were given or recommended lecture sets.
Here's the test bank link again - http://www.quizsail.com
C482 Software Quality Assurance
I had been spending so much time on Operating Systems since I returned in March that I needed a break to push through Software Quality Assurance. Someone on slack created a test bank with questions from the popular quizlets and I helped test it. It is similar to mastery mode in ucertify in that it required you to answer a question correctly three times in a row before exiting the current stack.
Finishing the engine made me confident enough to skim the reading on parts that seemed confusing. I ended up scheduling the exam the next evening and passed with a score of 81% (cut is 70%).
The questions on both the PA and OA are a little evil and I understand why so many students end up needing retakes. A lot of the questions are misleading and will add a word that completely changes what the question is asking. The nuance reminded me of the ITIL and Oracle exams. The test bank I used can be found at http://www.quizsail.com, highly recommended, though do yourself a favor and don't use quick mode for this one, lol.
I completed this class back in mid-April, I'm behind in my posts and am working on catching up. I a thankful this was an easy one and gave me a boost to help polish off Operating Systems.
Finishing the engine made me confident enough to skim the reading on parts that seemed confusing. I ended up scheduling the exam the next evening and passed with a score of 81% (cut is 70%).
The questions on both the PA and OA are a little evil and I understand why so many students end up needing retakes. A lot of the questions are misleading and will add a word that completely changes what the question is asking. The nuance reminded me of the ITIL and Oracle exams. The test bank I used can be found at http://www.quizsail.com, highly recommended, though do yourself a favor and don't use quick mode for this one, lol.
I completed this class back in mid-April, I'm behind in my posts and am working on catching up. I a thankful this was an easy one and gave me a boost to help polish off Operating Systems.
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