13.04.05

13.04.05

Eleventh Entry

"Out of the island, ahhhh!"

So, today was hectic. It took forever for my friends and me to finish project #2. I wouldn't have been able to finish this cumbersome project without the harmonious corporation we achieved. I even sent a devastated e-mail to my TA, which was done only out of my 'freaking out phase', but we ended up finishing it well.

As for preparing for the final, I am planning on re-reading all the lecture slies and my lecture notes. Watching the Racket videos will help refresh my mind about the definions and codes we have been learning throughout the year.

Thank you Professor Heap! I mean, to be honest, not many people show up in the morning and it could strike a professor as annoying or discouraging, but you still hold engaging lectures for those who do keep the interest in the subject and make this course a pleasant experience for us. I appreciate your effort to implement every detail of this course. My last slog entry, and my time to depart the island. :)

Because Ji Soo Kim and I did the problem solving together, I am going to post the photos of the sheets we worked on and briefly explain what is going on there. She is going to post link to my slog. We worked on Penny Piles. 

First, can you arrange things so that one of the drawers has 48 pennies, using combinations of the following two operations, which we put in equation as L has even => L/2 => R and R has even => R/2 => L. The answer is yes, and it works if you work backward. 

Second, choose another number in the range [0, 64]. Starting from the same initial position, can you arrange things so that one of the drawers has the number of opennies? Yes, and we did it by drawing the tree of numbers.  Are there any numbers in that range that are impossible to achieve? I don't think so.

Third, what about starting with a different number of pennies in the left drawer? I mean, for sure odd numbers are impossible. And also numbers that are outcomes of 2 to the power of k, and k being 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 will work, but not all  multiples of 2 will work. 

computingjisoosbrain.blogspot.ca

13.03.29

13.03.29
Tenth Entry

"I see the boat coming"

Starting this course was like going to an island with no one living on it. It somehow felt like a huge leap to try studying something that I normally am not interested in. This week I felt like the material we learn in lectures, both in DrRacket codes and history of computing, have matured very much. On one hand it is simply getting more and more difficult. On the other hand, the application of earlier basic materials are slowly being advanced into applications and historical interpretations.

I especially enjoyed the Thursday's lecture about pros and cons of computing and how much the development of assembly line and thus convenient ways of production and storing data has affected our life. I wish that I will have the courage to present my opinions more in lectures since not many people come anyways and the class feels like a seminar course.

03.22.13

Nineth Entry
03.22.13

"Wow Wikipedia!"

This project was interesting. I have extensively used Wikipedia articles to do my homework since middle school - although I am refraining myself from using the site too much now - so it is a website that I know well and love as much. And I got to edit an article on it; that is pretty amazing!

I went back to my Wikipedia project part II because honestly I forgot most of what I planned to do for the third part. My article was on a Korean celebrity called Jo Kwon. He is in a boy band that I enjoy listening to, so the title drew me in pretty quickly. I mainly fixed the awkward grammar since most of the material were directly translated from Korean websites. I also added two citations to opinionated sentences that needed them.

At the end of my project, I contributed to the Wikipedia community by posting my feelings on the talk page about my first editing work. Hope what I have done was sufficient.

Aside from the project, I have been reflecting on the course as we are approaching the end of the term. I think overall it has been a pleasant experience learning about the basics of computer science. It is sad to think that I probably will not be studying anything in this discipline for the next three years.

13.03.15

Eighth Entry
3.03.15

"How many to go?"

Thursday was our second term test. It took me quite a long time to write the so-called 'cheat sheet' but I was grateful enough just for the fact that we were allowed to even have one with us to assist during the test. And I indeed was surprised to know that we are allowed one for the final test as well.

The test went well. At least I think I did fairly well, considering that there weren't any particular question that caught me in mire. One thing I was not totally sure about was the Boolean number question, but I later figured myself that I did the question right.

I am excited to finish the Wikipedia project and the other project that is left. Can't believe there are only a few weeks left until the end of class, but as I am thinking back to the beginning of the class, I have learned so much about computers and their inside, and how to command interesting functions on DrRacket, which I haven't even heard about until this January.

The class is coming to its end. I am excited about all the learning I did in the course, but I am already becoming a little sad to leave them behind.

03.09.13

Seventh Entry
03.09.13

"Mice or Foxes"

The biggest task of this week for the course was project #1. I collaborated with two other girls on the project, and it took us about two meetings and discussions to figure out both commands. The ball went quite smoothly, but the ecosystem was more difficult. We eventually figured it out after going to two of the office hours at Bahen.

Last week, I didn't prepare enough for the quiz, so although I didn't get it back yet, I know I messed it up a little. Therefore, I was glad to have sort of a second chance this week to be quizzed on a similar material and have the oppotunity to check my knowledge on the color-list again.

What I am worried about now is the test that is next week.

13.03.01

Sixth Entry
13.03.01

"Lesson of the Day"

Today is a big day in South Korea. We celebrate the liberation movement that aimed to declare the country's freedom to the rest of the world in 1919 and the movement's honorable spirit that still reside in many of our hearts. So I was very proud and happy for the whole day.

I am quite satisfied with how I am doing in the course as well. Although the course material has been challenging at times, so far I could easily get help from the Racket videos and the lecture slides that contain most of the information that is needed for assessments like tests and quizzes. However, this week's lecture on color listing and such was a little difficult to follow because it seems like the difficulty of the material suddenly surged from the previous ones. So I am not sure about my performance in the quiz today, but I will see.

Professor Heap's demonstration of the commands in lecture is helpful more than ever. It visualizes the cryptic words and codes on pages, and it is just nice to have an exemplar to mimic and learn.

02.18.13

Fifth Entry
02.18.13

"Colorful Express"

I was surprised to have my test back on Tuesday. I usually have to be mentally ready to get back results of tests and assignments, so the test was a huge surprise. And it was also surprising that I did quite well. I don't know, in a way it wasn't a surprise because a so-called "cheat sheet" was allowed and the test did not cover that much material.

We now learn how to manipulate pictures in a very detailed, pixel-oriented way. Okay, that did not really make sense. What I meant was that we can now change every individual pixel of a picture. Color-list and color-blue sort of commands distort pictures to a very different level. The example of an iguana picture that professor Heap showed was very interesting.

02.10.13

Fourth Entry
02.10.13

"First Test"

Finally the computer science course came to its fifth week of class. The month is nearly ready to put its end punctuation, and I am glad that I got through this course so far.  Actually, I feel a little ashamed for not putting as much effort in the course as I do in my English class that is my intended subject of study. Come to think of it, I should not even prioritize subjects sometimes because learning one subject is as valuable as learning another. Hopefully in March I will find more time to spare for this course.

Tuesday's material was indeed a little challenging. What I found most interesting was the color codes. So far we have been working directly with shapes and numbers that we "defined" or "expressed" and could see very clearly the physical changes that were made onto them, but color codes were something more technical and not as obvious as the other functions we have been learning to do on DrRacket. Because I found it difficult, I wrote down the whole process and tried it myself at home.

And then my Wednesday afternoon was dedicated to study for the test. I reviewed the slides, Racket videos, quizzes and last semester's test. I was surprised to know that Professor Heap allowed us to bring the "cheat sheet" because I thought I would not ever see those again after high school. Personally what I wrote on my sheet was not very helpful, I guess I focused too much on the history aspect of the material, but it was comforting to have such a tool like that during the test.

Therefore, Thursday's class went by really quickly. The actual test was not surprising or felt like anything devastating, and instead I was happy to see that it reflected purely on things that were readily available for me to review on. Now I am looking forward to do the rest of the Wikipedia project

Whew, first test is over. Two more months and few more days to go!

02.02.13

Third Entry
02.02.13

"Spinning at the turning point"

The functions we perform on DrRacket are getting more and more complicated and interesting. The timer.rkt seemed like a revolution for me. Frankly, I was waiting to learn about more "cool" things I expected to learn in a computer science course: for example, making a simulation like a moving stick man.

In Thursday's lecture, we learned to make a clock with a picture of a barracuda as a clock hand. I once again smiled at Professor Heap's humor for thinking of a barracuda for a long and thin object that is like a clock hand. In fact, the commands for the timer was fairly confusing at the time in the lecture, so the humor of fish eased the tension for me.

I did review the lecture notes and tried out the command myself at home, but the quiz was indeed a little more challenging than the last two quizzes. I understand since the material for this week was more complicated anyways. Also, I was happy to see that I have been doing well so far in the quizzes. Hope I can continue this kind of result throughout the course. 

I wonder if I can make it snow in DrRacket...

01.25.13

Second Entry

01.25.13

"First challenge: hop over the quagmire"

This week was extra busy for me with a new backstage staff role I volunteered for my college's musical. But since the lectures were still at 9 a.m., each abundant with new concepts in computer science, it had to be my responsibility to keep up with the pace. Fortunately, Professor Heap was as cheerful as always, so I regained the energy to work harder.

This week's lecture was, so to speak, a continuation of last week's material on operating DrRacket. In addition, I learned about the basics and the history of the process of problem solving. Tracing back from ancient methods of tally systems that were groundbreaking at the time but are extremely antiquated now to modern computers that are much smaller and faster, I was amazed by the progress over the years and felt very privileged about the modern technology. I also felt a little ashamed for often yelling at my smart phone and my computer for being "slow." I should really appreciate them more.

Because I was quite interested in the history, I read carefully the web page about a rough chronology of computing devices Professor Heap had posted on the course website. Having that page to further my learning was great. It was a little too technical and difficult for a non-computer-science-student to understand, but I did enjoy reading and researching from there on to explore this new realm of knowledge.

Thursday's lecture was especially interesting because of the physical simulation Professor Heap assigned to two front-row people on each end of the lecture hall to demonstrate the usage of computer language (binary system.) It was rather comical to see people trying so hard to communicate with each other in that manner, and it also made me pay a better attention to the material.

To prepare for the quiz, I reviewed my course notes and watched the videos, just as I did last week, because simply doing those two steps seemed to work well for me. This time, I was glad to find a copy of last semester's quiz, which in the end helped a lot to study for the quiz. For now, the quizzes are not too taxing, but I wonder what more I could do to prepare for these assessments when the material gets more complicated near the end.

I have been going to and leaving from my tutorial earlier than others because I have an English tutorial situated in Victoria College right after this tutorial. Although I had promised myself to have nice chats with Professor Heap and my TA before this week, I did not have a chance to do so yet. Right now, I need to first receive my last week's quiz, e-mail my TA about my SLOG since it seems like my link is not among other people's on the course website (though I did hand in the pdf on time), and visit Professor during one of the office hours before January ends.

01.18.13

First Entry

01.18.13

"Island 104, now open for visitors"

I skipped breakfast last Thursday, so I drooled while Professor Heap made a peanut butter sandwich in lecture. I thought of not bringing in food because it is usually not allowed in lectures, but the professor himself was making food beside his computer. How ironic, I sighed, but I was also wondering why the delicious cooking in the early morning for me to feel even hungrier.

Algorithm.

Professor Heap simplified the term of algorithm by telling us to write down a step-by-step instruction of how to make a peanut butter sandwich. A process as simple as this had to be broken down into many pieces of instruction in order for me to command it to someone who has never done it before (or pretending not to have, as Professor Heap was). And I learned that easy and simple commands are the basis of seemingly complicated computer operations.

I can say that I use computer often, but I can't say I know a whole lot about it. To be honest, after the first lecture about the syllabus, such a long list of quizzes and assignments dumbfounded me. However, the fun and familiar approach Professor took to introduce us to the world of algorithm and computer operations got me more interested in the topic.

By the third lecture this week when I learned how to do some commands on Racket, I was confident that I could manage the course content. As I prepared for the quiz, I was happy to notice that tutorial handouts, videos and textbook handouts were very helpful for getting used to the material by repeating similar exercises. Because I had never taken a course in this discipline, as my main interest is in the  Humanities, I do not think this course relates so much to my other classes. However, it does fulfill my curiosity to learn more about the world of computer science in general. 

After all, it is always fun to try something new.

My achievement so far is that I have successfully set up my cdf account before the tutorial. I plan to actively communicate with my TA and find an opportunity to talk to the professor during his office hour next week.