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.