At this point in the semester I just turned in Assignment 1. Which was very exciting and nervwracking at the same time. This assignment challenged me in many ways but was also beneficial. The following is my progress in programming report:
My programming skills have improved greatly in a couple of ways. For example before starting this class I had no clue how to program. Now I have realized it is so much more than just knowing what the code means but it involves applying it. This really helped me in assignment 1. In my assignment I wanted to get creative and try to use a form. By understanding the code itself I was able to implement a section on my checkout page to put card information. I did this by truly being able to apply the code.
As far as what I need to work on is the more technical skills. For example it took me awhile to even begin to understand what server side processing is. In order to be more successful in my future endeavors and in regards to how I learn, I need to have the answers to how things work and do more research on the technical side.
Yes, I can do the WODs without screencast solutions first but I do get stuck on little parts of them. I feel like the screecast solutions are actually really beneficial and I learn a lot from them. Even if I don’t always need the screencast solutions, I end up watching them anyways to understand multiple ways to do things.
The labs definetly have helped me learn and I can mostly complete them with confidence. What I mean by that is when have to rush and finish the labs due to time constraints I do get a little confused. A solution would be maybe offering extracredit to students who feel confident in a lab and ask them to create a wod type video to share with the class of finishing the lab.
I do feel ready to enter the next phase of this class and begin learning tools needed for Assignment 2 and building upon Assignment 1. I am really proud of my work for Assignment 1 and I am excited to build upon it.
One thing to improve the learnings in this class would be to do my above suggestion regarding running out of time for Labs. That is truly when I struggle the most. Another thing would be to provide videos on concepts and the more technical things like a video explaining server side or client side processing.
The reading really work well for me in this class as well as the WODs and the example help provided for Assignment 1. Having it explained like that outside of class I felt allowed me to concentrate on building skills during the labs in class.