Constant Learning
12 May 2021
Incredible Journey
This past spring semester I felt my brain has been put through the wringer. The varying levels of stress, the amount and speed of learning new concepts, designing and building a web app….and all done virtually.
Overcoming panic attacks and meeting deadlines
The workout-of-the-day (WOD) exercises were so nerve racking. The stress of a timed all-or-nothing graded assignment caused a high level of stress that led to mini panic attacks. With practice and more exposure, the WOD stressor became less and less as the semester went on, not to mention the awesome resource of Branden’s WOD (bWOD).
This was my first flipped classroom where learning was done on my own time so I had to allocate enough time to meet the rigors and deadlines of the course. The screencasts were crucial for my understanding of the unfamiliar concepts and the assignments were a great way to assess my comprehension.
Looking back, all the pre-project modules and experiences added to my utility belt. During the team project, I felt like Batman reaching for whichever tool I needed to solve the component I was writing. I couldn’t believe how much I relied on underscore!
How to eat an elephant…ethically
During one of my advising appointments with Gerald Lau, he gave me a wise piece of advice on my pursuit of this degree. He said, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”.
When it was time to create the group project, I was quite overwhelmed with all the moving parts that were needed to be completed by the deadline. By using Issue Driven Project Management (IDPM) for the project, the work was broken up into digestible bites that made it easier to create the final web app. The broken bites were managed using a tool that kept everyone on task.
Aside from the coding languages and technology, each developer needs to write code ethically. Not only adhering to the ACM code of ethics, but being aware of and reducing the amount of unconscious bias that may be written. These could be the choice of words or ensuring that the data used for analysis represents the entire picture. If you have a Netflix subscription, the show “Explained” episode “Coding” provides a brief look at how coding has biases.
Future
With anything in life, school, work, personal, I can see using some of the techniques of Issue Driven Project Management. Whether it’s a big work project, planning an event or trip, or working towards a degree, breaking down the work into little bits make the daunting end goal attainable.
Resources
Artificial Intelligence Has a Bias Problem, and It’s Our Fault