Course Goals ITM 352 has the following goals: Acquiring basic programming skills in an IT context Understanding why MIS people need basic programming skills and knowledge Gaining hands-on experience in developing software applications Experiencing first-hand MIS problems and solutions Experiencing and understanding first-hand project management, working in teams, software development issues Gaining confidence in addressing MIS problems For each of the above goals, explain what stands out in your class experience that indicates you have met that goal. You do not need to be comprehensive but do be specific. You should make each goal a sub-section. In ITM 352, we dove into programming essentials and seeing how they fit into the broader landscape of IT and MIS. Through hands-on projects, like our assignment 1 and 2, and collaborative problem-solving, like working on our labs in class, I gained practical experience in software development and encountered various MIS challenges. Engaging in project management tasks and teamwork helped solidified my basic understanding of how IT solutions are implemented in real-world settings. Overall, this experience has sky rocketed my confidence in addressing complex problems effectively.
Course Elements and Personal Engagement What did you learn from creating a professional portfolio and using it in ITM 352? From creating a professional portfolio and using it in ITM 352, I learned how beneficial it is to look back and reflect on assignments or just your overall progress on a topic whether you understood it or not. In doing so, I was able to pick up on dumb mistakes or see/understand the assignent from an entirely different perspective.
What did you gain from doing the WODs? From doing the WODs I would say I gained some confidence in my opinion or throught process on how things should be done. Often times I found myself questioning what I thought and found that that was exactly how it was done in the screencast.
Were the quizzes helpful in preparing you for the labs? The quizzes were relatively helpful in terms of picking up some basic lingo but I do not think it helped me enough to fully prepare me for the labs.
What did you learn from doing the labs? From the labs I learned a lot about troubleshooting. By being able to watch our professor first hand troubleshoot issues that naturally came up, it really helped me in learning where to look or dumb problems that should be checked before looking too deep.
What did you learn from doing the essays? From doing the essays I learned that so many mistakes that came up were planted to help our troubleshooting and thinking process since the questions were shaped around fixing the expected problems that arose.
What did you learn from doing Assignment 1 and Assignment 2? In doing Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 I learned how crucial it is to code slowly and check the browser output every few lines so you do not dig yourself too deep into a hole. I also learned that not everything is as complicated as it seems so it is best to take a step back and try to see the problem from a different perspective.
Challenges and Achievements Detail the specific challenges you encountered during the course, such as understanding new programming concepts, completing WODs, web application development assignments. One of the first specific challenges I encountered was with completing the WODs after the screencasts stopped. Although before I would not solely rely on watching them to get through, it made me feel more confident and less stressed that I have a plan B option if I really cannot figure something out. Another specific challenge was with functions. When looking at a premade function I can understand all the code’s purpose yet when faced with making my own from scratch I just have no idea where to begin.
Explain how you overcame these challenges and the strategies that helped you succeed. At first I would rely on ChatGTP to help me see what was wrong or understand but I quickly realized that can only help so much and I was not learning much that way. The way I actually overcame these challenges by going to the professor for help. This way I could ask questions and have a conversation with a real person who understood my knowledge level rather than a computer who did not know as much.
Highlight any particular achievements or milestones in the course that were significant to you. An achievement for me in this course was Assignment 1 as a whole. I really felt as if there was no way I would be able to get it done and not only did I finish it but I got full credit. I am proud of this because I did not let myself get discouraged and I kept on pushing until I had it complete.
Skill Development and Application Reflect on the three skill levels outlined in the course (syntactic, algorithmic, application) and discuss your progression through these levels. Syntactic - In this first level I was feeling very confident because a lot of the basic tops being brought up I had learned before so I was happy I already felt ahead and knowledgable. Algorithmic - This second level is what may have been the most difficult and by far the most frustrating. This is when the tempo really picked up but I became aware I either had to put my head down and do my best or give up because in the middle just did not work. Application - The last level which we currently seem to be wrapping up in when my confidence is starting to come back. The relief of not having too many new topics made me able to focus my brain onto ensuring I am proficient in everything we had learned so far and connecting the dots between all of the different skills.
Describe how the hands-on experience with web-based e-service applications enhanced your understanding and confidence in handling MIS issues. The hands-on experience with web-based e-service applications enhanced my understanding by seeing the step by step process and understanding what each step’s purpose is. This made it not too overwhelming to just start an application from scratch. This also helped my confidence in handling MIS issues because now I know I am capable to not only create these sites but also combat the issues that come up without getting stressed out.
Use of AI (e.g. ChatGBT) Discuss how use of AI enhanced your learning and productivity. Give specific examples of how you used AI effectively. AI helped my productivity more than my learning. For example, when trying to implement the password and email requirements I was able to quickly obtain the information specifically for my problem in seconds but I also can not say I was able to learn as much that was as I would learning it from our Professor.
Discuss how use of AI inhibited your learning or and productivity. Give specific examples of how you used AI ineffectively. AI inhibited my learning and/or productivity by making me lazy at times. An example of how I used AI ineffectively was during labs when I would just copy and paste the questions instead of taking a minute to read the question which I most of the time knew the answer myself anyways.
Future Implications and Professional Growth Explore how the skills and knowledge gained from ITM 352 can be applied in your future academic and professional endeavors. In my future academic and professional endeavors I will most likely use every skill we have learned in this course over the semester. In specific I am excited to bring my web application development to enhance any current web application with my skills and add my touch to whatever professional endeavors I have infront of me.
Discuss the potential impacts these skills will have on your career, especially in terms of understanding and addressing MIS problems. The potential impacts these skills will have on my career, especially in terms of understanding and addressing MIS problems, will be extremely beneficial due to the fact that I now know what to look for in addressing problems and also techniques like slowly coding and constantly checking back to help prohibit as many dumb mistakes as possible.
Reflect on the overall value of the course in your educational journey and future career. Overall, this course in my educational journey and future career has taught me so much in terms of coding/web design all the way to just how to deal with a difficult problem. My skills in things like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript have increased more than I knew were possible. I also have an entirely different way of looking at frustration, instead of getting mad I find it exciting to face on a new challenge and learn more. Although this class had me extremely frustrated at times, it has been worth so much in the long run on the skills that I have gained.