Final Thoughts (Maybe)

In all honesty I thought this course was pretty straightforward and easy. A lot of the questions that were asked in the assignment and quizzes were very related to the course or lecture notes. But I managed to screw up somehow. After doing multiple assignments and tests, I hope I can learn from ALL my mistakes and do well for the final examination.

Some stupid mistakes I made were taking shortcuts and not proving something and assuming it was true....

Defined the variables wrong....

Typed something wrong and failed to triple check... 

I think now my main concern is to not panic when going into the exam. I had multiple midterms where I was panicking which lead me to think differently. Somehow have to find a way to calm myself... and go into the exam with a clear head.

After mastering all the material that I learned from this course, I have to spend some time looking online for some extra problems and see the different applications that what we learned can be used. This is how I will prepare for the exam

Getting Closer

After so long of reading course notes and trying to further understand the material by looking at other resources for help, I feel I am getting close to my goal. Even though it was a tough and hard at the start of this course for me, I am feeling optimistic about the exam and Assignment 3. As I get my marks back, I carefully look at all the comments that the TA wrote down and I will remind myself what I am missing in my proofs. This being said, I am starting to see the beauty of algorithms and proofs in that the more specific and clear you are in your solutions, the easier it is for others to understand what you are trying to do.

This is still a long road ahead of me. I know myself that I had a bad start but I still want to pass this course. I will not give up. Just keep practicing and looking over numerous examples and techniques to build up on current knowledge.

assignment 2 and beyond.

A2 wasn't that hard. Everything was more or less from the course or lecture notes. However, I am still nervous because who knows, maybe I might have forgotten a crucial structural element in the proof that will cause me to get a mark lower than I expected........

I really hope I was able to communicate my answers clear and concise for A2 and be able to obtain a good mark. I am still sour because of the fact that I am getting so low in the course because of my lack of clarity in my answers in A1 and Test1.

With Test2 coming up this coming week, I look forward to destroying it.

YOU HAVE BEEN DEFEATED.

Sadly, my marks turned out worse than it was last year. However, I do believe that I understood the material but failed to present my knowledge to the best of my abilities. For example, after just writing Test 1, I felt pretty confident because I knew how to do the questions. But when the marks came back, I realized that I mixed up many variable names and forgot to add important structural elements in my proof. This can also be said for Assignment 1. I got good marks on question 3 and 4 (which were the harder ones) but didn't do as well on question 1 and 2 because I failed to notice minor details that would make my proofs complete.

Truthfully, I am feel demoralized because I knew the material and knew how to apply it but I wasn't able to communicate it where it mattered. I have no one else to blame but myself. Because my mark is really low, I do feel a lot of pressure and uneasy since there is no more breathing room for mistakes, I hope I can get my act together and still do better in this course than in CSC165.

Assignment 1: Self Reflection

I feel some background information is required. I didn't do well last year in CSC165. I was failing but I managed to study hard and get my act together and as a result, I passed.

This year with CSC236, I vowed to not let it be a repeat of CSC165 and to study and UNDERSTAND the material that was being taught EVERY WEEK. This being said, when I saw assignment 1 was posted, I dived right into it. I think many students at UofT would agree with me that UNDERSTANDING the material is only HALF THE BATTLE when it came to assignments, tests, or exams. What really matters is using what you know and APPLYING it to solve problems. Assignment 1, was no different. I understood the material but was having trouble in knowing how to apply what I learned to try to solve the questions. I took a lot of time just sitting down and trying to find a connection between the course notes and the questions being asked from the assignment so I can maybe get an  idea on where to start. Of course, for example question 1 and 2, the relationship can be found quickly as they were extremely similar to some of  the lecture examples. Question 3 and 4 were the hardest questions out of the whole assignment. I had no idea where to begin . When I was running out of hope, I remembered some helpful advice given to me from some of my high school teachers. My English teacher taught me to just keep writing or doodle even if you have nothing to say as sometimes random thoughts can emerge and grow into insightful ideas. Also, my physics teacher taught me to draw pictures as it helps you to visualize and understand the problem more. I started doodling and drawing pictures on my brainstorming page that were related to question 3 and 4. To my surprise, those two helpful advice allowed me prove all the questions in the assignment. 

Maybe my weakness last year was not about being unable to understand the material... but failing to learn how to apply concepts from the course to questions or proofs that need proving. I guess that will be my goal for this course. To learn how to apply what I learned to everyday challenges.