This class has been a quite a surprise. Not at all what I expected. There are a lot of language features, nuances, idiosyncrasies that don’t necessarily come up that often, at least for me. Plus, it’s been several years since I’ve coded professionally. I’m remembering many things about C/C++ that I haven’t thought about in a long time, or forgotten, and a few I’m learning for the first time. I’m enjoying it. I also appreciate learning some java from this perspective and how it compares and contrasts with C++.
I did my first pair programming on project 3. I enjoyed it.
Both of the classes I’m taking this semester have no “final” and both have quizzes every class. That’s very different from my first time on campus. It used to be that, in some classes some students would let the readings go until shortly before the exams. This way you are forced to stay current. I think this way makes good sense. I think this way makes for better learning and retention. I’m sure that’s why it’s being done this way. I wonder if this is a trend?
I have to say though that some of these quizzes are difficult to ace, at least for me. I feel that I’m as prepared as I can possibly be. I do the readings. I study up on all the lecture topics etc. But I just don’t test well on some types of questions when only given a couple of minutes. At first I was concerned with some of my quiz scores. I mean with only 2 or 3 questions on a quiz when you miss one question it’s an 80% or 60%! Yikes! But after a few weeks and seeing the grades averaged I began to realize how the relative light weight of the quizzes factors in. So that eases the pain a bit. What can easily help is the ample opportunity for extra credit. And my projects and test scores are much better than my quizzes anyway. So it balances out. But still, I don’t like getting an 80% or 60% on a quiz and it pisses me off! :-)
But, it’s fun. Which is the main reason I’m here.