After completing assignment 1, I am able to recognize/understand the codes we use more and more. But, I still needed the help I could get. This makes me not so confident in my coding skills. However, I do have a sense of 'I'm getting it' so I think its a matter of time I start to really believe in myself. I want to be a better coder.
Areas I want to focus on for coding is to be able to tie everything together. I get the individual aspects that make up a line of code but to see it all form together that forms similarly to a Longs reciept, it becomes daunting. I just need to put more effort into learning the process and really try to see how all the parts come together.
The WODs have defenitly been a factor in my learning experience in the course. I am able to apply what we learned in class, take it home and do it on my own. There are a few WODs that I couldn't complete on my own and did need the help of the screencast. But at least I am able to see what I was missing or what I did wrong so it aided me lots.
Much like the WODs, the labs we do can be fun and a great way to learn. The labs walkthrough the required duties step by step and makes learning programming uch easier. I like that the labs are apart of the assignments so I can use them in need of inspiration.
Even though I feel competent with my assignment 1, I am on the fence for if I am ready for the second assignment. I know I will complete it but will I half-ass it or make a proper site that warrants a great grade? For the first assignment, I used all the help I can get and I don't want to do that this time. I just hope I can get far enough on my own where it feels like I truly learned something.
While I think the way the class is setup currently, there isn't much I can think of that would make drastic improvments in the way I learn. I would like to say though, I wish there were more resources that would walkthrough the writing process of the code. Similarly to the WODs screencasts, some kind of video that explains whats going on and how to do it. Now thinking about it, I do know some lessons have screencasts too and I have viewed some. They are helpful but maybe more focused on the assignment.
With all that being said, I believe the number one most helpful method in the class are the labs. The labs provide the steps and explains what's going on and why we are even programming it. It's also nice that professor Port goes through it with us explains as he goes. i just wish there was more in-class time.