CompSci 307
Fall 2022
Software Design and Implementation

Whether you are keeping a journal or writing as a meditation, it is the same thing. What’s important is you are having a relationship with your mind. — Natalie Goldberg

Weekly Journal

An important way to improve is by practicing mindful learning, pausing and reflecting during an activity, so that the context of your actions is not lost. An important way for us to understand what you have learned is make your learning visible and, unfortunately, code alone is not enough. Thus, to help even programmers like you improve and to help us understand how you are learning, you will practice regular journaling throughout the semester.

Informal writing can clarify your thinking and improve your ability to remember, observe, think, and communicate. When you are writing your journal entries, do not be overly concerned about grammar. It is more important for these weekly entries to communicate ideas effectively, focus on ideas, depth, and critical analysis — tackle concepts rather than worry about splitting infinitives. The object of the journal is not to simply regurgitate the readings or lecture content but to develop your own connections between the theoretical (or philosophical) and practical elements of the course and a better understanding of your relationship to coding. Just write — you might even find it fun!

Submitting Work

Journals are due each week by 3:07am ET in the morning on the day after that given on the course Calendar (so it is effectively a few extra hours grace time past midnight).

IntelliJ includes a Markdown editor that provides a preview or there is a web-based editor that provides similar functionality.

Deliverables

  1. CompSci Autobiography (template)
  2. Ethics and Failure (template)
  3. Habits and Teamwork (template)
  4. Starting a Big Project (template)
  5. Ethics in the News (template)
  6. NONE
  7. OOLALA Project Analysis (template)
  8. Testing Reflection (template)
  9. Teamwork Reflection (template)
  10. Cell Society Project Analysis (template)
  11. Professional Ethics Code (template)
  12. Ethics Applied (template)
  13. NONE
  14. Improvement Reflection (template)
  15. OOGA Project Team Review (template)
  16. OOGA Project Analysis (template)