Reflection #4

... will be a little bit different. Instead of being due during your next lab, it is due at the same time your assignment is due . In other words, unless you have an extension it is due Friday April 23rd at 8pm . For this reflection, you'll be reflecting on your progress throughout the course, and planning for the exam. The reflection should only take 15 or so minutes to do.

The reflection involves three sections:

  1. Assignment 2 Planning [Optional]
  2. Exam Planning
  3. Reflection on the course

The full reflection template can be found by creating a blog, and applying the "Reflection #3" template. To use the Blog Template, see here.

Submission

You will be creating your reflection write-ups in your blog, by copying the template for that reflection and filling in the gaps. Your submission will be marked by your tutor after term ends -- not in a lab. This reflection won't be marked if it's submitted after your assignment is due.

Extra Support

If you find that you're struggling to keep up with the course, or you're finding it hard to stay on track, you may find it helpful to keep a more regular journal / to check in more frequently than just the fortnightly reflections write-ups. You can use the "Weekly Blog" template, which has a small list of questions you can complete regularly, to reflect on your learning, and plan your future work.

You may also find it helpful to set small, regular goals to help yourself improve across the semester. We will also provide support for doing this in the optional template mentioned above.

If you find during the reflections that you're struggling to stay on track no matter how hard you're trying -- don't panic, we understand that university can be pretty tough. Thankfully, UNSW have some excellent support services for students to help develop the skills you need to succeed at university: one such resource are the Educational Support Advisors , who can provide you with one-to-one help. You can also email your tutor, or post anonymously on the Course Forum.

UNSW also have a number of self-help resources on study skills and academic skills , which you might also find very helpful.

Assessment

The purpose of the reflection write-ups are to get you to periodically take a moment to stop and think about how you're going, as we progress through the course. In each write-up, you'll set yourself a goal to work towards for the next reflection; you will also be thinking about and analyzing some of the code that you've written since the last reflection.

As such, we're looking to see that you are thinking about things, you are setting yourself goals, you are thinking critically about your code. We don't expect you to be perfect -- just that you give it a shot, and do your best.

We are not going to assess you based on your spelling, or grammar, or English skills; we care more about your thoughts and ideas than how they are presented.

Similarly, for the "topic progress" section, we aren't assessing whether you've said that you've mastered every skill -- you won't gain or lose any marks for saying that you've mastered something, or saying that you don't understand something.

What we're looking for:

Self-improvement

  • identifying problems, and coming up with concrete/specific ways to address them
  • setting realistic and achievable goals, and making a plan for how to work towards each goal
  • reflecting on your progress towards achieving each goal, and ways to improve in the future

Code style and clarity

  • clear and correct code for most programming activities, and for the assignments
  • an understanding of the attributes of good code
  • an appreciation for programming style

Code-improvement

  • reflecting on the style and quality of your own code, and identifying ways of improving your code
  • evidence of debugging skills and of reflecting on and learning from mistakes
  • evidence of planning and reflection on craftsmanship and code quality and correctness

Not all of these will be applicable to every reflection, but these are the skills that we hope you will gain over the course of the semester.

Assessment

Assessments will be done in class. This means you will need to talk to your tutor about the write-up you have done. The marking guide is very simple, and the intent is that every student will get a "Complete" mark in this work:

Awesome! (3 / 2) For this grade, you must have done everything to achieve a "Complete" mark, and then also included some significant extra element of reflection. This could be more regular reflection than once every two weeks, or an additional question you've answered or kept track of, or some additional content you've made (like a vlog!).

Complete (2 / 2) For this grade, every question (or almost every question) should have an answer that sufficiently responds to the quesiton. We don't care about how long it is, as long as you've provided a genuine response that's novel. Our goal here is to see that you've put thought into this -- not to test your essay writing.
Partly Complete (1 / 2) For this grade, some questions will have answers, or have answers that demonstrate no thought or reflection.
Not Done (0 / 2) For this grade, either no work was done, or answers were so short that no reflection was evident (for example, a one word answer).

Completing these reflections are their own reward. The marks are not intended to penalize you, and pretty much every student should get 2/2

Resource created Tuesday 13 April 2021, 11:17:28 PM.


Back to top

COMP1511 21T1 (Programming Fundamentals) is powered by WebCMS3
CRICOS Provider No. 00098G