CST 489/499 Week 16 Learning Journal

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CS Online Reflection

Deciding to apply to the CS Online program was one of the best choices I have made. This program has broadened my horizons and exposed me to various areas of computer programming that I can focus on. 

Looking back at my early journal entries, I can see that my view of what Computer Science is was very narrow. CST 300 opened my eyes to the ethical implications of being a software engineer and to the professional code we must adhere to. This class helped shape my approach to producing high-quality projects in other courses focused on societal impact. In CST 338 and CST 336, we focused on developing applications that enable users to track their fitness progress and promote healthier lifestyles. In CST 383, we used data science to predict which factors most strongly influenced students' learning, given their habits. Finally, as our capstone project, we developed a web application that uses a novel algorithm to assist computer science students in learning data structures and algorithms. 

Experiencing the range of potential impacts a software engineer can have across various fields of work led me to think beyond the conventional definition of a software engineer. While I am proud of all the work I have completed, it was beneficial to see what ideas other groups have developed and the impact they could have on society.

One of the most significant takeaways from this program was not merely learning to program but doing so ethically and in ways that benefit society. 

Future Plans

Although the program emphasized Software Engineering, I was exposed to much more than that. I have come to really enjoy working with databases and data science topics such as machine learning. I plan to delve further into machine learning projects and integrate these interests with my foundation in software engineering. In addition, our capstone team plans to continue enhancing our DynamiCode project after the program concludes. We aim to conduct further testing of its effectiveness in learning data structures and algorithms, and to make it a sought-after platform for preparing for technical interviews among computer science students. 

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