About course works

We had to do course works to pass our modules except Logic. For logic we attended two different exams in which I did my best. But for other three modules there were a lot of course works as well as group work.

Regarding problem solving for IT, there was exam for the first part of module whereas for second part i.e. MS EXCEL and MS ACCESS, there was a course work. In this coursework, we had to prepare a mark sheet for ten students using spreadsheet and also had to make bar and pie chart using that table. As per second part of this course work, we had to prepare a simple database according to the details given.

In programming course work, we had two parts. In first part we had to prepare a program for a car rental company that kept records about cars, people who rented car, etc using bluej. In second part, we had to write a program for a property renting company. It was similar to the first part of the coursework upto some extent but we had to prepare two different classes and use methods defined in one class from another class. It was quiet tiresome as compared to the first part of the coursework.

For study skills, we were divided into different groups and we had to prepare a ten minute presentation about any topic related to computing, which we chose ‘Java Programming Language’. For that presentation, I played the role for supervising the whole task. Moreover, I also prepared the content of the slides. According to the Teachers our slides were satisfactory but our presenting skills were poor as we all were nervous because we hadn’t given any presentation before. For second part we had to write personal statement and also a Personal Development Portfolio (PDP) which, I think, were good enough.

By providing course works and making us do research is far better than taking exams. It was totally different type of evaluation style from our Nepalese style of evaluation. Because of these course works my knowledge has become sharper and I hope I will get more course works in near future.

Favourite module

          As I have already mentioned in my very first blog post that I have got four Modules or subject to study in this semester. By the time I post this article, our Semester shall have already ended. All the modules were equally tough.

          But if someone asks me about my favourite module throughout whole the Semester, I would refer to logic because it was easy to do the exercises. Moreover, Math was the subject in which I was perfect in school as well as high school level and logic was no different from those mathematics’. I always had had fun while doing logic exercises. It was easy to understand the subject matters except some. I also used to have arguments with lecturer as well as tutor regarding some doubted matters and having such discussion with teachers had increased my knowledge in respective topics. Also it was easy to score ‘A’ in logic that’s why it was my favorite modules.

          I was totally moved by the teaching technique of lecturer. The way she taught us, dealt with problems and solved them inspired me to do best in this module. Tutor was also kind and helpful. He helped me a lot while doing exercises. He made me clear about the issues that were not clear to me during lecture classes and also gave me useful tips which I needed for doing assignments. He also taught us how we could obtain the full mark in questions. In other words, lecturer gave us idea and tutor helped us to implement them.

          As a result of these factors, ‘logic’ became my favourite module in my first semester.

My Academic Development throughout the First semester at Islington

     After high school, I was wondering, which field should I enter so that I won’t regret in near future. I thought and thought and I realized computer related studies might be a great idea. My idea got a complete shape when I got support from my family, who were very glad about me taking such wise decision. I was totally moved by the counselling and decided to join the Bsc. (Hons) in Computing in Islington College.

     It was an amazing experience at Islington during this whole semester. I loved being at Islington. It was like an adventure exploring new things because throughout the whole semester I learned a lot of things of which I had never heard of before. In a simple way, I loved every bit of moments at Islington.

    Now, talking about my academic field I had to study four different modules which were Logic, Introduction to Programming, Problem solving for IT and Study Skills for Computing. The combination and content of the modules were perfect for the beginners like me. I devoted myself totally into the study from the very beginning.

    Logic was my favourite subject during this semester. Favourite in this manner that it was easy to score ‘A’ grade in this module and also it was easy to learn this module. It helped me to develop knowledge about new mathematical concepts though I didn’t have any idea where those concepts are used in the field of computers. In this module, I learned about propositions, operators, logical circuits, sets and relations. Sets and relations were same as the set and relations which I had studied before in school level with some additional topics whereas proposition, operator and logical circuit were new to me. With the help from lecturer and tutor I scored a very good mark in first part of my exam and also I did great in the second part.

   Introduction to Programming, an interesting module, was very new to me. I did a lot of practice for this module. As this was new to me, I had had a lot of questions which I asked to my tutor and he helped me. For passing this module we were provided with two different course works which i did enthusiastically. I think those course works were perfect to evaluate the knowledge we gained during this semester. Aim of this module was to develop basic knowledge about java programming which I think was fulfilled in my case.

      Another interesting module was ‘Problem solving for IT’. The beginning part of this module was hard to understand for me though I had tried but the MS EXCEL and MS ACCESS part were much easier. In the first part of this module we had to learn different problem solving strategies which, in my view, were hard to understand. As a result I failed the first part of this module. But I did great in the second part which comprised of MS EXCEL and MS ACCESS. I have developed a sound knowledge in MS EXCEL and MS ACCESS with which the objective of the module was fulfilled.

    Last but not the least, ‘Study Skills for Computing’ was a bit boring, personally, as we had to give presentations and write different kinds of reports, statements. I was very afraid of this module because I wasn’t much experienced in literature and presentations. The main purpose of keeping this module in course was to develop the writing skills of ours to match with bachelor level. As part of course work, our presentation was bad and also my writing skills weren’t good enough to score a good mark. So as a whole my performance in this module was not good enough.

    Response to my activities was good from tutors except study skills which I tried my best to improve and yes, I  improved to some extent.