Week 02 Journal 01

This week was my first week taking the CSC165 class and I really enjoyed the lecture and tutorial. Although it was not as easy as I expected, the first few classes showed that the course material is interesting. I liked that the professor was well prepared and provided clear notes before the lecture, so that I could print the slides out and take notes with it. Compared to CSC108, which I took last semester, CSC165 covers a different area of computer science. While CSC108 introduced coding, the first few classes of CSC165 were more logic and math based. I am excited about this course.

Even though I had some difficulties while previewing the slides, I managed to understand the material after going to class and reviewing the notes. The professor gave a clear and detailed explanation of the material. I was initially confused about some of the symbols which were new to me, so I struggled to understand the meaning of sentences composed entirely of symbols. I tried to figure things out by searching online before lecture. During class, I listened carefully to the professor as he gave a clear and detailed explanation of the material. Now, I am finally understand these symbols.

Something else that frustrated me was finding the tutorial room. I am not familiar with Bahen Centre, and was late for the tutorial. I felt sorry for interrupting. During the tutorial, we did some practice problems and had a quiz. Our TA went through the practice problems clearly, and made sure that everyone understood the questions. I really appreciate tutorials like this, which help me to understand the material more thoroughly by doing problems.

People told me that CSC165 is really hard. Having previewed the notes for this course, I was a little nervous and worried about it at first. Although I still believe it is a challenging course, the professor and TAs are great resources for me to use. To do well in this course, I will try to study by myself and also ask for help when I need it. I am looking forward to learning more about mathematical expressions and reasoning in computer science.