Process Documentation

Final product

reflection

In the Distance Sensor Challenge and this project, when working on the code I noticed thoughts coming to surface that might be indicative of a fixed mindset. While coding is something I feel pretty confident in and have high self-efficacy for, I noticed that I was putting some pressure on myself to easily understand and extend the starter code. This is an unrealistic expectation to put on myself - I'm new to this JavaScript library and physical equiptment, and code hardly ever runs correctly on the first try anyway. And even if these things weren't true, it's completely normal to make mistakes in areas you feel confident in. 

Two of my classes this semester are research-based, and I've decided to explore the same broad topic for both, diving into a specific facet in each class and approaching it from different disciplines (I'm researching how surveillance affects urban mobility, looking at technical tracking mechanisms in a computer science class and personal mobility in a geography class). My broad research methods include a literary review for the CS class and a crowdsourced community map in the geography class. 

I haven't conducted a research project of this scale before, and feel trepidatious in getting started. Particularly in my geography class, many aspects of my research methods are new to me. The software I'm using to create a geographic survey and embed it into a publishable map, as well as the process of conducting ethnographic research, are pretty intimidating to me. Before working with the software, I noticed feelings of low-self efficacy when thinking about the tasks ahead. I've since spent some time constructing a functional map and have noticed my self-efficacy and growth mindset strengthening as I've done so. It will be important to hold on to these feelings as I continue in my research.