CS 109 - Sadichchha's Project Website [Fall '23]

Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool, Giverny [Claude Monet, 1899]

About Me

I am a sophomore at Mount Holyoke College. I am planning to major in Computer Science with a minor in Math. This website is my record of my learning for the class CS 109 - iDesign Lab. You can find my reflections down below and my project overviews on the sidebar.

Reflection 1: Mindset

My mindset has played a significant role in my academic journey from course selections to handling difficult assignments. I have always been more inclined toward subjects related to Math and Science which included numbers, equations, and calculations. My confidence and comfort played a huge role in selecting courses.

However, during my first semester at MHC, I tried to step out of my academic comfort zone by taking classes such as Introduction to Economics and Work of Translation. There were many unfamiliar concepts and setbacks I had to confront. However, as the semester progressed I found myself more willing to deal with things that initially seemed too daunting such as participating in group discussions, giving presentations, and reaching out for help. These classes have helped me believe in my ability to learn and grow.

Out of all the tech projects, I am most interested in the Emotobot. While there are parts such as coding that I feel comfortable with, there are also many aspects such as circuitry and design that are new to me. I want to approach these new challenges with genuine enthusiasm and a commitment to learning. I am aware that there might be numerous problems that I may encounter but I am excited about making mistakes and growing from them. Embracing a growth mindset, I would like to view this project as a chance to further expand my horizons and build a deeper understanding of technology and its applications

Reflection 2: Self-efficacy

Reflection_Self-efficacy.m4a

Reflection 3: Self-regulation

In the last class, we worked in pairs with Arduino programming. While working on the Circuit playground, it was helpful to plan, do, and reflect while completing the different tasks assigned to us. While planning, we first made sure that we fully understood the task at hand and then laid out a plan that would help us achieve our goal. We brainstormed ideas on our own and then shared them with each other. Once we agreed on the same, we proceeded to act on it.

While formulating a plan, we did not hesitate to ask each other about the confusion we had. When we came across some trouble, we knew we could always ask for help from our peers or our professor. We executed our plan with a trial-and-error strategy. If the plan we came up with initially did not seem to work, we came up with different ideas until we could see the desired result.

We evaluated our plan by checking if the result matched the goal that we started out with. If the goal and the result did not match, I would try to go over what we already know by looking at the example code and past examples. I tried to revise the plan by trying something new than the last trial.

Reflection 4: Belongingness I

It was my first time working with circuit boards. I had seen them here and there but did not have any first-hand experience. My reaction was a mix of anticipation and excitement. Being a Computer Science major, I felt quite comfortable coding even though it was a new language. While working with the Arduino software, I did run into a few errors. It was helpful to discuss the problem with my lab partner and solve it together.

A lot of factors come into play when I wonder "Is this for me?". The first factor would be my level of familiarity with the space and concept. I also think the environment and the people who make up the space play a huge role in a person feeling like they belong.

Looking at the home page for the two tech events, I feel intimidated even though I am studying a related field. Looking at the attendees list [CEOs, IT Directors, Developers, Investors], it doesn't feel like I would fit in although I find the topics [IoT and software development] very exciting. Moreover, looking at the picture of the people involved, I noticed that the proportion of men involved was greater. If I looked at these events several months ago, I would most probably shy away and want nothing to do with it.

However, now I understand that my initial thoughts also play a big role in my belongingness in any space. Belongingness is influenced by not only gaining acceptance and support from others but also putting in the effort to make others in the space feel welcomed.

Reflection 5: Belongingness II

Last year, I spent Thanksgiving with my sister and her friends. It was my first Thanksgiving and everything was very new to me. I was assigned to the team making a key lime cheesecake. Having almost no experience in baking and cooking, I was sure that I would be a hindrance rather than help. However, when we were making our way through the steps written in the recipe, I found myself having fun and even more confident when I first started. I realized that baking might be something that I wanted to do more of.

In my second year of high school, I volunteered at a cerebral palsy center nearby along with my classmates. We decided to come up with a goal that we wanted to complete by the end of our time volunteering at the center. Our goal was to help the kids recognize at least half of the English alphabet by the end of the year. We had decided on half of the alphabet as we assumed that learning the alphabet could be overwhelming for the kids. However, it didn't even take us a week to change our goal to teach the alphabet. To our delight, we found out that the kids we were teaching were extremely enthusiastic about learning and were making great progress each day. I deeply regretted underestimating their potential. It was a valuable lesson in challenging preconceptions.

In elementary school, I was very shy and introverted. I found it hard to speak up in large groups. As a way of helping me break out of my shell, my teacher selected me to become one of the hosts for the year-end parent's day showcase. I remember practicing weeks before the show in front of the mirror continuously. On the day of the showcase, I was extremely nervous. I did manage to deliver my line despite my stage fright. Watching my peers being passionate and natural while hosting made me feel like I did not belong. Although my teacher's help was well-intentioned, I did not feel comfortable or like I belonged.

In my daily life, I try my best to help other people feel respected and included. Having a fellow international student as my roommate for the past year and a half has been helpful to me in many different ways. While talking about our home countries (Nepal and China), we discover many things that are common in both cultures while also learning about vastly different norms. As international students, it is hard to pick up on some social cues or contextual humor. During my first year, I made it a point to explain much of what I picked up in conversations so that my roommate would not feel left out or isolated.

Reflection 6: Cognitive Flexibility 🧠

For my third project, I decided to make my Welcome Bot similar to the ones that we saw in class as examples. Most of them included two holes in the body for the ropes to pass through. I had finished cutting and sanding the different parts of the bot and was ready to drill holes into the pieces. I was able to drill holes into the leg and the hands. However, when I tried to drill holes into the main body block, I could not drill the hole all the way through. When I tried to drill into the wood from the other side, the hole became crooked. The block was no longer usable. Instead of choosing to adopt a different technique, I tried to do the same process after cutting another piece of wood. To much of my disappointment, I had the same problem again.

I was frustrated but I knew that I needed to come up with a new idea to attach the blocks. I took a break from working in the wood workshop and started working on uploading the code. When I went back, I planned to connect the bodies with wires instead of threads. This made the process much easier as I had to drill smaller holes. Thinking back, it would have been better if I had given up my initial plan sooner. I was so immersed in what I wanted to do that I did not consider different approaches.

Another instance where approaching the problem from a different perspective has been helpful was my final paper for my first-year seminar, "The Work of Translation". After reading up on how translation is done, why it is important, and, the different challenges in the field of translation, we each had to translate a piece from one language to another. I decided to translate a section of a Nepali book into English. I made several edits to my initial draft to make my translation as accurate as possible. After making some of my final edits, I asked a friend to proofread my work. Her feedback made me realize that some of the cultural nuances were not as obvious to someone who was not familiar with Nepali culture. Taking this into consideration, I added a small word glossary to explain some of the Nepali words. It was helpful to get insight from a different person to improve my work.

Reflection 7: Emotional Quotient

Currently, I am taking a Beginning Tennis class for my PE requirement. Having no prior experience with playing tennis, I have been struggling quite a lot. There is one advice that our coach repeats each class: don't let your anger or regret control the way you serve the next ball, think about what you did wrong and try to do it better the next time. This has been helpful outside the PE class. I think a huge part of being emotionally intelligent is being aware of your emotions and having control over them.

In my opinion, the first step to managing our emotions is to acknowledge them. Instead of ignoring feelings of anxiety, anger, and sadness, we could try figuring out what is causing these emotions. Then we can try to think of ways to deal with such emotions. Often times when I am working on my coding assignments for my Data Structures class, I feel frustrated when I hit a roadblock and feel that I am making no progress. Something that I have been finding useful is taking a break and coming back. Sometimes feelings of frustration become so strong that they prevent us from moving forward.

Having a high EQ also means being aware of and acknowledging other people's behaviors and emotions. In high school, I was one of the two girls in my CS class. Being in a male-dominant class, I had a hard time voicing my opinion and even asking questions. I felt that I was not as involved in the class as I wanted to be. In this scenario, I think both my classmates and I could have benefitted from growing our EQ. My classmates could have been more mindful of their communication style and created an environment where everyone felt that their input was welcome and given importance. On the other hand, I could have reflected on Effective communication and being empathetic are also essential to developing a high EQ.

Reflection 8: Emotobots 🤖

At the very beginning of the semester, I remember picking the EmotoBot as the project that I found most interesting. I remember feeling uncomfortable thinking about the circuitry and the physical design aspect of the project. Then, I thought the project demanded a skill set much more advanced than my abilities. However, when constructing the Emotobot and manipulating the display of the EmotoBots in class, I felt a greater sense of familiarity and excitement.

I feel the process of learning through trial and error while reflecting on what could have gone better has helped me build a stronger mindset. Also, working in the Fimbel Lab where all the staff are welcoming and supportive of what we are working on has helped me build a feel a stronger sense of belonging with both the working space and the course itself. Most importantly, reflecting on what has worked and acknowledging what I need help with has significantly increased my comfort level in planning and building different projects.

Now, after successfully building and programming an EmotoBot, there is not much that would tell my former self to do differently. Rather I would tell myself to enjoy the process of learning even if it is challenging at times. I would tell myself to believe more in my abilities and push my boundaries of thinking about what is possible.

Reflection 9: Feedback

Most of the time, I look forward to getting feedback as it helps me improve my work and view my work from a perspective different from mine. Not only does it help me to make changes for the better but it also gives me insight into how other people may view your work. However, people might even have a fear of feedback as they are not ready for criticism.

Feedback can be positive and negative but there might be a productive takeaway regardless. First and foremost, it is important to understand that everyone can benefit from constructive criticism regardless of their skill level. After getting rid of strong emotions such as anger and despair, we need to examine the feedback we are given with a clear and open mind. Embracing a growth mindset is also essential to unpack feedback effectively. We must be welcoming of different perspectives and take their input as points to improve our work rather than a criticism of our abilities.

To make the best of the given feedback, we should first learn to categorize feedback into three bins: supportive, constructive, and unhelpful feedback. Supportive feedback can help highlight the strong aspects of our work and what other people appreciate. Constructive feedback can help us understand the weak parts of our work that need more revision. It can be helpful to ask follow-up questions on how and what we can improve specifically. There might also be some reasonably unhelpful feedback in the mix that we might not be able to unpack. Categorizing feedback in this manner can help us recognize the strengths and weaknesses of our work from a different perspective.

Reflection 10: (Dis)Comfort Zone ⚠️

Thinking back to the start of the semester when we filled out the intake form, I remember expressing discomfort over presenting to large groups of people and feeling more comfortable with learning new coding languages. Throughout the course, I have had multiple chances to practice coding in a new language and to develop my public speaking skills. Coding through the different projects has helped me understand coding Arduinos better. I think coding still lies in my comfort zone. However, I would say that public speaking lies in my learning zone as I am willing to deal with new challenges and learn new skills. I have gotten more comfortable and confident talking in front of a large group but public speaking is still not my forte.

One's mindset plays a big role in categorizing an activity to be inside or outside one's comfort zone. Our unfamiliarity and fear can hold us back from attempting new challenges. Having a growth mindset is essential to building confidence in tasks we initially find daunting. Being willing to take on challenges and learn from them is key to effective learning.

This is also where self-efficacy comes into play. Being a confident and brave learner can help us eliminate fear and expand our comfort zone. Having a higher efficacy can prompt us to view new tasks positively as fun challenges. Even when we fail, we can view them as chances to grow our abilities. I did not always enjoy coding as much as I do today. I encountered multiple different kinds of errors and failures but all of them helped me become more confident and prepared to deal with different challenges.

Reflection 11: Active Listening👂

In class today, we updated each other about the progress of our final project while practicing active listening. One thing that I noticed was that I focused more on the details of the conversation knowing that I would have to reiterate what I understood. Thus, I think active listening can enhance one's understanding of what the task entails. It ihas also proven to be extremely helpful while coding.

Rubber duck debugging is a method of debugging code by explaining the code line-by-line to a rubber duck or any other object. However, most times I practice this with a person even if they are someone who has no background in programming. When explaining, I find myself focusing on details that I may have overlooked which are the root of the problem most times. Having an active listener can help increase focus and engage more actively.

While it is crucially important to be an effective communicator in a conversation, it is equally important to be an active listener. Listening actively and reflecting can help the speaker feel heard and more comfortable. Adopting active listening in conversations can help us understand what problems the other person is facing. After understanding their situation better, we might even be able to offer help and possible solutions.

Furthermore, it can also help build trust and stronger connections between people. This can be especially helpful in group settings. Active listening can help build strong communication among colleagues and help navigate problems through collaboration. Asking questions and attending office hours are some ways in which one can ask for help. Both people engaging in the conversation can benefit from active listening as it enables them to understand each other better and become aware of how they can seek help or how they can provide help.

Reflection 11: Resilience

Every project in this course has been a challenge in different ways. However, the final project tested my resilience and helped me realize it has grown through the course. One of the biggest lessons I will take away from this class is the importance of perseverance and patience.

Each project has helped me develop a different skill but I also had to encounter a new challenge with every project. It was one hurdle after another. Looking back now, it feels surreal finishing up my electric cane when I struggled with putting together a simple circuit at the start of the semester. I am leaving the class with a whole new skill set that I would have never imagined I would learn.

I truly enjoyed each project and it feels amazing to have a physical outcome of my learning that I can touch and feel. There were many times during my final project when I wanted to scrap everything and start new. I was having a hard time figuring out my circuitry and code. However, the resilience I built in the class helped me stick to work on my initial plan which I think was an excellent choice! 😊 I am proud of the progress I made this semester both personally and in the course.

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