My Experience of the Computing Course - Personal Development Plan

My Experience of the Computing Course

I feel that while some aspects of the course are quite enjoyable, others could use some improvement. To start with, I shall focus on the positive aspects of the course, followed by the neutral, finishing off with the negative. The things I like about this course are:

1. The students and staff, for the most part, are very kind and helpful. They help to quench my thirst for knowledge and make the subjects interesting.
   
2. I have a no less than brilliant Learning Support Assistant to help me through difficult periods of work.
   
3. The module ‘Computer Systems’ is quite practical and I learn a great deal of interesting material in it.
   

Now I shall focus on the things that are neither positive nor negative, but still pose useful:

1. The module ‘Design Principles’, while not entertaining, is still intellectually stimulating. I can see its contents proving to be useful in the future. The same would apply to the module ‘Learning and Skills Development for HE and Work’.
   
2. The module ‘Coding Concepts’ can prove useful to students who have not yet touched upon programming. I myself enjoy programming quite a lot.
   

Finally, I shall focus on the aspects of the course that are downright negative, and even possibly useless:

1. The equipment malfunctions constantly and doesn’t work properly. The Student Home Drive, or ‘H’ Drive being a prime example.
   
2. The rooms where lectures take place sometimes shift without notice.
   
3. The module ‘Coding Concepts’ has a number of things that degrade its usefulness and make it harder than it needs to be. For starters, it uses proprietary software that costs a great deal, when there are free equivalents available. Secondly, for me, it takes the fun out of programming. Thirdly, some of the exercises are quite difficult to grasp because they are not explained in a clear and logical format.

Personal Tutor’s Comments

I’m pleased that Stefan is making a good progress in his first semester of university education, enjoying most of the modules offered on the course. The technical issues mentioned here will be passed on to the management in the department.