Hey guys, can you guys do us a favor and fill out the survey? Thanks!
Calvin, Ogulcan and Rosa’s Student Engagement Survey
Reply
Author Archives: Calvin L
Next Steps: Calvin, Ogulcan, Rosa
What we discussed in the brief meeting we had was how to proceed with our project and what the next step will be and what are some of the obstacles. For this week we are going to start composing the questions for the survey. We are going to compose the questions from the different sources that we collected and other surveys that are similar. From those sources and surveys we need to see which questions are relevant for our survey. After we complete the survey we need to get it reviewed by the professor and get it approved. If it were to be approved we might have to give our surveys to other schools.
One of the obstacles that we ran into was how to get students from other schools to fill out our survey. We need to be able to compare our results with other schools to see if our results match up with the school’s statistics.
Website and online questionnaire – Calvin, Ogulcan, Rosa
What we propose for our final collaborative project is to create a website that will contain an online questionnaire given to students that will survey the quality of education at City Tech. Our goal is to reveal whether students are unsatisfied, complacent or even over complacent with their education and the overall teaching performance of professors. We students have all encountered professors that aren’t as enthusiastic about their jobs and as a result, we students either lose interest or aren’t as attentive.
We know that our project will be compelling because it will provide valuable insight about the schools quality of education through the feedback of students. It is important for the course because it will involve collaborating with other students in the class and most importantly will not be possible without the help of our classmates and students in the school.
Moving forward is our conceptualization of the project. Our project is broken up into three components: a home page, a questionnaire, and our results which we will keep on an excel sheet. The home page will include a brief introduction detailing what we aim to do. It will also include a link to the questionnaire page.
For the questionnaire it will be created with Google Forms. The required fields are the student’s first and last name, student’s school email address, their CUNY ID, and years they have been in City Tech. The subsequent questions will have a 5 point scale of some sort and a short paragraph box for students to add any other relevant information or additional comments. After the questionnaire is submitted, the answers will be transferred to an excel sheet which we will release to the public once we obtain a large enough sample size.
We will need to do research on coding languages primarily HTML and CSS. After learning the syntax, we will incorporate a bootstrap, edit the contents of some of the defaulted fields, and rearrange some of the aesthetics. We will also look up existing questions similar to what we’re trying to achieve that will be relevant to our questionnaire. We want to be as thorough as possible when asking questions about the quality of education while keeping it as rudimentary as possible.
Our plan for completing the project is to first brainstorm and do research on possible questions. Afterwards, we will start building our website. For the division of labor, there won’t be too many definitive tasks that each member will administer. However, if there were tasks that each member will focus more on, Rosa will compose the questions, Ogulcan will create the form and Calvin will create the website. We will all contribute together in getting exposure for our questionnaire. We will ask class mates, clubs to participate to get as large of a sample size as possible.
Our methods of communication will be through phone, Skype, emails and setting up group meetings outside of class. This includes a well balanced basis where we have a combination of synchronous and asynchronous communication.
We will learn how to communicate verbally with others and with each other from this project. We will also learn if our hypothesis is true or not. We will learn how to be better team associates and how to work in a collaborative environment.
This is what we hope to achieve with the given time frame. We will constantly make iterations as we see fit to help improve usability and accuracy of what we aim to provide.
Calvin’s summary of “The Flight from Conversation”
The Flight from Conversation written by Sherry Turkle is an article that raises awareness and gives us insight about how our method of communication is gradually changing from face to face conversations to messaging and social media. Additionally, it informs us about how this shift is affecting human relationship as a whole.
In the first section of the article, the author tells us about her personal anecdotes about people she spoke to of all ages. She shares her experiences about how technology has changed what people do and how it affects who they are. As people are becoming more technology-enabled, people are becoming more loyal to themselves and becoming more confined within their own bubble. One example that the author discusses this, is in paragraph 8 where she talks about a senior partner at a Boston law firm. The partner talks about how young associates lay out their suite of technologies, put their earphones on and mind their own business. The atmosphere is turned into an environment where everyone is quiet and loses it’s sense for interaction.
In the mid-section of the article, the author gives us examples on how technology affects human relationships and feelings. The author describes how human relationships are rich and complex, and because of technology, we are able to simplify it at the cost of understanding and knowing one another. The author goes deeper into saying how if we continually shortchange ourselves, we learn unfavorable habits such as asking simpler questions, diminish our ability to learn skills such as self-reflection and eventually dispense with people altogether. The author gives an example in paragraph 16 where she explains how high school sophomores would prefer to talk with an artificial intelligence program about dating instead of their parents. The sophomores argue that the artificial intelligence program would provide much more relevant information within their database than what their parents could offer.
The author brings in another example to further support how humans rely more on technology and less from one another. In paragraph 17, the author talks about her experience of how she brought a robot in the shape of a baby seal to an elder-care facility to comfort elderly people. The robot would act as a substitute for a person to listen and follow the conversation of elderly people. Following up on the author’s two examples, the author shows concern about how we have adopted the delusion of accepting simulations of compassion instead of authentic compassion that we would obtain from one another and questions whether we have lost trust in human relationships.
In the last section of the article, the author suggests a few methods on how we can break away from being constantly connected. In paragraph 25, she introduces the idea of creating spaces at home such as the kitchen where it will be device-free. The objective of this is to teach the value of conversation to our children. In the same paragraph, the author also suggests managers at workplaces to introduce a day where employees have conversations with one another listening to one another and revealing ourselves to one another.
Instruction Manual for the Iron Gym
For this assignment I decided to use the Iron Gym instruction manual. It is something that I already own and use on a daily basis. The Iron Gym is essentially a work out bar that you can use to perform a variety of exercises on the upper body. The manual is broken up into three parts where it first outlines the assembly process, the exercises you can perform and a nutrition guide after the workouts. Overall the manual is concise and easy to comprehend.
The manual first introduces the multi-functionality of the bar with a user discretion to prevent any injuries while using it. It then shows a computerized image of the bar with captions describing each part of the bar and a list of different pieces that the whole set comes with. The illustration for the assembly process is one image showing where all the screws should belong and how to put together the different pieces.
The next section which is also the largest section, are the exercises that can be performed on the bar. Each page from this section shows the proper form of the exercise and brief precautions to take to prevent any injuries. Each exercise also comes with illustrations that show the starting and ending positions for each exercise.
The last section is a nutrition guide that supplements the exercise section. This section covers the dietary factors and the recommended amount one should consume after the workout. It also breaks down the time of when each dietary factor should be consumed such as what time protein and carbohydrates should be consumed.
In conclusion, the manual is concise and easily accessible especially when compared to an instruction manual such as this. The assembly process is brief and the illustrations are detailed and straight forward.
Online Identity in a Networked World.
Job seekers like us students are definitely targets for companies to scour sites like Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social mediums for their applicants and depending on what they post, it can definitely mean acceptance or rejection. I completely agree with employers who want to look more into the job seeker’s social mediums to obtain a better understanding of who the person is to hire the best candidate possible. They want to make sure that the person that they are hiring are presents him or herself professionally and can represent the company.
Like most others, I also have social mediums such as Facebook but I make sure that my privacy settings are updated so that only friends can view my pictures or profile. In the case if there were a way to breach these security settings, I still make sure that the way I brand myself does not harm my public image. In the future, I do plan on creating a LinkedIn profile that professionally describes who I am such as the work I’ve done, my education, and a formal photo as well as using Quora to answer questions. Having a professional social medium such as LinkedIn can also give you that extra leverage to get yourself hired.
I completely agree that it is ethical for employers to check their job candidates’ social mediums for a number of reasons. For example, what if the scenario comes up where you find yourself working with an employee who doesn’t act professionally, hard to get along with and constantly slacks off? It could definitely be possible that because the company didn’t conduct a web search that the person was hired. Another possibility is what if you were a bank and someone wanted a loan? Wouldn’t it be logical to make sure that the person you are giving a loan to is trust-worthy?
Online representation has definitely opened up new means of access to look up someone’s information. I personally believe that social mediums help out job seekers as it gives more insight to who the person is other than a resume and an interview. It shows who the person is outside of a professional environment. It is just a matter of what you put in your profile and how you choose to to describe yourself to the public.
In conclusion, while you won’t know for sure if you got the job or not because of the employer prying on your social mediums, it is safer to either deactivate your social mediums during the application process if you think it might undermine your chances of getting that position or put information that won’t harm your public image.
Calvin’s Education/Career Reflection
When I first started City Tech, I had high expectations of learning mainstream programming languages such as C++, Java, HTML and SQL and as a result I enrolled in the Computer Science (CSC) major. However, while learning these languages, there were a bunch of classes that were deemed irrelevant to me that were required in order to get my degree. Some of these classes were higher level math courses such as Calculus 2, Discrete Math 2, Linear Algebra and many others. These classes deterred me from continuing my major as CSC so as a result, I changed my major to Computer System Technology (CST).
After changing my major and the curriculum I feel that I should have made this change a while ago. I admit that I haven’t adequately done my research on what major I should have chosen thus wasting a few semesters taking classes that don’t pertain to my current major. Reflecting back now after I’ve made this change, I know that I took a step in the right direction and gradually narrowing down to what I would like to do in the computer field.
In terms of preparedness, I can’t really speak too much about it since I have not took the higher level courses yet for a specific module. However, from the fundamental and basic courses, it has prepared me very little even though the programming classes are practical and hands-on. Most of programming concepts can be learned online. During the summer when I was working as an intern, most of the tasks that I was assigned had to be looked up on Google. The Web Development II course that the school offers only scratches the surface of languages such as PHP, Javascript, CSS and HTML. Also the specializations that the school offers are limited compared to other universities such as Boston University. Other universities have 6 or more while our school only has 4. Additionally, the school lacks labs where students can work with technology. Pace University offers these labs for students to work on virtualization and realistic enterprise computers.
Lastly, because the sole purpose of college is to prepare students for jobs, college education and it’s curriculum should definitely be based on the job market’s needs or demands. The problem is that with this school, it lacks the proper resources to prepare the students for the real world even though if the curriculum is on the right track. The lack of labs is incredibly detrimental for student education since it hinders the student’s ability to get curious and explore more about a certain subject such as virtualization or cybersecurity.
In conclusion, the education that I have received so far at City Tech is mediocre at best. On the bright side, I do favor how the school differs itself from other CUNYs such as City College and Hunter College where it offers an Information Systems degree instead of only Computer Science. This omits more of the theoretical courses such as higher level math courses, data structures and algorithms and sciences such as physics.
Calvin’s job hunt
Being a junior and focusing on IT management as one of my modules, I limited my search to jobs that are within the confines of IT support, administration, relations, database or consulting. Most of the employers require similar pre-requisites such as a couple of years of experience, a degree in the IT field, being skilled in Microsoft Office, and having excellent interpersonal qualities.
Now after browsing through an abundance of job ads in the IT field around N.Y., I’ve come to the conclusion that it is seemingly impossible to get a job right out of City Tech without some sort of external leverage or hands-on experience to even obtain an interview. Firstly, there are a slew of undesirable factors such as competition from your peers, limited positions, experience and unfavorable odds that are stacked against you when you try to apply for these positions.
Secondly, from my experience at City Tech, the programming and computer support/hardware courses that I’ve taken so far has hardly helped me at all with the internship I recently completed this summer. I would estimate that 90% of the time I would refer to Google to try and find solutions for any tasks, questions and problems that I had with my given project. Furthermore, a lot of the programming languages and critical software development tools that are popular in the industry and that I had to use, were not taught in school. Some examples of these are cURL, JSON, Python, noSQL, and GIT.
So how do we remedy some of these problems? Put yourself out there and go the extra mile to gain any sort of hands-on work/experience in the field. Any time you see or feel there is an opportunity that may lead to an internship or job, seize it. Also do research on what skills/software packages companies require and have in common. Afterwards, try to scratch the surface in the basics of these so if/when the time arises where you are required to utilize it, it won’t become foreign and new.
Reflecting back to when I applied for summer internships with only basic programming, troubleshooting skills, and limited job experience, I felt inadequate and feared that I had no chance. Furthermore, when I spoke with an IT specialist recruiter and gave her my resume, she said to me that I was at a disadvantage and didn’t have much hands-on or experience compared to the other applicants. Nonetheless, I didn’t let that stop me. I applied to every summer internship opportunity I saw and eventually got something doing web development. After completing my summer internship, I feel more confident in my ability to land a second internship or a part-time IT position.
http://www.dice.com/job/result/CANONNY/741844?src=19
http://www.dice.com/job/result/10327708/5371BR?src=19
https://fmcna.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=14000CY7&lang=en
http://jobview.monster.com/Systems-Administrator-Job-Huntington-Station-NY-138645347.aspx
http://jobview.monster.com/IT-Help-Desk-Clerk-Systems-Admin-Job-Chestnut-Ridge-NY-138041275.aspx
Class notes for 9/3
Class notes for 9/3
Q: What is technical writing?
A: Any form of concise and specific writing that effectively communicates and enable readers to understand a proof or concept in a variety of technical fields.
The 8 characteristics of writing:
- Honesty
- Clarity
- Accuracy
- Comprehensive
- Accessibility/Availability
- Conciseness
- Professional appearance
- Correctness
Examples of technical documents/writing:
- Emails/CVs
- Resumes
- Letters
- Reports
- Power points
- Psuedo-code
- Notes
- Tutorials
- Manuals
- Portable Document Format (PDF)
Calvin’s introduction
Hello everyone, my name is Calvin Lo. I am currently majoring in CST and this would be my junior year. Some of my hobbies and interests are browsing reddit, reading up on technology websites such as TechCrunch, Ars Technica and Engadget. After my summer internship working at a small company doing web development, I realized that perhaps programming and the software development module isn’t the career path that is right for me. My career goals is to either start my own business or become an IT consultant.
During this semester, I hope to land an internship with NYC HRA doing networking and servicing other HRA departments in the other boroughs.
One of my weaknesses in writing is understanding and knowing when to use which literary tense. I remember in ENG 1121 that I would constantly have trouble with the assignments because I would use the wrong tense when writing an essay. It was incredibly discouraging to get points deducted from my essays because of these issues I had with literary tenses.
