Computer Programming 11 Final Reflection

Throughout this course, we have explored many topics within computer programming, more specifically in the language of Python. In Unit 7, however, we discovered how to use Circuit Playground devices with Arduino. In this Unit, an assignment that particularly challenged and intrigued me was the “mini project” assignment, in which we were required to make an application utilizing a minimum of 3 of the board’s features. For my project, I decided to simple ‘Sun detector’, which would display red Neo Pixels when placed in areas with increased brightness and temperature (hence detecting a sun-like object), and display blue Neo Pixels when placed in areas with lower brightness and temperature. To do this, I used the temperature sensor, light sensor, and neo pixels output display methods. I began by researching the ways I could input these features into my project, and how they could be as useful as possible. Originally, I set the minimum temperature detection to be 20 degrees, but realized that the room was much colder than that, and reset it to 10 degrees, which seemed to be just right. In the process of creating the project, however, I did not remember to add proper commenting and documentation, which is something that I would like to take away from this project. Always plan your code out, and make things as easy to read and interpret as possible!

I can experiment with different ways of doing things.
I can explore materials and actions.
I can implement, monitor, and adjust a plan and assess the results.

Computer Programming 11 Self Assessment

In Unit 4, we encountered various new concepts within the Graphics and Animation component of Computer Programming. One assignment which I found particularly interesting was the “Interactive Drawing Exercise”. At first, I considered the assignment to be quite challenging, and struggled to even come up with an idea for the project. After some thought, I decided to attempt creating a program that would draw the emotion of user based on their input, using turtle graphics and functions. At this time in the unit, we had not yet learned about key concepts such as recursive functions, list concatenation, and fruitful functions, which allow the program to be constructed in more efficient and condensed ways. As a result, the graphics for my code ended up being very long. After a considerable amount of coding, I got the program to work effectively and received full marks on the project. I did my best to follow all the criteria for the project, incorporating two different functions for the code. I think my code is well written and well organized with coding comments, algorithm, and docstrings.

I can experiment with different ways of doing things (Critical Thinking)
I build the skills I need to make my ideas work, and usually succeed, even if it takes a few tries (Creative Thinking)
I can ask open ended questions and gather information (Critical Thinking)