Hi everyone! I typically say I am a junior, but it is actually my 5th year. I was a transfer student from GRCC. I am majoring in physics and minoring in computational mathematics, science and engineering. I know I want to study experimental physics rather than theoretical, but I am not sure what I want to focus on in particular. Since physics is super broad, it’s a curse and a blessing. Outside of school, I like to exercise, play video games, go shopping, kayak and enjoy being outside in general.
The week that sounds interesting to me is Week 6: Geospatial Analysis and Mapping. Looking through it on the schedule, I was not expecting something like this in the course which is pretty cool. I am just excited to see how it works out with the mapping. For the week that makes me a little nervous is Week 8: Text Analysis. Mainly because I am confused on what we are doing for that week, reading the schedule.
With the transition of all online learning (at least for me), it’s been tough now that I am getting into my higher level courses. It seems like it has been more work, because I need to work harder to understand and retain class information. Like many other students, I need to be there to learn most effectively. It gives me more purpose and motivation each day to physically go out to campus and learn. Clearly, students are more likely to cheat, are less motivated and less engaged with online learning. I feel bad for those that need to attend a lab, or the music/art majors especially, who need in-person resources. However, I can see there are some classes that would work for online learning. I don’t think for most classes though. In-person classes are still necessary, I hope people are convinced after this is done, online learning is not the absolute way to go about education.
Hi Grace! It’s nice to meet you and thankyou for this thoughtful post! I am always interested in learning how STEM students find their way into history courses (besides a social sciences requirement, of course!). I think that your background in computational skills will speak well to this course; and I look forward to hearing your insights on using computational methods in history. Also, I think you might actually like text analysis week, because we will have some interesting discussions about algorithms and using computers to “read” text.
I can’t imagine the challenge of taking upper level coursework online– especially for STEM students. As long as you are trying your best, that’s all you can do! I hope that meeting via Zoom in this course will give students some structure compared to asynchronous learning. I look forward to hearing more from you and that you enjoy this course!