CST 300 Week 4

CST 300 Week 4

Part 1

My educational goal: To complete the program with a 4.0 GPA in the program by Summer of 2018 and retain enough knowledge to score in the 85th percentile or higher on the ETS Computer Science test.

Part 2

My career goal: To gain a position as a software developer no less than 3 months after graduation within the video game or financial industry with a starting salary of at least $60K annually.

Part 3

In review of the ETS® Major Field Test for Computer Science, I feel confident in taking the test in 18 months. I browsed over the sample test and was able to get 8 out of 16 right. Considering I have 18 months of pure immersion in Computer Science I feel confident I can increase this to a 90 percentile or higher.

Part 4

In reading the article The 7 Career Goals You Need to Succeed, it is clearly important to write down your specific goals if you wish to succeed in your career. A key first step is self assessment. You need to look at where you are now and where you want to go. Another important step is to track your accomplishment so you can re-evaluate how you are doing at working towards your goal and tweak what needs tweaking. It is also important to set personal goals as well so you don't get overworked by focusing just on your career. 

This week I learned about the 5 types of claims. These are claims of fact, definition, cause, value, and policy. I also was reminded of the importance of equally representing logos, ethos, and pathos within a argumentative paper. 

The article on bias argumentation was informative. It provided the three most common fallacies in presenting arguments and why they are common. It also set as a reminder that the mere knowledge of these fallacies when presenting an argument can lead a presenter to provide arguments without these fallacies as they are more prone to think with an open mind.

The article on soundness vs validity gives a solid background in examining my sources for my ethics paper. It allows me to examine an argument to make sure it is a valid and sound argument that may be used in my paper.

My ethics paper has to do with the effects of moral choices in video games. During my research, I learned the exact opposite of what I assumed. It had been a while since I had looked at this topic in depth and found it was easier to find articles regarding the positive effects, or lack of negative effects regarding immoral acts and violence in video games than finding articles showing negative effects with regards to this. It seems that recent studies have shifted the mindset from how I remember this conversation 10 years ago; however, there is still a thriving debate for both sides.

CST 300 Week 3

CST 300 Week 3

Part 1

In reading the article Managing Time for Success in College at https://www.uwgb.edu/tutoring/resources/managing.asp , I would agree that time management is one of the most important resources. This is especially true when it comes to studies. I have incorporated many of these ideas already in my study plan. One thing I do differently is I write down important items on the calendar and tend to leave off less important items as these can be adjusted to other time slots. I liked the idea of visualizing where you will be after graduation to help stay engaged in studying. I have always found myself to be a night owl, so setting my study times during the night is only natural for me. One distraction that I have found while studying in this course has been that when I was doing research for my paper, I would tend to get interested in an idea and then spend more time than is necessary looking at it and end up going of in a tangent. I think study breaks would help with this as I can re-evaluate what I am doing and refocus on what I need to study.

Part 2

I have learned that project managment is an essential tool working on team projects. Without a solid plan and management of that plan a project can go astray quickly. There are four phases of the project life cycle. These are study, design, development, and operation. Ethics also is important as we are the future leaders in the industry. I learned that ethics, morality, and law all have different meanings and what may be legal in one situation may not be ethical or moral in another. I was able to work on my final draft for my industry analysis. It's amazing on how the revision process can really make your paper better even when you feel your draft was a solid paper.

Part 3

In review of the article What every computer science major should know at http://matt.might.net/articles/what-cs-majors-should-know/ , I would agree with the article. The writer has a clearer understanding of what is necessary to learn for a computer science major than I have currently as I have never worked in the industry. A computer science major should attain both knowledge and skill as this is a technical field. A portfolio is the number one way to show off skills attained during an individuals studies. There were many terms in this article in which I did not know what they meant. I plan on saving this article to my favorites and refer back to it as a reference of the terms and skills I have learned and what will be needed outside of school to read up and practice.

CST 300 Week 2

CST 300 Week 2

Part 1: Review and Reflect Learning Strategy

The top 3 areas that I am good at with regards to studying are making a schedule and adhering to it, outlining reading material with a highlighter, and the "memory dump" technique. Working in a client environment in banking, I constantly am making schedules on my work calendar. Transfering this strategy to my studies has come easily. Using a highlighter instead of underlining visually makes the topics that you need to re-read or concentrate more on more appealing. When taking tests I have always used the "memory dump" technique. I did not know there was an actual term for this strategy.

The top 3 areas that I am weak in are organinzing references before starting to write, where to keep notes, and reciting after reading sessions. When collecting references for my industry analysis paper in this class, the online sources were randomly placed in my favorites folder and the books were laid out on my desk. Had I had a more organized approach to this, the process of writing the paper would have been more efficient. Also I have been found to keep notes in places other than the notebook they belong in. This can lead to disorganization and loss of efficiency in finding the notes. Also I have never really thought about reciting after reading. I will try to employ this strategy in my future study session.

Part 2: Preview Time Management Skills

Part 3: Project Management Basics

A project is a temporary endeavor that may create a unique item and has a completion. Project management is effectively planning a project from inception to completion. Some effective tools for creating an efficient project managment schedule are creating a hierarchical structure chart and gannt chart. A hierarchical structure chart can organize the scope of a project as a visual representation of the project making it easier for team members to understand why a particular piece of a project is necessary to the entire project completion. A gannt chart can show whether a project is being managed effectively or may need some guidance to manage it better.

Part 4: Check Out Previous Capstones

Steebly

This project was an application that allows its user to develop their programming project on multiple devices and collaborate among team members. User's can access, edit, and compile their code on pc's, android devices and other platforms. It supporst multiple languages. The project and idea of the project seemed well done. The presentation was also thorough and informative. Given the scope of this project, it seems only logical that it can be improved on and tweaked with more time.

Pickup

This project is an application that allows its user's to say they have joined a specific sports pick up game or are available for a game at an athletics court or field. The interface of the project looked good; however, during the presentation the presenter said that there were some bugs still with the application. I thought the presenter did a good job presenting and even used humor to engage the audience. One setback of using humor was he also used it to point out the flaws in his application.  The project can be improved with more testing to sort out the bugs encountered during the presentation.

CERES

This project is an open source management tool for small businesses so that staff can modify, create, and delete inventory, services, and events. The idea of the project seemed well done. As it was tough to see the actual interface I can't comment on the content within the project. The presentation was informative; however, the speakers could have seemed more enthusiastic regarding their project. Not being able to see the interface, I cannot comment on whether the project can be improved.

Week 5 Summary

First, Thomas Friedman's article. I couldn't agree with this statement more. Americans can't just sit back and expect that innovation will just come. We have to actively pursue it. Getting more people education in technology is essential in today's global economy if we wish to stay the leaders in technology.

The capstone video gave some good insight on what to expect for that. Since we are online, I wonder how the presentations will work. Given I haven't written a formal paper in 10 years it was refreshing to catch up on APA format.

The writing assignment for the industry analysis has further strengthened my focus in my ultimate goal of entering software development within the video game industry. I was able to find textbooks in programming specifically for games that will help me on my free time to create a portfolio. I also was able to attain key tips to help me get my foot in the door as well.

I like that we are having 2 peer reviews for our papers. This gives different perspectives to help further our writing skills and create a well thought out analysis. My login for Dashboard did not work for the weekend, and I see that others' logins were disrupted as well. I am glad that the faculty gave an extension for the peer review to accomadate for this.

I was a little bummed that I missed a question on the peer review guidelines quiz. Next time I will read each question more thoroughly and not rush through it.

All in all it was a good week. Catch you on the flip side!

Collective Resume

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joscortez@csumb.edu | rlocke@csumb.edu | moawad@csumb.edu

Objective
	Offer our expertise in software development through our staff of skilled, diverse individuals with experts from the fields of banking, management, accounting, linguistics, and software development.
Professional experience
	Relationship Banker                JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.                                                            07/2010 - Present Frisco, TX Build and strengthen personal banking relationships with Chase high balance clients/ business owners Branch Manager                 First Convenience Bank                                      06/2006 - 07/2010 Irving, TX Follow established procedures; plan, direct, and organize sales and daily operational activities of assigned Branch/Center to include lending, new accounts, teller operations, and customer needs Maui Language Instructor.       University of Hawai’i 05/2010 - Present Maui, HI Conduct courses to international students in the English language, providing examinations and assess students in English.  Other duties include classroom management as well as office duties. Financial Data Analyst             Edgar-Online                            01/2013 - Present Phoenix, AZ Review Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, and disclosures for XBRL tagging Apply knowledge of current SEC requirements for evolving XBRL compliance requirements and address client questions related to their specific compliance requirements Perform analysis of company provided HTML necessary for Financial Statements and Notes to be mapped as designed within the XBRL tools Indirect Tax Analyst                 Amazon.com                            10/08-11/10 Seattle, WA Analyzed customer documentation for validity of exemption status and process sales tax refunds Communicated with third party sellers, customers, and Customer Service regarding the calculation of transaction taxes Performed daily customer service resolution through monitoring and answering customer tax related contacts or inquiries Worked with other customer support teams to ensure a consistent and high-quality level of support Prepared the monthly reports for management and sales tax team
Computer language Proficiencies
	Java C++ Python SQL 2012 Assembly Language
Professional Skills
	Team Management/ Banking Operations / Time Management / Multi-tasking Sales Customer Service Filing / Editing (Photoshop) / Microsoft Office Applications / Data Entry / 10 key (70+ WPM) Software Development on Eclipse IDE, jGrasp Cultural Diversity Awareness Japanese and Egyptian Language Proficiencies Accounting Packages: XBRL and Peachtree
Education of team members
	California State University                    Monterey Bay, CA                       08/2016 – Present Working to achieve Bachelor of Computer Science degrees Texas A&M University                     College Station, TX                              08/2001 –12/2005 Major: Bachelor of Science in Psychology Minor: Business 1-year experience in Java and C++ Programming University of Southern California          Los Angeles, CA                                09/2014 - 05/2016 Major: Master of Arts in Teaching- TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Program) Maharishi University of Management    Fairfield, IA                                         06/2011 - 12/2012 Major: M.B.A. Accounting University of Washington                      Seattle, WA                                        03/2008 - 06/2009 Post Graduate Accounting Program
	Ɨ Source:abfreegames.com/team-logo

CST300 Week1
My first sentence on this blog is to test if I have correctly added it to I-Learn as I have never done a blog before and the instructions contained a broken link. Let's see if this works!?
SUCCESS! 
It seems some fellow students have some issues as well. I hope I am able to help them out with a post on how I figured it out. Dr. Tao was able to see the issue and also posted a link at the top of ILearn to assist.

After reading more about Cal State University Monterey Bay, I am confident that I made a correct decision in choosing this institution to help reach my goal of becoming a software developer.

The readings for week 1 were both informative and refreshing as it has been over 10 years since I have written a formal research paper at Texas A&M University. I have found that managing my time has been easy going as I have made myself use to it over the past year spending a couple of hours each night refreshing my programming language skills and working through math solutions to prepare for my new endeavor.

I was very intrigued to read all of the various team resumes as the cohort is comprised of people from diverse backgrounds while sharing similar interests to me. I feel that this cohort is comprised of talent that can learn from each other and grow together in the next couple of years.

Lastly I will talk about researching for the Industry Analysis Paper. I found this to be most challenging as their is a wealth of information regarding my subject of software development within the video game industry. It was a challenge to sift through the research to employ coherent thoughts into what I feel would make a thorough analysis.

Until next week, signing off!