Intellectual Foundations of Informatics
I signed up for INFO 200 on a whim as I was looking for a FIG with interesting and unique classes. I'm sure glad I did. We were told that the class is very difficult to get into, especially for freshmen. One of the reasons I'm glad I joined a FIG.
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The class was taught by Professor Stearns, who is an amazingly entertaining and engaging lecturer. I feel bad for the several times I fell asleep in class. It wasn't because the class was boring, it was just at the end of a long day. The structure was so different from my CSE 142 class, because we were encouraged to engage in discussion with out neighbors and so the class was very interactive.
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One thing I kind of regret about this class was the group project. I had great project teammates, and I think we got along pretty well, but I was feeling pressure when the workload started to ramp up, and I prioritized my other classes above this one. Another factor was that my teammates were so excited about the work they took it and ran with it (not in an unkind way), and I also did not have the right equipment (an Apple computer). I tried to make up for it by staying with the presentation table during the project fair, but I really did not do my part as part of the team.
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I really enjoyed how the class did not require a textbook, and that we instead got our readings from online articles which felt relevant, were informative, and interesting, and that I would choose to read on my own if I had time anyways. It made assignments feel less like assignments and more like a push in the right direction to make myself a better aware and educated individual.
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One day was particularly magical. It was the day Dr. Jevin West, world renowned data scientist, came to speak to our class about data science. It involved pattern recognition and story telling, two things I enjoy doing and that I've been doing ever since I can remember.
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Below is my essay on biometrics, when we were to pick a topic and write about its impacts for the future.