Week 2: Research, Citations, and Building Knowledge

Lesson of the week: Citations Matter

        I didn't write essays in few years, but this week I tackled (or conquered) my longest essay EVER! While it took significantly longer than anticipated or suggested, the experience was fun, challenging, and rewarding. Researching the topic uncovered tons of new stuff and gave me some new books to read. Speaking of that, I just finished "Google It" by Anna Crowley Redding... While reading I cam across this passage:

“Suppose you are a scientist, brilliantly plugging away at research on climate change. You discover new evidence and prove new theories about how humans are changing the climate. You publish these discoveries in a scientific journal. Two things can happen. Your work can be ignored. Or it can be of such importance that scientists around the globe start talking about it. Building on your work, other scientists take your research to the next level with more investigations, experiments, and evidence. And when they publish their conclusions, they mention you. They cite your paper, your research, your contribution. Each mention is called a citation. And if hundreds and even thousands of scientists cite your work? It says the quality and credibility of your work is important. The more your work is cited, the more its importance grows”(p.18)

        This passage really clicked with me. It reminds me of backlinks in web analytics, which I learned about through my Google certification a few years back. Yet, I never connected it to the bigger picture. Now I see how citing sources builds on existing knowledge. Here's hoping someday my work gets cited too!

Learning Strategies:

    Reflecting on the article "Effective Study Skills: A Guide to Success," I realized a few things about myself. My strength is definitely creating daily schedules, but sticking to them? That's a work in progress. On the good side, I love taking notes! It helps me process information. Another strength is taking breaks... Now, for my weaknesses. I tend to favor studying at night when everything's quiet. While it feels focused in the moment, I know it's not healthy in the long run. Sleep definitely needs to become a priority.

Time Management Skills: 

To be honest, last week's plan didn't exactly stick. This week, I'm creating an activity log that will actually work.

Project Management Basics:

    The first video talks about project management. It explains the difference between projects and operations. Projects are temporary, with a specific start and end date, while operations are ongoing processes. Projects are broken down into phases to manage them effectively. These phases include initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and closing. The video also highlights the importance of project management to avoid common pitfalls like bad time management and poorly defined scope (YouTube, 2013).

    The second video explains what a work breakdown structure (WBS) is in project management. A WBS is a hierarchical way of breaking down the project deliverables into smaller, more manageable pieces. This helps project managers and teams understand the complete scope of the project and visualize all the steps involved. A key benefit of using a WBS is that it ensures all the necessary work is identified and included in the project plan. It also improves communication and collaboration among team members (YouTube, 2014).

    The third video focuses on Gantt charts, a common project management tool used to visualize project schedules. A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that shows the start and finish dates of project tasks. It can also show dependencies between tasks, allowing you to see which tasks need to be completed before others can start. This helps break down complex projects into a clear timeline. The video also mentions that Gantt charts can be used to track progress by shading in the completed portions of the tasks (YouTube, 2013).

Previous Capstones Projects:

    In order of preference, the three capstones that resonated most with me were MRC, DevFlows, and Jury Lookup. Here is a brief summary of each project:

MRC:

    This capstone project presents the MRC Volunteer System, a web application designed to streamline volunteer management for Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units. The project identifies the current challenge of cumbersome volunteer tracking methods used by MRC units and proposes a user-friendly, open-source solution. The application offers functionalities like data import, search, export, and event scheduling, making volunteer management efficient. Public availability of the source code and extensive documentation promotes transparency and potential for further development by the community. The presentation effectively showcases the application's features through a demonstration, but could be strengthened by including a brief overview of the development process and future plans for the project. Overall, this well-developed project has the potential to significantly improve MRC volunteer mobilization and benefit communities during emergencies.

DevFlows:

    This capstone project presentation revolves around DevFlows, a set of Chrome extensions designed to improve developer workflow. The presenters, highlight the lack of developer productivity tools and propose DevFlows as a solution. The project consists of two extensions: Start Page helps manage pull requests and organize links and commands, while Web Tools allows manipulation of feature flags and URL redirection. Notably, the extensions are available for direct download, bypassing the lengthy Chrome web store approval process. The presentation effectively demonstrates these functionalities but could be strengthened by including a brief discussion of the development process, the technologies used (like React.js and Superbase), and any challenges encountered during development. Overall, DevFlows seems like a well-developed project with the potential to enhance developer efficiency.

Jury Lookup:

    Jury Lookup, a web application designed to modernize jury management for the Superior Court of California, Monterey County. The team, replaced an outdated Angular system with a more user-friendly solution built with React, Next.js, and Express.js. They prioritized faster load times and implemented Docker containers for efficient deployment on AWS. The presentation showcases a juror interface demo, highlighting features like summons updates, calendar integration, and language options. While the project demonstrably improves user experience and court efficiency, the presentation could be strengthened by showcasing the admin dashboard functionalities and briefly discussing any challenges encountered during development. Overall, Jury Lookup seems well-developed and has the potential to significantly benefit both jurors and court administration.

Update: 

Activity Log: 

I typically work from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM each day. However, on Mondays and Tuesdays, my workday concludes at 12:30 PM. I don't usually work or study on weekends unless absolutely necessary.

I prefer to track my hours using the Structured app, but it lacks a weekly overview feature. So, I've created this simple weekly schedule in my calendar to visualize week.

References

REDDING, A. C. (2021). Google it: A history of google. FABER AND FABER.

YouTube. (2013a, June 12). Project management: What is a gantt chart?. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIm8yWpBxFA

YouTube. (2013b, June 18). Introduction to project management. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOU1YP5NZVA

YouTube. (2014, June 2). Project management: What is a work breakdown structure?. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEWhnodF6ig