Course Goals ITM 352 has the following goals: Acquiring basic programming skills in an IT context Understanding why MIS people need basic programming skills and knowledge Gaining hands-on experience in developing software applications Experiencing first-hand MIS problems and solutions Experiencing and understanding first-hand project management, working in teams, software development issues Gaining confidence in addressing MIS problems For each of the above goals, explain what stands out in your class experience that indicates you have met that goal. You do not need to be comprehensive but do be specific. You should make each goal a sub-section. In regards to meeting the goal of acquiring basic programming skills in an IT context, I feel what stands out to me in my class experience that indicates I have met this goal was when I was able to be able to begin to write a basic program from scratch whether it be the first WOD we did or Assignment one, which had me learn and make use of things that I never thought I would use nor even knew of before the beginning of this class such as Algorithms, cookies and sessions, objects and arrays, things such as booleans and strings, so much brand new concepts that instilled a solid foundation on programming and IT in general. I feel like the most important aspect of acquiring solid programming skills is being able to RTFM as Professor Ports states, as a vast majority of the problems you will encounter in programming involve you searching and asking the right questions to find your answers. MIS people need basic programming skills and knowledge because the process of gaining these skills and knowledge, allows you to be shaped and molded into an individual who can analyze opportunities for business change and growth from the analytical and critical thinking mindset you gain from going through a course such as ITM 352, from the assignments, labs, projects, etc. This course has us actively participate in the design and development of business solutions that utilize IT whether it be building an effective login and registration page or making an invoice that can calculate sales tax, subtotals, and more for your day-to-day business practices. In this class we most definitely gained hands-on experience in developing software applications, we reached this goal by throughout the semester having to develop various web applications such as a functioning store web page, login page, and so many more applications that we were required to build piece by piece with every lab, assignment, and so forth, using CSS, HTML, JavaScript (use of functions/validations and so much more). Throughout this course, we most definitely encountered many MIS problems and needed to come up with solutions for these problems, with almost all coursework in this class not being straightforward and to the point and constantly running into errors and problems, with you having to go out and find your solutions to your problems, with the Professor and TA’s for this class helping you but making you come up with solutions to the vast majority of your problems on your own. In all honesty, I don’t think there was a single assignment in this course in which I did not run into a programming issue and needed to come up with a solution, whether it be my quantity available not updating when the invoice gets calculated in assignment one, or my registration page not registering new user information into the users_data.json in assignment 2 and so forth. Everything you do in this class will most likely be trial and error, with even Professor Port at times writing a program and it not executing properly and him needing to find solutions to his problems in class. I think I most definitely experienced and understood project management, working in teams, and software development issues, with us having to manage multiple projects throughout this semester and being able to dedicate ample time to making the end product work, being able to build a program that works within the very limited time we were given to perform such task throughout this semester. ITM 352 is not a class you get through on your own, I constantly had to consult with others in the class and go to the TA’s office hours to figure out issues with my code as others would run into the same problems I did and so forth, this class is most definitely a collaborative and teamwork centered course and you would be foolish to think that you will have all the answers on your own. Throughout this course, you also run into many software development issues or areas in which you later learn that it would have been easier to implement a different function into your code, whether it be the use of cookies and sessions which we learned about in our very last lab, that would have been tremendously helpful in Assignment 2 to implement, with the storing of user data and the holding of this data when the user interacts/leaves our web applications. In general, you always run into issues in which you can improve upon your software application or can find a much better and simpler solution to your problem, also the biggest issue you will find when experiencing software engineering issues in this course will be time, as this course is very fast pace and finding a viable solution to your problems in a given time frame is the hardest part in my opinion when it comes to software development. I would say in general I have gained confidence in addressing MIS problems as I had almost 5 ½ months straight of needing to grapple with and tackle MIS problems as most of the work we have done in this class was on our own and with little guidance on how to get to the intended result, I can safely say that I will never look at nor approach an Information Systems assignment the same after this course and I will always start by asking myself and comment within my code what I want to be executed before going on and I will test every individual section of my code before moving on to the next problem, this way of thinking has also helped me with other problems in my life, not Information Systems related, with me checking work throughout me doing it and breaking up my overarching problem of say building an e-commerce website, into smaller parts such as making a simple index webpage that when the image is clicked on there will be an on click that will take me to another web page.
Course Elements and Personal Engagement What did you learn from creating a professional portfolio and using it in ITM 352? What I learned from creating a professional portfolio and using it in ITM 352, is that I should showcase the work I have done and also spend time reflecting and looking at the work I have done and analyzing what did work and what didn’t work, so I can learn from my mistakes and not repeat them in the future. Proper documentation of your work can go a long way and having written progress documentation of your work can go to show how much you have learned and developed in a given time. What did you gain from doing the WODs? Doing the WODs instilled in me the time crunch aspect of this course and the ability to work while being watched and explain what I am doing in the process of performing a WOD, the WOD also helped to ensure my the information and knowledge gained from the labs and helped instill with me that I know how to execute a given task if given the prompt and the timeframe in which to do it. Were the quizzes helpful in preparing you for the labs? In all honesty, I did not feel that the quizzes were all that helpful as in this class there are many assignments to do and this was one of the assignments that I would keep redoing until I got a 100%, it wasn’t there to test if you knew the materials covered in class and how to implement them because that’s what the WODs/labs was for in my opinion and I quite honestly felt like it was just a busy task that we needed to do along with the slew of other work we needed to do throughout this course. They were somewhat helpful in preparation for the labs but, I felt that I never really understood what we were learning from the reading materials and quizzes until we learned them in the lab. What did you learn from doing the labs? What I learned from the labs is that many of the problems and issues you will encounter in MIS, will require a significant degree of RTFM and that AI is your friend to use throughout the class, but you need to know the right questions to ask it, for it to give you the answer you need. Also from the lab, I truly learned many other topics and concepts that would prove to be useful and integral to the success of my assignments, with the learning of calling functions, creating functions, variable naming, if-else statements, and so much more that the Labs has taught me. What did you learn from doing the essays? What I learned from doing the essays, was how I could improve as an MIS student, as I mentioned before the essays found within the MIS portfolio allowed us to reflect and think upon the work we had done throughout this course and how can I better prepare myself for the next challenge that this major will throw at me. What did you learn from doing Assignment 1 and Assignment 2? What I learned from doing Assignments 1 and 2, in a technical sense, is how to get query strings to pass through web pages, how to create functions that will validate user data or stop the user from moving on to the next webpage, without the use of guards to stop users from entering invalid data. Consistent use of params and get/post methods, use of stringify, and so much more. I also truly learned the importance of client/server-side processing especially in regards to sensitive information such as passwords and so forth, and how to implement more security measures with your code to stop sensitive data from leaking out. I also learned how to properly implement templates from say W3 schools and got a much better grasp on CSS and making the webpage format and function more properly and more professionally. If you’re interested in learning more about what I have learned, please refer to my essays on assignments one and two, but overall it reinforced and put into use everything that we have practiced and learned throughout this semester.
Challenges and Achievements Detail the specific challenges you encountered during the course, such as understanding new programming concepts, completing WODs, and web application development assignments. I had many challenges in this course, too many to count in all honesty. A specific challenge I remember encountering was trying to get my assignment one to post to the cloud as this was a confusing process that involved me needing to do a lot of RTFM to figure out why I was getting the terminal errors I was getting. I also had many challenges, about writing proper functions in the beginning and understanding what my functions do, I felt that if I could verbally say what my function does when looking at it, by reading it line by line, with for “()” { let “something” = “quantity”, being an example. Being able to explain your code truly shows that you understand it and that was a true challenge for me in this course as I started to rely heavily on AI to help me write my programs. The number one thing that was hard about the WODs for me was the time constraint as I may only have done one WOD in a single attempt, but trying to rush and get your program working within 15 minutes to an hour time was truly difficult and had me struggling throughout the semester, the last WOD was by far the hardest, as we were supposed to use a previous lab/wod and not have made edits to it, even though trying to change everything within the given time, such as the CSS issues within the store WOD was extremely frustrating and difficult. Explain how you overcame these challenges and the strategies that helped you succeed. I had overcome these challenges with a simple acronym, “RTFM”, reading up and understanding what I needed to do before actually trying to implement it proved to be truly helpful when I didn’t know how to tackle a problem or what even was my problem, utilizing AI and the internet was crucial because the majority of my problems was a problem in which someone on Reddit or some online forum had encountered before. The strategy that helped me figure out my problems and help me succeed, was to start by asking what I wanted this program to do and then break down my main problem into smaller and smaller problems that I could individually tackle and when one problem arises another problem I would keep going down and up the rabbit hole until my assignment/project was finished. Highlight any particular achievements or milestones in the course that were significant to you. Finishing Assignment One was a tremendous milestone that left me exhausted but I sure did feel a tremendous amount of relief and happiness once I saw the grade I got for it and seeing it work exactly the way it should. Another milestone was doing the last WOD as I was just honestly so happy to get done with it as this took me multiple attempts and I am just honestly ecstatic to be done with it.
Skill Development and Application Reflect on the three skill levels outlined in the course (syntactic, algorithmic, application) and discuss your progression through these levels. I used ChatGPT for this question, reflecting on the three skill levels—syntactic, algorithmic, and application—specifically in the context of Management Information Systems (MIS), can provide a structured view of how your understanding and proficiency in MIS have evolved, particularly through your academic and practical experiences. Here’s a detailed breakdown of this progression: Syntactic Level: At the syntactic level in MIS, the focus is on understanding the basic components and functionalities of information systems. This includes learning about databases, software applications, and hardware that support business processes. Key skills involve understanding how to use specific MIS tools, such as SQL for database management, ERP software for enterprise management, or specific analytics platforms like Tableau or Power BI for data visualization. Personal Reflection: When I began my studies or early experiences in MIS, I concentrated on learning how to use these tools effectively. Like querying a database, generating reports, parsing data, and so forth. These foundational skills were crucial as they formed the bedrock upon which more complex tasks were built on and then moved me toward the more algorithmic level. Algorithmic Level: This level is about understanding and applying the procedures and processes within MIS to solve business problems. It involves developing algorithms or systematic approaches to analyze data, streamline operations, or enhance decision-making. Skills here also include designing and implementing workflows in MIS that optimize business operations. Personal Reflection: As I developed further, I started to integrate various systems and functions to solve my problems and get to the end goal. This included automating data flows between different systems, such as syncing customer data to the users_data.json, being able to get the current users for my IR5 to go up when the login page sent them to the invoice page, and so forth. My ability to see and implement these processes shows a deeper understanding of how MIS can be leveraged to support business goals. Application Level: At the application level, your focus shifts to strategically applying MIS to drive business innovation and solve complex, novel business challenges. This involves a high degree of critical thinking, creativity, and strategic planning. Skills include analyzing and redesigning business processes, implementing new technology solutions that align with business strategy, and managing change within organizations as new systems are deployed. Personal Reflection: In my coursework and professional experiences, such as assignment 2 which had us create a functioning login and registration page, we applied our MIS tools to gather, analyze, and present data in ways that influenced our decision-making on how to apply the knowledge we learned to solve our various problems throughout this assignment, with how the data should be stored what should be and needs to be processed via the server side processing vs the client, when should I implement my DOM objects and so forth. This level often involved leadership and the ability to advocate for technology solutions that align with our border assignment objectives. Describe how the hands-on experience with web-based e-service applications enhanced your understanding and confidence in handling MIS issues. The hands-on experience with web-based e-service applications most definitely enhanced my understanding and confidence in handling MIS issues, primarily with me getting much more practice on how to troubleshoot and find solutions to my problems with us building an e-commerce website, this heavily involved us needing to search whether it be on W3 schools, ChatGPT, and so forth, for the answers to our various problems, throughout this course. I now feel confident in my understanding of my application and could explain the elements in it and what it provides to the overall framework of our webpages/databases and I feel confident that I will be able to RTFM the next problem/issue that arises in my MIS career.
Use of AI (e.g. ChatGBT) Discuss how the use of AI-enhanced your learning and productivity. Give specific examples of how you used AI effectively. The use of AI-enhanced my learning and productivity, with its in-depth examples and explanation of various aspects of my code and the elements that could make it better or possibly perform the task at hand. To give a specific example of how AI helped me is difficult, especially since our extensive use of it throughout this course, but a great example of this is in assignment one, with me struggling to implement my IR for allowing the purchase button to display various errors depending on what was inputted into the quantity textbox and how it would stop the user from getting to the next step which is the calculation of the invoice, as this was an extremely difficult task for me, turning to AI to help come up with a solution was crucial for me and especially when there was an error in my code in which I forgot to put an extra equals symbol when I was using parseInt(qty) == 0 and many other issues throughout my code that with the help of AI, allowed me to save hours of troubleshooting by just putting in my code to the AI system and asking about conflicting errors within my code. I used it in a WOD once too, with me not being able to figure out an error I had during the recording so I needed to put my code into chat gpt, with it finding my error within seconds while it took me over ten minutes to unsuccessfully find it. Discuss how the use of AI inhibited your learning or and productivity. Give specific examples of how you used AI ineffectively. How AI inhibited my learning and productivity, for example in the very beginning I would just throw it into Chatgpt and ask it to make “…” work and not understand the actual functionality of my code nor what it did. When using AI to help you code you need to ask it certain questions and get good at detecting where your issue may lie within your code, for example when I forgot an equals sign in my function I asked chatgpt to give me the expected output of my codes functions and then I would go through them one by one until I found the area in which it gave out an undesired result. I feel like when I did not know the right questions to ask Chatgpt it was not helpful, I will say though once you know how to ask AI tools the right questions and you understand where your problem lies in general it can be an inhibitor to learning how to program, with how effective it is and how you find yourself turning to it anytime you need to create a new function or figure out solutions to the various problems within your code. A great example of this was found in assignment one when I had chatgpt help tremendously with personalizing my invoice, with me constantly asking it for CSS to implement into my code so that it looked more functional and professional, with it, in the end, looking truly phenomenal to anything I think I would have been able to come up with on my own, to be honest.
Future Implications and Professional Growth Explore how the skills and knowledge gained from ITM 352 can be applied in your future academic and professional endeavors. The number one skill I feel I learned throughout my time in ITM 352, is by far my ability to troubleshoot and dissect problems and build upon solutions to these problems. This analytical and troubleshooting mindset will prove to be truly beneficial for me in the long run, with me already implementing this mindset I had acquired in my ACC 409 course, which is an accounting information systems course in which I was able to utilize AI and write SQL queries for a database project, in which I was able to come to a conclusion and solve a problem and use SQL when no one else in the class knew how to do it. I also will most definitely be able to apply this to my professional life, with my desired career path in accounting right now, to be in IT Auditing and not needing to write programs but be able to test controls and at times analyze programs. The skills I have learned in this course will carry with me throughout my career and I know this will not be the last time I will have to troubleshoot programs. Discuss the potential impacts these skills will have on your career, especially in terms of understanding and addressing MIS problems. Used Chatgpt for this answer, It will help because now I have Enhanced Problem-Solving Capabilities: with my troubleshooting skills being invaluable in IT auditing where identifying, diagnosing, and resolving issues swiftly is crucial. This will enable me to excel in environments that require rigorous analysis and quick resolution of MIS (Management Information Systems) problems. Understanding and Evaluating Controls: In IT auditing, your role will often involve assessing the adequacy of controls implemented within an organization’s IT systems. The analytical mindset I have developed will allow me to evaluate whether these controls are effective at managing risks and meeting compliance requirements. Technical Proficiency with Tools: My exposure to SQL queries and potentially other programming or database tools will give me a technical edge. This proficiency can help in auditing more technically sophisticated systems or in understanding data flows and system integrations, which are critical components in assessing system vulnerabilities. Strategic Decision Making: With my ability to break down and understand complex problems, I can contribute to strategic decision-making processes. This could involve advising on technology implementations, improvements in IT governance, or even contributing to policy formulation within the firm. Continuous Learning and Adaptation: The IT landscape is constantly evolving with new technologies and threats. My foundation in problem-solving and adaptability will be critical as I continue learning and staying current with technological advancements and regulatory changes affecting the accounting and IT auditing fields. Cross-disciplinary Application: My skill set is not only limited to IT auditing but can also be applied in broader business contexts. This includes optimizing business processes, enhancing data integrity, and supporting business analytics initiatives. Reflect on the overall value of the course in your educational journey and future career. The overall value of this course on my educational journey and future career will forever be monumental as this is one of the courses you take in college that changes how you view and perceive problems in your world. I feel that after taking this course I will never view a problem the same way and a solution the same way as when I came into this program as I will always apply my technical and newly found problem-solving skills to the various avenues within my life, whether it be building a new program or helping to audit one, I feel more capable than ever to solve the problems that face me. Getting through this course was a tremendous learning and mental experience that truly made me think about my life in ways in which I have never thought about it before and really applied a new set of lens to my life.