Module 4

Setting Goals

Setting goals is a vital skill that everyone should practice.  Education and Career goals are some of the most important goals to set first.  My education goal for the CS online program is to complete all courses with A's.  Although a high letter grade is sought after, personally it is not the only thing that matters for my education.  Understanding and applying what I have learned is just as important as passing the class.  Struggling through long study hours to ace a test and then forgetting everything because my brain was so exhausted is not ideal.  Taking my time and learning from my mistakes will ultimately help me ingrain the knowledge for this program.  Career goals after receiving an education are just as important.  I have already started to think about what these goals are and how I am going to accomplish them.  One way of doing this is by defining short-term and long-term goals.  Short-term I would like to intern or start an entry-level position to begin giving me real-life experience in the field and create credibility.  Long-term, I will use the experience gained from the entry-level position to secure a career in networking after graduation.  By continually networking and reaching out to businesses for information, it shows that I am dedicated and genuinely interested in becoming an employee.  Creating and maintaining a network of individuals in the field will help me keep my goals in sight as well as give me support for reaching those goals.

ETS Computer Science Test

The EST Major Field Test was developed to test the understanding of concepts and principles of graduating computer science students.  It was developed by the Committee for the MTF in Computer Science which is made up of faculty from several universities and is revised every four to five years to ensure it is relevant to the current standards.  After reviewing the practice test, I believe in 18 months when taking the test I will pass with an average to an above-average score.  The course curriculum for the CS online program covers all of the topics the test comprises, discrete structures, programming, algorithms, systems, software engineering, and information management.  If the test were to be taken now I feel that I would not pass because I am in the beginning stages of the CS program and have not had the time to be taught, study, and practice these topics.  I am positive at the end of the CS program every student will possess the skills necessary to pass the test.

Also Learned This Week

This week is the start of the Ethics Argument paper.  An argument is an issue where two or more sides can be debated.  Applying ethics to an argument requires the use of an ethical framework (discussed in last week's post), stakeholders, and a claim.  A stakeholder is a person or group that stands to gain or lose by the decision of the argument, whoever is affected by the outcome.  For every argument, each stakeholder holds a position on the issue and must define what they will gain or lose from the decision.  The stakeholder then provides a claim on the issue that can be debated.  There are five types of claims, fact, value, policy, definition, cause, and each claim must have a debatable counterclaim.  Something to be aware of in argumentation is bias.  It can be easy to sway to the side of the argument that you personally believe is right and diminish or ignore the opposing viewpoints.  To prevent bias in argumentation, it is good practice to always present facts and always keep in mind that the opposing stakeholder's claim is what they truly believe in.  Doing these two things helps keep an open mind and be able to view the issue through the eyes of all stakeholders involved.