Lecture 3 - Announcements

1. Classroom Logistics

   • (10AM only) Please don’t leave the Exercise/Problem sheets lying around the classroom - either take them, recycle them, or give them to me to recycle. Hint: there’s a recycling bin right outside the door of our classroom.
   • (10AM only) Please put the desks back in a forward-facing “normal classroom” arrangement before leaving.
   • (All) Please hand in your team norms with your Exercise Solutions each day.

2. Quiz 1 on Friday! 10 minutes, on paper, at the start of class.

   • Exercises and Problems are your study tools. Make sure you can do them yourself!

3. A1 released this morning!

   • It’s big. It’s bad. It’s Due Friday, April 21st.

     • That’s a long time from now, so you don’t need to think about it for a while, right?

     • Nope:

   • Direct quotes from A1 Survey, Fall 2020:

     "I was severely mistaken in thinking that I'd be able to complete this
     assignment in an afternoon."
     
     "I really enjoyed it. Wish I'd started earlier so I didn't feel rushed."
     
     "Game plan on the writeup was super helpful. Definitely decreased stress
     overall"
     
     "This was a lot harder than expected and I wish I had taken it more
     seriously at the start."
     
     "I definitely think the game plan for the assignment was great, it
     really helped me stay on track and complete the assignment in a timely
     manner. "
     
     "I appreciated the timeline in the A1 document as it helped to not only
     keep me on track time-wise, but also broke the assignment into much
     more manageable parts."
     
     "Should have start earlier though."
     
     "I should've gotten more done sooner so that I could've maybe fixed the
     things I couldn't figure out and not been scrambling"
     
     ... and so on

   • Direct quotes from A1 Survey Spring 2022, after I showed them the Fall 2020 quotes:

     "I started later than I should have"
     
     "I would've had a better understanding of this project if I started 
     this project earlier and utilizied more resources the school has to
     offer (tutoring, office hours, etc.)"
     
     "Time management was the main issue here"
     
     "I definitely should have started earlier"
     
     "the game plan was very helpful until i fell behind it, that was my
     ault though if i had stuck to it strictly I would have finished 
     entirely in time"
     
     "The game plan was super helpful for staying on top of the
     assignment, I certainly would've procrastinated it had the game 
     plan not been there."
     
     "Here's a good quote for your announcements slide to show future
     students: "The game plan really kept me on track. I would've been
     way behind without it. I'm glad I started this project extremel 
     early!""
     
     "I wish I had kept up with the gameplan"
     
     ...and so on

Events

4/13 – Tech Talk: PACCAR

CF 115 @ 4 PM

The Computer Science Department is happy to host speakers from PACCAR! PACCAR is a global technology leader in the design, manufacture, and customer support of premium light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. PACCAR also designs and manufactures advanced diesel engines, provides financial services, information technology, and distributes truck parts related to its principal business.

Western Alumni & PACCAR Embedded Systems Validation Engineer Vlad Avadnei will be at Western to discuss company and interview insights, as well as upcoming summer job opportunities at PACCAR. This event is open to all interested students!

4/20 – Computer Science, Secondary Education Info Session

CF 165 @ 3 PM

Join the upcoming Computer Science – Secondary Ed Info Session to learn about the program!

This program was developed for students interested in teaching computer science at the secondary level. Computer science education in middle and high schools is becoming increasingly in demand and this program was thoughtfully crafted to provide quality computer science teaching education.

Questions or accommodations: contact CS.ED@wwu.edu.

4/27 – Tech Talk: Modern Data Pipelines with Gordian Data

CF 115 @ 4 PM

In business-driven contexts, analytics must be presented in a timely and reliable manner so that stakeholders can view KPIs and other metrics to inform strategic planning and tactical decision making. Establishing or optimizing these pipelines is a common foundational workflow for companies both large and small. Join Gordian Data to learn about the important aspects of these workflows. If you’ve wondered how to establish real world ELT pipelines or what key functionality is offered by tools like dbt, PySpark, Kinesis, or Parquet, this talk might be of interest to you.

Gordian Data is a Seattle-based data science agency offering data analytics and research services to venture-backed startups. Gordian Data doesn’t specialize in a particular industry, but rather focuses on greenfield development of data science stacks, including the implementation of data-driven technologies that supercharge its clients’ business offerings.