My group and I have just completed the upload process for the database and instructional assignment. I must say that my fluency has definitely increased since the last post in a variety of areas. Due to issues with not having enough space on the bama server for all our documents, I just learned all about embedding documents and videos.
I had never used SQL queries before this class, in the language we learned. I had only manipulated databases from a front-end perspective, so the design and implementation of the database was very instructive for me. I enjoyed researching the language myself, and fiddling until I found the correct syntax for the queries I needed.
Many of the requirements for this course seemed to follow a fiddle-until-it-works approach. I wonder if this is particular to information technologies, and I will use this approach with every new technology I encounter, or whether it is a feature of the simple types of systems we have learned in this introductory class, or whether it is simply a representation of the way I learn new technologies personally. Only time will tell.
The usability study was informative in a very different sort of way. I know the basic ethics of how to conduct research, but putting all of those requirements into practice can become time consuming and difficult. Scholarly publication involves a narrow margin for error, so all potential biases must be addressed at the very least, even if they cannot be mitigated. I enjoy working with such detail, but sometimes it felt as though I was belaboring the process. I believe that it is simply a laborious process, and the more I belabor it the better the results.
