Week 7 (Proofs, proofs, and more proofs)

So the proofs continue, and I am really finding myself being totally comfortable with structuring my proofs. I wish I could say the same about the actual content of the proof, but to be honest I often find myself going in circles when I’m devising a plan to begin my proof. This is definitely a problem, and I will need to try and find a way to come up with a solution, and be able to take action. I’m sure this moment will come; I’m just hoping it will come very soon! On a more positive note, the concepts of this week seem very basic, and are actually common sense. A good example of this is the rules of inference, one of them being disjunction elimination. Where it states that is you know not A then you can conclude that B is true. These statements are very obvious, and I hope will eventually help me tie everything together to manage to solve a proof with not as many pointless circles. All in all, this week has not been terrible, but I am definitely hoping that with a little more practice the solving the content of the proof will become easier. I often find myself discouraged as I find myself with no idea how to start a given proof. For now this is problem, especially with the second midterm around the corner, but a problem I definitely plan on solving with some hard work.

Week 6

Over the course of this week I have really grown accustomed to the idea of proof structures, something that is very new to me. At this point creating the structure is automatic, and does not require any thought. This is a very good feeling being able to do something very easily, and helps me stay motivated. Now the challenging part is the proof itself, which in some cases is fairly easy, but for others this is not the case. There have been a few examples Danny has done that I sit there not understanding the logic behind the proof whatsoever.  At this point I’m waiting for it to hit me, and for it be easy for me to understand how to do all of these proofs.

On a more positive note, there was a concept I fully understood this week, and that is the concept on the slide of “doing wrong right”.  This idea of proving a claim false is very clear to me, since I already had the knowledge of negating a claim. Also, the change of the proof structure was also a very easy concept to grasp, which was a relief. I really like the fact that the knowledge that I spent so much time grasping for the first mid term is a big part of the new material. This helps me attempt to grasp these concepts a lot easier as I already understand part of the concept.

In sum, this week I have learned many new concepts, as well as re used old ones. Although, I still do not fully understand, and I am not able to fully apply them. I believe with a little more practice, and actually working with proofs will make me much more comfortable with the idea.

Week 5 (Midterm finally over, exam sure to quickly creep up on us)

With the overwhelming stress of the midterm this week, I couldn’t wait for it to come an end. I studied for hours, to the point of not wanting to see or hear about another set. After all the hard work was done, I found myself sitting in the Exam Centre, and can honestly say the hard work was worth every minute. Although there were still parts on the mid term I found slightly challenging, I left that room feeling very confident in what I had wrote. Now did I write a midterm worth 100%? No, yet it was definitely something I was proud of especially with all of the new content I have learned in such a small amount of time.

Through these 5 weeks in this class, the main thing I have realized is that things move at lightning speed. While taking five courses it’s so easy to sit back and get into a flow and let the days fly past your eyes. So far it feels like this has sort of happened to me, as it seems like this past month has went by insanely quickly. My goal for the upcoming week is to really cherish what I am learning in this class and all of my others. Take a second, and really think about my lectures, because it seems like that would be the best way to fully retain the information, instead of studying for hours right before a test.

In this course, I have learned fascinating things, and I have had the opportunity to hear them from the very intriguing Danny Heap, who in my opinion is a very good lecturer. We are now getting deeper and deeper every week, and are finally beginning with proofs. This is a concept that is new to me, but the idea of proving things through many steps that seem extremely simply is intriguing, and I am excited to try a few examples on my own. In sum, my goal for the following weeks after all of the festivities are done, is to really let all of the new information sink in, and truly appreciate everything new that I am learning.

Week 4

This week has been sort of an eye opener for me. We just got into proofs and more direct problem solving which is awesome. I love that rush I get when I solve a problem and get that “Aha!” moment. However this week I was hit by a car riding my bike home from rowing practice and suffered a concussion ending up in the hospital. The doctor told me to stay in bed and away from class for three days but I just had to be there, falling behind at this point could kill me especially with the term test next week.

I attended class and just like the doctor said, I suffered headaches when I tried to solve the problems. For the class to be taking a great leap right when I cannot use my brain as well worries me. With the term test just around the corner I am trying very hard not to fall behind. I am not sure if I will be able to perform to my maximum capacity on this upcoming test. I missed the tutorial this week because it was the day of my injury, which also worries me. I find the tutorials very helpful in providing me with a way to get that extra push in a different learning environment and without it I am a little scared. In the previous weeks even if the content seemed a little challenging, going to the tutorial always cleared everything up for me. My goal for this weekend is to try to fully catch up, and grasp all of the contents that were taught this week. Lucky for me I’m really enjoying this course so far, and find Danny’s lectures very intriguing. After every lecture I really reflect on what he says, and am excited to solve the new problems for the next weeks tutorial.  To sum it up, this has definitely been the hardest week for me because of my concussion, yet I am still very motivated going forward.