Week 24

Workshops

During this week, we gained a foundational understanding of electronics theory, which provided essential insight into how various components interact within a circuit. As the week progressed, I applied this knowledge by integrating sound into my Arduino circuit, enhancing its functionality and making it more engaging. We were also introduced to parallel programming with Arduino, where I studied how to manage concurrent processes efficiently, which is a skill crucial for developing responsive and reliable systems. In addition to programming, I spent considerable time learning to design electronic circuits and accurately represent them using standardised schematic symbols. This helped me communicate my ideas more clearly and implement them with greater precision. One of the more complex yet rewarding challenges I encountered was learning to incorporate an LCD screen into our circuits. This experience deepened my understanding of both hardware and software integration and significantly improved the usability and display capabilities of our projects.

We were also introduced to the research essay that we will need to complete alongside this unit. We looked at referencing this week and were introduced to how this essay will be laid out and written. Having been shown the essay topics, I felt that data bias in society was the topic I most related to.

Lectures

This week, we had two lectures: one on “A Brief Critical History of Computing” and the other on oppressive algorithms. These lectures aimed to help us think about the research essay and introduce us to potential ideas. In the first lecture, we examined the impacts of computing and discussed whether we felt they were good or bad. This approach made note-taking interesting, as it encouraged us to consider the notes we were making differently. We were also introduced to several books and other sources that could assist us in our essays. The second lecture was the one I found most interesting. We began by exploring examples of bigotry in computing and discussing whether it was intentional or unintentional. We examined racial stereotyping in algorithms and bias. This topic relates closely to my essay ideas and introduced me to several sources that I will hopefully be able to use in my essay.