20.109(S18) Class blog

Module 2 was honestly the most intense module I have ever witnessed. I'm not sure if it was so difficult because of the personal issues I faced outside of class (the flu etc.) or if it was due to the module itself. But from everyone's comments, I believe it was probably just Mod 2 in general. I really really hated the R aspect because I didn't actually understand what I was doing and I honestly felt like the teachers were trying to fit in too much information. Not only did we have to understand what was happening in the class, but we also now had to understand R studio. Honestly, most of the students I know (including me) still don't understand R studio... Nevertheless, I found it to be interesting, I just wish that we were given the time to actually understand what we were doing. I was also very frustrated with the RNA-seq part and the qPCR part because we didn't actually get to obtain our results and there was a lot that was completed by the teaching faculty that ...

It all started in 6.00. I actually liked that class at first. When the p-sets would come out the week before they were due, I would stay up until 5am doing them. They felt like puzzles, and it was fun because they were pretty simple to code and because it was all about thinking algorithmically. I believe that the longest it took me to run any program was five minutes tops. And then I took 15.053 and had to learn Julia. The only frustrating thing about Julia is that there aren't a lot of online tools to help you debug the code. So on a night of two problem sets due the next day, I had spent an hour debugging my simple code only to find that I had a space where there shouldn't be one. A whole hour... for a space... I was frustrated and angry because it was such a little thing. Whatever, I moved on. And then 20.109 comes along and says, "Let's use R!" M2D3: grrr... fine... M2D4: hey, this actually works kinda! M2D5: So, um, the TAs say they don't k...

My greatest struggle throughout Module 2 was figuring out why we were learning about computational biology, but mostly minus the biology it seemed. I was able to press enter on the R Markdown chunks, get images and plots out, and take screenshots. But it became evident as I wrote my Research Article that I genuinely had no idea what most of my graphs meant, despite writing explanations for each of them. I had to keep digging through the write-ups, reading each of them at least 10 times, only to still not understand what samples the GO table, heatmaps, etc. were referencing. Also, because I really enjoyed the biological storytelling we did in Module 1, I had a really hard time in lecture adjusting to the extremely technical jargon being thrown around. Knowing my experience in 6.00 last semester in which somewhat similar concepts were covered, I had a feeling that I would hate this Module. Coding is not my strong suit. However, I realized that there were a few parts of this module that I...

What I learned from writing the Mod2 research article: Looking at my laptop screen all day Saturday, there was an array of highlighted colors on my word document, with colors signaling "move to discussion," "needs improvement," "mention in introduction," "remove," etc. As the day progressed, my screen became less and less colorful as a more formulated story line began to emerge from the jumble of words. A story line emerging: When all was black and white, and after a few more read-throughs, it was time to submit! After submitting, I thought 'what's done is done, and a job well done is a job well done!' I realized that writing a research story can be fun, and I am capable of doing it thanks to all the support from the 20.109 staff, my fellow Course 20ers, and the BE CommLab. I might even want to go to graduate school now... And despite all the groaning, there was also a thrill (?)...Have you ever felt that you were exactly w...

Wooah we're Past Mod 2, woah oh! Livin' on a prayer! Summary of Mod 2: 1. R has now become an integRated paRt of my life. I can't see the letteR R without thinking of how I could be analyzing my cuRRent situation with clusteRing and heatmaps. I am currently in 18.05, which also uses R.  2. The small assignments leading up to the Research Article are SUPER helpful. It was so convenient/useful to have comments from drafts of each section of the article. I was able to utilize these comments throughout my writing process. This was nice to have because while the wiki is very thorough, only an edited draft can catch tendencies that are person-specific. 3. BE Comm Lab for LIFE. I met with the BE Comm lab twice during my final editing process to go over my methods and then go over my discussion. This was beneficial because not only could I trust that I was getting BE-specific feedback, but it forced me to set deadlines for myself on when I would finish each s...

A deep breath of fresh air... Silence. That was the feeling I got after I clicked the upload button on Stellar to finally submit my Mod 2 research article. The entire Saturday that the research article was due on was a bit of a blur for me. After my daily dose of caffeine, I locked myself in my room and my brain went on overdrive. My heart was racing, my fingers were yakking away at the keys as fast as humanly possible, and I felt as if this was the final countdown. From this experience, I learned that writing a scientific manuscript is very much different than any other types of writing that I had exposure to. Unlike a literature paper that I would have written for my high school language classes, this research article was not the place to add fluffy, complicated vocabulary and show off your knowledge of complex sentence structure. The more I found myself gravitating to use flowery language to describe simple tissue culture procedures, the more I had to mentally check myself and...

I'll admit it. I'm a procrastinator. Always have been... probably always will be. Despite my procrastination, I've managed to make it this far, so I think I'm doing pretty well. There are some moments, however, when I'm furiously typing as fast as my fingers will move, when I wish that procrastination was not so embedded in my work style. I always tell myself that the next assignment will be different, that I won't put myself in this same stressful situation. I told myself that I wouldn't procrastinate with the Mod 2 Research Article, but I did and it was awful. 1 week before due date: Status of research article: some figures are kind of done Me to myself: "I have plenty of time to finish the research article. Plus, it's a 4 day weekend" Events: Parents are in town because is running Boston Marathon, I don't bring my work with me when I go to stay with them at their hotel 4 days before due date (Tuesday): Status of research article:...

To be honest, I was dreading about the Mod 2 research paper, but also a little bit excited. Not that I think writing is fun, but I just thought that it would be a cool experience to find out what it is like to complete a scientific research paper.  I have to admit though, trying to finish the research paper on Saturday was definitely not fun. I knew from early on that I should start early, and I wanted to start so much earlier... but other homework took too much time. I finally was able to start trying to piece together what I wanted to write on Thursday. But my first look at all the graphs I want to pull together to make my figures went something like, "??????" I was pretty confused on which RNAseq results we have to include. I mean, sure, I would like to include as many graphs or data as I can into the research paper, but I have to talk about them right? They can't only function as decorations? And oh god, do I actually have to talk about the 20 genes shown on ...

Homework feedback is something a lot of classes don't take seriously. A lot of the time you just get a score back, maybe if you're lucky they give a comment or two in the margins or on Stellar/LMOD. Gradescope was supposed to fix this to an extent, but graders still just write general comments per question at best, and don't bother going into detail into your submission. That's the really great thing about 20.109. The staff gives thorough feedback, labeling specific points in your submission that need to be improved and how to improve them. They also make it pretty easy to talk to them afterwards for clarifications, either in person or through email. In my case at least, it really helped to review homework feedback when writing the Mod 2 research article. It's an assignment with a lot of different components and requirements, and the homework is meant to help you work through them. Another useful resource for the research article was office hours. It really help...

RIP my p-values & time-estimation skills.  ps. Compiling a coherent storyline takes forever. 

After completing the M1 data summary, I was hoping that writing a full article would be more natural than writing in bullet points, a style I was less used to. However, the M2 paper was not easier, mostly due to my tendency to procrastinate. In M1, my lab partner kept me accountable, as her tendency to be early and on top of things reflected my tendency to procrastinate and do things last minute. As my partner and I worked together, I felt stronger need to be on-time. But this time, when I can take things at my own pace, I have struggled more with starting the paper early and staying on track of time. Maybe I have hyperbolic preferences (impatient now-patient later) for gratification rather than exponential preferences. The BE Comm Kit was a very helpful resource as I tried to write the abstract. It refreshed my memory of the abstract workshop, and helped me organize the structure of my abstract. Working on the paper in the same space with my classmates helped me eliminate som...