MATLAB is a programming language and a software that is widely used in engineering industries to create mathematical models, manipulate matrices, plot functions and perform other mathematical computations. I found out about this language in an internship and started to learn it thereafter as it will be of great use in the future. I learned the software through self-paced programs offered by the language, online tutorials and solving problems using the language.

LO1(Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth)-

I have done programming before and know many programming languages like C, C++, Python and JavaScript. Hence programming in general is my strength and was the reason I was able to learn the basics of the language in a short timespan to further learn the complex functions. However, the language is based on matrix manipulations and I have not learned a lot about matrices hence I was not familiar with certain aspects like the dot product, eigen vectors, etc. To overcome this, I learned about some of these matrix concepts to better understand the syntax.

LO2(Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills)-

The challenging part of learning the language was certain complex mathematical concepts that had not been taught to me. Things like matrices, Fourier transforms, normal distribution and even other non-mathematical concepts like image and sound manipulation was not known to me. This was a great challenge because due to the lack of knowledge about them, I couldn’t learn all the complex functions of the language and couldn’t satisfy its fullest potential. I did overcome this challenge partially by learning certain concepts that were easy to understand, but others like the Fourier transform I left because I knew it was going to be taught later in upcoming years. However I felt very enthralled taking this challenge because I learned a lot of new concepts and even though I couldn’t understand all of them, I was still able to grasp some basic knowledge about them. These new concepts and skills will help me a lot in the future because instead of learning them from scratch, I will already have some prior knowledge about them.

LO3(Initiate and plan a CAS experience)-

I had to learn the language in an organized manner to learn more in a less amount of time. I had to find resources and courses to learn from and platforms to test my skills. I had planned this very quickly because the company(MathWorks) that made the language already offered a self-paced course and challenges to solve and I just had to watch some additional tutorials to understand the language fully. However the initiating part was difficult as I had to manage learning this parallel to studies, giving me less time per week to learn the language.

LO4(Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience)-

Commitment was definitely a requirement to complete this experience. I had to use my time of travelling to and from school to watch tutorials, and my weekends and school free slots to practice my skills on the language. I also tried to be persistent but due to studies my progress on learning was put at halt many times. But this commitment paid off in the end and now I know how to use the language to a higher extent in solving problems.

While learning the language, I demonstrated the following learner profile attributes:

Inquirer- I had to research and learn about the language on my own and had to inquire about the different courses and tutorials available to learn from

Reflective- I had to reflect my knowledge of the language by using it to solve problems which I did using the “Cody” platform provided by MathWorks.

I have learned many programming language however this was one of the most unique one because it focused more on mathematics and creating models to solve complex engineering problems than solving simple problems like creating a user interface. It was a great challenge to learn and I am not very good at using the language however I feel satisfied form the knowledge that I have of it now, which will give me a head-start in future endeavors.