Link Search Menu Expand Document

Course Introduction

This course is going to be…

…different?

…challenging?

…fun?

Yes. This course will be all of that.

Different

This course is different from many other schooling experiences you’ve had. In this course we will be using the flipped classroom model of instruction.

In a traditional classroom approach, teachers use classroom time to introduce new concepts and then assign students homework to practice working with those concepts.

With a flipped classroom approach, students study material before class so that the majority of the class time can be used for active, hands-on learning. This approach maximizes the time a student has to ask for help while working on an assignment.

Challenging

Learning to code is hard. It just is. And this course will challenge you. A lot. Many of our students say this is the hardest thing they’ve ever done.

Why is learning to code so hard? Because learning is hard and because coding is hard.

Hard Thing + Hard Thing = Very Hard Thing

If it’s so hard, why do it?

Money? It’s true that there is money to be made as a software engineer. And there’s nothing wrong with making good money. But many people discover another motivator along the way: coding is fun!

Fun

Coding is creative problem solving.

The job of a professional software engineer is not to “do what they’re told”. A software engineer’s boss doesn’t say “I need you to do these things in this order.” A software engineer’s boss says “I have this problem, and I don’t know how to solve it, so I need you to figure it out.”

Does that sound fun?

We promise that there is no feeling in the world quite like finally getting the computer to do what you want it to do. It’s satisfying. It’s empowering. It’s a dopamine rush.

Let’s Get Practical

Schedule

As you probably already know, this course will meet nine times over three weeks.

Three of those sessions will be Saturdays. Saturday sessions will be five hours from 9am to 2pm. We will not take a lunch break, but there should always be time around noon for you to step away from your computer to grab some food.

The remaining six sessions will be on two weeknight evenings from 6pm to 9pm. (Check your email for exact dates) There will not be a dinner break, so please try to eat something before class begins.

Breaks

We may not have time to take lunch or dinner breaks, but we won’t go nonstop the whole time either. We’ll try not to go more than an hour without taking a 5-10 minute break.

Overall Course Structure

The course is divided into two phases, we call learning and practice.

The first five(-ish) class sessions will be devoted to actively learning the Python programming language as well as related topics. The final four class sessions will be devoted to intensely practicing what you’ve learned by building a text-based game in Python.

Structure of a “Learning” Class Session

Before Class
  1. Before each class session you should complete the prework for that session. For the most part this means reading a few lessons, studying some example code, and preparing questions on the material.

  2. Also, before class you should submit any questions you have in the class discussion forum. You will also be able to see your classmate’s questions and vote for any you would like to discuss.

    NOTE: We’ll demonstrate using the discussion forum during the first class session.

During Class
  1. At the beginning of a class session, your instructor will take some time to answer questions from the discussion forum and to dive deeper into the more complex topics from the prework reading.

  2. Next your instructor will introduce one or more coding exercises for you to work on throughout the rest of the class session. Some of these exercises will be instructor-led, while others will be worked independently.

    NOTE: During “independent” exercise time, we will use a feature of Zoom called “breakout rooms” to allow you to congregate into small groups or to work alone while still remaining in the Zoom meeting. We will demonstrate breakout rooms during the first class session.

  3. While you are working, instructors will be available to answer questions and offer one-on-one coaching.
  4. At the end of each class session, we’ll quickly gather back together to end the day.
After Class
  1. Finally, each session has a corresponding “checkpoint” exercise for you to complete after class. Checkpoints are multiple-choice/short-answer questions to help reinforce the material. They are not graded or monitored by instructors. They are solely for self-assessment.

Structure of a “Practice” Class Session

Practice sessions have a much looser structure. We will start each session with Q&A time, but after that you’ll be free to work on the project and get one-on-one help from instructors.

Now you’re ready to move on to ask the question What is code?