Phase 3 observations<\/strong><\/p>\nLike any worthwhile application, an IT teaching curriculum is an ongoing, iterative process of improvement. I would like to offer some observations about phase 3 that will hopefully help improve the curriculum for future Flatiron cohorts, and encourage my fellow students who may have similar views. Please know these observations are sent with the best intentions.<\/p>\n
Syillabus Phase comparison<\/strong>
\nPhase 1:<\/strong>\u00a0 (JS and Github)
\nMarch 19 – May 14\u00a0 – 8 weeks
\n108 page lessons (34 – 3rd party videos)
\n64 Assignments
\n24 quiz<\/p>\nPhase 2:<\/strong>\u00a0 (React, React Router, JSON Server)
\nMay 21 – July 2 – 6 weeks
\n73 Page lessons\u00a0 (21 – 3rd party videos)
\n26 Assignments
\n10 Quizes<\/p>\nPhase 3:<\/strong>\u00a0 (Python, SQL, SQLAlchemy, Alembic)
\nMay 21 – Aug 27 – 8 weeks (7 w\/ Prime week)
\n85 separate page lessons \u00a0 (0 – 3rd party videos)
\n54 separate assignments (labs)
\n11 quizes<\/p>\nMajor issues with phase 3 compared to phases 1 and 2<\/strong>
\n–\u00a0 Significantly more lessons and more challenging assignments \u2028\u00a0 \u00a0 covering a much wider span of topics
\n\u00a0\u00a0 Although many lessons were marked as \u201coptional\u201d,
\n\u00a0\u00a0 as one lecturer brought out:
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2018they are still important, and really should be done\u2019
\n– There were no 3rd party videos, which were very helpful in phase 1 & 2.
\n\u00a0\u00a0 Instruction primarily came from lectures and reverse engineering the test files
\n— Flatiron lectures generally are less concise than the 3rd party videos.
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 In an attempt to encourage students to participate,
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 the lessons generally take much longer
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 and arguably cover the material in a much less effective way.
\n— IMHO, Reverse engineering of test files is an extremely poor method of teaching
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 Test files were never meant to be instruction tools,
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 and writing good tests is very difficult.
\n– Python is arguably a much broader and deeper subject than React,
\n\u00a0\u00a0 yet only about 2(?) weeks were scheduled for Python, one of them was Prime week.
\n– The next 2 weeks jumped to SQL, and SQLight,\u2028\u00a0 \u00a0significantly different, and very broad subjects
\n– Next 2 weeks jumped to SQLAlchemy and Alembic – also different, broad subjects
\n– 2 weeks for proposal and completion of phase 3 project<\/p>\n\u2028With this time frame, the resulting project would likely be an unimpressive Python CLI\u00a0 \u00a0located on a Github repo that will rarely, if ever be used or viewed.
\nIt is hard to get excited about such a project
\nGetting excited about a project is critical for me.
\nIt helps me get through the many hours of wrestling with the code.<\/p>\n
With a seemingly unrealistic phase 3 schedule, \u2028I found myself increasingly falling behind.
\nIt was very discouraging.\u2028\u2028
\nAfter wrestling for many hours with the \u201creverse engineer test lessons\u201d for Python,
\nI realized I would never reach my goal of learning Python with this curriculum,
\nLearning Python is the primary reason I took this course.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Different people have different ways of learning that work best for them.
\nThe methods used in Phase 3 do not seem to work well for me.
\nI found it necessary to revert to programs outside of Flatiron that teach Python,
\nand I’m glad to say, I found a few, and my understanding of Python is increasing.
\nI\u2019m still working on finding additional SQLight, SQLAlchemy and Alembic lessons,
\nand hope to have a project that will meet the course requirements on time.<\/p>\n
As the instructors have accurately stated, when this course is over,
\nthe only thing that is going to matter is our being able to explain \u2028our understanding of these technologies to potential employers.
\nI’m finding this method seems to be working for me.<\/p>\n
I hope these observations are helpful for other students who may feel similarly, and for the Flatiron team\u2019s ongoing efforts to make an excellent curriculum.<\/p>\n
I would recommend identifying and eliminating areas in the curriculum that are not critical to allow more time for the things that are. \u2028Two areas that come to mind are:
\nThe Flatiron Three Pillars of JavaScript,
\nGenerator and Lamda functions.
\nIf these (and other items) are rarely used in our job search efforts,
\nthey may not be worth the time spent trying to explain them.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
Very much looking forward to Phase 4, where I hope to build a Flask app \u2028that will be easily accessible online, and will impress potential employers, \u2028one I can get excited about.<\/p>\n
Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While struggling to meet the considerable requirements for the Flatiron Phase 3 project, the comment below was posted with the hope of promoting some improvements. The comment also got me thinking about a process that could be useful in an enterprise development environment which I posted here. Phase 3 observations Like any worthwhile application, an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-developer","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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