Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#1

Post by moveax » Wed, Apr 24, 2019, 6:31 PM UTC

I finally did it and I get my first Trainee.

I already teached coding to internships for a few weeks. But this time I have three years to share my knowledge and grow with him.

I already checked methods and stuff online like pair programming, visualization of data flows ect.

But what I would love to know is, what has worked for you guys on both sides. Sharing knowledge and get trained.

I want to be the best mentor I can be and I want to proof that this is a thing I can do good and continue doing it the next years of my career.

So, what helped you to train others or receiving knowledge?

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#2

Post by din-9 » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 6:43 AM UTC

Understanding that we all have different mental models, and that affects how we learn. Understanding my own vs my students' helped me to get them to understand what I was trying to communicate.

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#3

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 6:49 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#4

Post by Zolomon » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 6:51 AM UTC

Try and constantly keep track of where the edge is of their comfort zone, and suggest adequate steps away from it in terms of work to be done.

Help them grow by venturing into unknown terrain when the time is right, show them the path when they are lost. Give feedback when work is done to help them stay on the path.

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#5

Post by temp99990 » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 6:52 AM UTC

I’m in a well known bootcamp in SF right now (after flirting with idea for a few years and finally making the timing work). Having hit the half way point, I would say the day-to-day format has been very conducive to learning, at least for me.

Basic structure is: -nightly readings and videos on a new concept -a homework on the readings -a quiz on the material

Next day: -a half day lecture on the new material from the previous night. -a half day of paired project work on the material.

I think the reason why it’s a pretty effective format is because it forces you to struggle on your own the night (homework and quiz force you to do something and not just read along) before some new concept is taught, meaning you’re not going into a lecture completely cold. Then in the lecture you can solidify your understanding of the material, ask questions, follow along demos, and then really have things sink in with the longer, more difficult project work that same day.

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#6

Post by ChrisRR » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 7:07 AM UTC

Constant practice and small achievable goals definitely help.

If you don't keep practicing, you'll never see the value in what you're learning and you'll quickly get fed up. Additionally you'll start encountering road blocks during your practice and you'll start becoming eager to learn if there's a better way to do things.

Small goals make learning more enjoyable. If you set out to make a MMO online 3D game from the start, you'll never do it. But if you make yourself a to-do list app, word/numbers/guessing games, a note-taking app, you'll enjoy these small wins and more importantly will be eager to improve them.

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#7

Post by nurettin » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 7:18 AM UTC

I have seen classes full of disinterested kids learn by:

1. reading algorithm flows 2. following changes in variables for C code 3. drawing their own algorithms 4. implementing those in C.

repeat for a whole semester.

in the end, those who are really interested will pick up tooling and go ahead by themselves.

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#8

Post by oysterfish » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 7:18 AM UTC

Don't teach coding. I haven't come across a discipline yet where:

1/ there's such an astronomical disparity between students 2/ where it's more of a requirement to be an autodidact.

All the good devs i know just pick up books and start reading. If you look professional devs out there, if they all taught themselves how to code, then one must wonder whether you can even produce a good coder by teaching them directly.

Instead, pointing them in the right direction on their learning path at the right time is probably going to be hugely beneficial.

I know for myself i wish i'd spent more time learning than building things. It's been useful too building, however my ratio was off by quite a bit.

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#9

Post by tech2 » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 7:20 AM UTC

din-9 wrote: post #2

Understanding that we all have different mental models, and that affects how we learn. Understanding my own vs my students' helped me to get them to understand what I was trying to communicate.

This in particular is massive. Some people like (and work well) pair programming, others want reading materials, others yet need videos.

Just being there to answer questions or help when they have issues can be a tremendous assist since it means they're rarely left frustrated by being unable to move forward on their own.

Re: Ask HN: How to Teach Coding?

#10

Post by cammil » Thu, Apr 25, 2019, 7:26 AM UTC

It depends on the student.

Don't make assumptions. Observe and test them frequently. How you should teach them will be driven by this, and nothing else.

Btw, I ran a tutoring company for 8 years with over 6k tutors.