My time at coding bootcamp is coming to an end. As with everything I undertake, this signals a time for me to take stock of my experience, my achievements and “learnings”.
Having signed up for bootcamp a little over a year after I completed my masters degree, I thought I know what I was in for. My masters program was fast paced and required extensive research on each paper submitted every week in addition to lab work and 3-4 technical blogs. My meetings will admissions councilor mainly covered the estimated time commitment per week to complete the lab work and assignments at the bootcamp. Knowing what I know now, I should have spent more time understanding my learning style to ensure it would match the curriculum layout.
What I knew before I joined bootcamp:
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I’m a visual learner. I prefer to see what I’m learning, watching live lab practices and examples prior to attempting them on my own allows me to understand things much better.
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I’m a kinesthetic learner. I learn by doing, in coding this is very important diving in and getting things done is key to progressing. I came to understand that I prefer seeing things from 40,000 foot level to understand the general lay of the land then getting into the details to build bigger complex apps.
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I prefer structured approach to learning. I had tried learning code through self help books and online resources but always found my self stuck in the weeds.
What bootcamp gave me:
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A structured approach to learning. This is where most people will really benefit from their time at a bootcamp. A considerable amount of time to put into designing a curriculum that is able to provide most with training wheels and then gradually get you to speed. I use the work gradually loosely as dependent on module, the information you are required to cover from week to week can sometimes be overwhelming.
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Lectures and Pod meetings to watch, listen, learn and participate in coding exercises. what these activities bolstered most was confidence in your ability to build up on concepts.
What I wish I had more of:
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More videos, one could say YouTube is a good resource. remember the part I mentioned above on structured approach? if you are transitioning careers, currently working and have a family, watching 10 YouTube videos to gather five minutes of useful content my not be the most efficient way to learn a new skill. Yes, watching more people illustrate their solutions is great, however at times it can be counter productive when you need to grasp core basics.
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increased hours of support overnight. I tend to work better later evenings when everyone and everything in the house has settled down. Most coding schools may not have late night support to reach out to.
So what is your learning style? what do you need to be successful at learning something new? take time to learn yourself first and see if what you need matches what the school you are considering offers you. Whatever you decide take the leap. it is worth it.