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Al Hughes
iOS Development Techdegree Student 786 PointsMake the most out of learning at Treehouse
So I have recently upgraded to the Techdegree course for iOS. I figured it was the most bang for my buck since I have no prior coding experience. My question is general but hopefully someone can help. When I complete each section I feel that I understand for the most part what is being instructed. I do find that I have trouble retaining once I need to put in into practice. Getting to the point my question is if I should do a bunch of practice code between section and during to really get the grasp of the information? or just stick to what is being shown and move on?
I appreciate any advice that you masters can give
2 Answers
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherAl;
Great questions!
I think that if you work through the program, put in the necessary time to learn the content, and develop a solid portfolio of iOS projects that after completing the Final Exam you will be in a great spot for employment regardless of which pricing tier you choose. That being said, there are definite advantages to upgrading to the $199 pricing tier as it offers additional features such as a dedicated Slack team (Slack is an instant messaging app where you can talk with your peers about the projects and courses, and whatever else is on your mind, as you go through the Techdegree together... you may even run into one of the iOS instructors in there too) and peer reviewed projects and the opportunity for you to review other students projects which is a huge real world task that will enhance your job skills.
I understand that financial consideration of making the decision. I think it really boils down to how best you learn and how self-motivated you are in the learning process. In the end, you will get out of it what effort you put into the learning, the 12 projects, and the Final Exam. At the end of the Techdegree we want to make sure that you are able to present an employer an awesome portfolio, as that is what is truly important.
Hope that helps,
Ken
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherAl;
First, welcome to the Techdegree. It is an excellent program and one in which will really prepare you as an iOS developer.
Your question is a great one, and one to which I can certainly relate. I started learning to code primarily through Treehouse and there were certainly many occasions when I would go through a course video, stage, or the entire course and felt like while I grasped the concepts while watching the materials, implementing them was (and is) an entirely different thing. There are many different ways people learn, and one size does not always fit all, so I'll offer some suggestions as to what might assist in retention.
Your idea of working on "a bunch of practice code" is certainly a great one. I myself will often take the concept of what was taught in a course or video and try to create a sample project based around that concept. I find that is an excellent way of reinforcing knowledge. Another method is to watch and re-watch the videos while taking notes. Writing things down (either with an app like Evernote or by pen & paper) can be an excellent way to cement things into place.
In terms of when to move onto the next concept, much of that will depend on you, your learning style, and to a certain extent the content itself. I know, for example, that there are a few instances in some of the beginning iOS Techdegree courses in which we are asked to essentially trust Pasan on certain "to be explained later" things. I initially had a hard time with that, but once I got some of the basic concepts down and was then shown those items I was indeed thankful that he waited to go into more detail.
Wow, that was a long wall of text for what was a, seemingly, simple question. I hope that some of it was useful and please post back if you have further questions. I look forward to seeing what you build in the Techdegree.
Happy coding,
Ken
Al Hughes
iOS Development Techdegree Student 786 PointsThanks Ken!
That helped a lot. Another guestion that I have is that I didn't know that multiple tiers of the techdegree where available. I'm currently on the $99 plan. This my be silly because of course treehouse would like me to choose the top tier but is it necessary? I feel that having a mentor would definitely be helpful obviously but it's a expensive world we live in. I like the idea have having someone look at my code and tell me where I can improve. In ways I guess I am answering g my own questions. Would being on the first tier be a henderance to me finding employment once completed?
Sorry for all the questions... I just want to make sure I'm on the right track.