Lecture & Assignments
This class is composed of many types of lectures, presentations, assignments, exercises, and quizzes to ensure that you are provided with the best possible learning methods for any given topic - and for a wide array of learning styles. This section highlights some of these teaching tools and formats so that you know what to expect.
Schedule
You are expected to be on campus from at least 9am until around 5pm each week day. You are welcome to arrive early, leave late, or work from campus on the weekends if you wish.
We will hold lecture every Monday through Thursday from 9am until about noon. We will take a break or two in the middle, but that the actual length of lecture (and breaks) will vary from day to day. You should expect to arrive on campus before 9am so that you are ready to begin on time. This will also allow you the opportunity to ask any questions from previous (or upcoming) material. I will attempt to arrive early for this reason every day. The afternoons will be used for lab time on the current day’s assignment.
Fridays are dedicated lab time. This means that you will have all day to work on assignments (read about weekend assignments below). I will be available the entire day for questions (outside of any other meetings). You are expected to be on campus for this work time.
Daily Assignments
You will receive an assignment every day. These assignments will vary in length and format, but unless otherwise noted, they are due before class begins the following day. (Weekend assignments will be due before class on Monday, read more below.) The assignments are not meant to simply give you something to do - they are meant to test your knowledge and train your mind to code. The practice of typing out code will solidify the concepts we cover in lecture!
- All assignments are due before class begins the following day (unless otherwise noted).
- No assignments may include copy and pasted code (Read why not.).
- No assignments may include code lifted or “borrowed” from someone else without proper citation and licensing.
- Incomplete solutions are better than late (or no) solutions! (They show progress and effort!)
- Late submissions are better than no submissions.
- Asking for clarify or help on assignments is encouraged.
- Turning in code that you do not understand is highly discouraged and should be noted so we can address those issues. We, as developers, need to be able to explain our code to others and we cannot do that if we do not understand it ourselves.
- In most cases, you should submit a link to a GitHub repository, unless noted otherwise.
- If your code is deployed to a server (like github.io) then make sure that URL is noted in your README.md for the assignment repository.
It is very important that you read all instructions for any assignment. There will be details about how to solve the problem, where to start, and what exactly to submit.
In-lecture Exercises and Quizzes
From time to time we will have short exercises or quizzes during lecture time. This is intended to break up the lecture and reinforce concepts covered either that day or on previous days. These will not be graded, but your participation is required and it will only help to progress your learning.
Weekend Assignments
At the end of class on Thursdays you will be given a substantially longer assignment. Lab time on Thursday and all day Friday are typically dedicated to this assignment - as well as any time you see fit over the weekend. Note that the majority of the time it will be necessary to work over the weekend. These assignments will typically be due before class begins on Monday morning.
Group Assignments
From time to time you will be assigned a group project. This project might be in combination with one of the other classes, or it could be within your own class. Sometimes these will be with a larger group (3+) and sometimes just with one other person. The goal of these projects is for you to share knowledge and experience what it is like to work with another developer to solve a problem. Solving problems in a group can be much easier, but only if you work together. Take these opportunities to truly learn from one another and see how a problem can be solved in a different way through the eyes of your peers.
When we have group projects each member of the team will need to submit to the homework assignment, but it may be the same GitHub repository. However, this is not always true! Be sure to read the assignment instructions.
Final Project
During the last three weeks of this course, you will be working on a “capstone” project. This will put all you’ve learned into practice. These projects are self-directed, but with the approval of your instructor. Beginning a couple of weeks before the project begins we will start talking about ideas. Of course, you can start to formulate those even now!
You may work on this project alone, but you can also team up with someone from another class - for example, a backend engineer to develop the data API you will need on the front end.
During weeks ten, eleven, and twelve you will spend all of your time working on this project (minus some field trips and guest lectures). We will potentially have occasional lecture time, but it will be tailored to what you need to know for your project and will be optional.