The Science and Research Behind Our Unconventional Educational Approach

Students and instructional staff often wonder why our curriculum is structured the way it is. At first glance, it may seem that some of our techniques don't match up with conventional expectations around education. Our curriculum is actually built around several principles of learning design that are backed up by years of educational research and science.

Learning is misunderstood by students in all fields, and exercises that are actually strengthening their learning are often viewed as ineffective, even when the exact opposite is true. Trying to convince someone that their beliefs about how they learn are incorrect is difficult. Even when presented with evidence to the contrary, many students have trouble moving away from the conventional styles of learning that they've internalized over several years. Those findings aren't very intuitive, but they are borne out by the research.

The Curse of Knowledge

One of the most common misconceptions about learning is that the best way to learn something is to study it over and over again. This is a common belief among students, and it's one that's reinforced by the way that most educational institutions are structured. Students are expected to study a topic, take a test on it, and then move on to the next topic. The problem with this approach is that it doesn't actually lead to long-term retention of the material. Students may be able to pass a test on a topic, but they'll quickly forget it if they don't use it again.

Retrieval Practice

A core principle of our curriculum is using retrieval practice to cement learning. Coding boot camps proceed quickly, moving from topic to topic each week before students have time to slowly digest every piece of information we provide. It may seem counterintuitive, but the best learning actually happens just at the point of forgetting, especially when previous topics are brought up in a new context. This approach, leveraging the power of 'desirable difficulty,' challenges learners to recall information just as it begins to fade, thereby reinforcing neural pathways and promoting deeper, more enduring understanding.

This is why we have students practice something that they've learned in an earlier module later on once they have new information, different technologies, or a new context. When you space out practice of certain concepts or problem-solving skills and allow yourself to get a bit rusty, you'll actually retain what you're learning longer over time. It feels less productive and more difficult, but it's when the real learning happens.

Interleaving vs. Blocked Practice

There is a myth among students, educators, and practitioners across disciplines that persists in spite of a ton of research to the contrary: the idea that massed, or blocked, practice makes perfect. Working on the same subject matter or same type of exercise repeatedly appears to pay dividends. We feel like we are getting better at something. The truth, however, is that this type of practice provides rapid improvement, but it also leads to quick forgetting.

The alternative is known as interleaving, where topics and exercises are varied. This style of learning leads to better mastery and longer retention. It also makes learners more adaptable to new situations because they quickly have to apply what they know from other topics and exercises to the one they're presented with.

We use interleaving in our class activities, as it has been proven to be a more effective way to learn, moving from exercise to exercise instead of doing the same thing over and over. This is also why the pace of the boot camp is so fast—we don't stick with any one topic for too long, because we want students to make those leaps and bounds as they move on to the next subject.

The Generation Effect

Finally, part of what we're trying to teach our students is to learn to solve problems before being presented with a solution. This is known as the generation effect. When students are asked to solve something they've never seen before, they pull in related knowledge they already have to fill in the gaps in their understanding, and then make a stronger connection between this new solution and the knowledge they already had.

This might involve dissecting an existing codebase to figure out the solution to a problem in a different codebase. We might introduce a new concept into a solution before covering it in class so that students can fill in the gaps and see how it applies to that activity and any others they might complete before we even touch on that topic.

Generation is a core part of becoming a developer: you're given a task to complete, you encounter a bug that requires you to think creatively in order to solve it, and you might seek help from fellow developers or by searching through Stack Overflow threads. Venturing into the unknown and working through the solution yourself means that you are more likely to remember how to solve a similar problem the next time you encounter it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our curriculum may seem unconventional at first glance, but it is intricately designed with cutting-edge educational research and principles in mind. We aim to move beyond traditional learning practices that often emphasize rote memorization, and instead focus on strategies that foster deep understanding, long-term retention, and adaptive problem-solving skills. By embracing techniques such as retrieval practice, interleaving, and the generation effect, we seek to prepare our students not just to succeed in the academic setting, but to excel in real-world scenarios where the ability to apply knowledge creatively is key.

We hope that by sharing the science behind our methods, we can help students and educators alike understand and appreciate the value of these innovative approaches to learning. It might feel more challenging, and that's because it is—the real learning happens when you step out of your comfort zone, and that's exactly where we aim to take you.

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Category: curriculum

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