Dev Academy requires you to acclimate to a new learning environment and mindset. You will be confronted every day by your own limitations; whether they be technical or cultural.
Our educational model is fundamentally different from those offered in traditional institutions. A Dev Academy teacher's role is to act as a guide and resource, rather than a transmitter of information or an "expert." You will learn new information and technologies through challenges, not lecture.
Just as software is opinionated, the curriculum we develop is opinionated. It is shaped by the opinions we have formed training hundreds of developers and getting them ready for jobs in the industry. It is continuously improved, harvesting knowledge from student feedback, employers, and education specialists.
Skills over Knowledge It is important that students understand some core concepts but it is more important that they can use the technologies to build useful applications. The curriculum prioritises growing skills over knowledge.
Unobtrusive assessment The curriculum is not designed to teach people how to pass tests. Instead we aim to teach people to build useful applications. Assessments are still important so that students and teachers can evaluate progress. But the assessment is designed to be harvested continuously and unobtrusively during the students learning experience.
Flipped classrooms Dev Academy uses a flipped classroom approach, where you the learner are responsible for your learning journey. Rather than provide you with the knowledge and answers, we facilitate you to think critically about how to solve problems, seek solutions and overcome obstacles.
Just in time learning Instead of delivering a large amount of basic content upfront we propose teaching core skills as students need them to achieve a challenge. This differs from the ‘just in case’ philosophy of many educators where students learn a lot of things they will rarely or never use in practice.
There will be times when it will be tempting to try to understand more than what is required. Stick to the learning competencies and trust that a "just in time" model will serve you in strengthening your skills and adapting quickly.
In order to be successful at Dev Academy, you need to:
- Be comfortable not knowing everything (Just in time learning)
- Understand that difficulty is simultaneous with growth
- Invest in practice and cadence
- Learn as a group
- Ask questions, and answer questions!
The wonderful thing about difficulty is it helps your brain grow. Unfortunately many of us inherit a mental model that rewards outcomes and labels failures. While aspirations (i.e. to be really good at something) are positive, overlooking the process, can lead to unhelpful behaviors in the class room.
You should by now have already read up on Growth mindset, but to recap, here is a table with some key differences:
Summary of Dweck's Mindset
| Fixed | Growth |
|---|---|
| ability is static | ability is developed |
| avoids challenges | embraces challenges |
| gives up easily | persists in obstacles |
| sees effort as fruitless | sees effort as necessary |
| ignores useful criticism | learns from criticism |
| threatened by others | inspired by others success |
Celebrate not knowing It's an opportunity to grow! Ask questions to your cohort! Answer questions! One of the best methods for learning and integrating new information into long term memory, is to help someone else to understand it. The more your brain can deconstruct a piece of information and reconstruct it into language that someone else will understand, the more growth and learning!
Here there is a lot more emphasis on co-creation of learning between learners, facilitators and peers than what you find in traditional academic programs. We really lean into the "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." proverb. It is both cautionary and instructive. Sometimes it is beneficial to go alone and go quickly, and we celebrate that, but primarily Dev Academy is about teamwork and cooperation.