Learning Science

A brief look into how Coding Dojo continually innovates and iterates so we can best serve our students.

Overview

At Coding Dojo, you’ll learn by doing. Just as a blacksmith apprentice works first with the metal before understanding the metallurgy, here, you will tinker and build with code before the concepts really sink in. If you’ve never coded before, it’s a lot like playing a musical instrument: you need to practice, over and over, making mistakes, yet growing each time in your skill. And the more you practice, the easier it becomes, the more you can hear the melody, see the patterns, and understand the craft.

What makes us unique: deeper learning-by-doing through a cyclical, iterative process. First, you learn the fundamentals of programming using the Javascript language. Then you apply those same fundamentals in a different programming language, deepening your understanding of them. Then again in a different language. This allows you to use the concepts in different situations, developing both your ability to program and your ability to learn a new language - a mission critical skill as a software developer.

Overview IMG

  • What We Teach

    We keep an eye on what’s popular in the industry, making sure to teach the most common technology and skills.

    We do this by speaking with hiring managers and scouring the industry to determine the most relevant tech to teach.

  • How We Teach

    Our goal is to help you become a self-sufficient developer.

    We make sure you have many opportunities to learn and practice in-demand skills and technologies in an experiential learning environment. You learn by doing; and we’re your guide.

  • Who Teaches

    Our instructional staff care about your success and guide you along the way. They are developers themselves, and many have gone through the bootcamp in years prior, so they bring the perfect balance of empathy and industry to the table.

    Each instructor goes through a rigorous process of shadowing other instructors before they have students on their own. This means that no matter where you take your bootcamp, you’ve got a great guide.

  • How We Support You

    Throughout the bootcamp, you’ll have access to readings, videos, practice assignments, your cohort-mates, TAs, instructors, and student support specialists. All you need to help you succeed.

    All these resources support your journey through the bootcamp, as you tackle new programming languages, and grow into a self-sufficient developer.

Our Learning Science

With several years of iteration, refinement, and study, our approach is rooted in best practices for teaching and learning. We’re the right blend of experiential and problem-based education, designed to trigger and build new neural pathways faster and deeper.

  • BUILD

    Hands-On-Learning

    “How can I apply what I learned?”

    “What can I learn by tinkering with this?”

  • LEARN

    Conceptualize

    “Where can I find the answers to my questions?”

    “What did I learn about this concept?”

  • TEST

    Reflect

    “What worked and what didn’t?”

    “What do I need to learn to get it to work?”

This type of learning is valuable because it means you’re making deeper neural connections. You’ll have better recall and the ability to transfer your learning to new, more complex situations.

So instead of relying on rote memory when you’re on the job, you’ll be comfortable with ambiguity because you’ve built up your critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. In this way, Coding Dojo offers a learning environment to grow into self-sufficiency, as this is a skill you will need as a developer in the workplace. Here, you won’t just learn how to code. You’ll learn how to be a developer.

What it means to be a self-sufficient developer:

  1. You know what to do when you don’t know what to do (aka: you can problem solve)
  2. You are comfortable in ambiguity or uncertainty
  3. When things don’t work, you see it as a puzzle to solve, not a reflection of your worth

We focus on teaching you how to problem solve because we know that arriving at an answer is less important than knowing how to find an answer.

We rooted our model in Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning. The best engineers have a constructivism approach to their ongoing growth as developers, and we value the humanistic perspective of learning.

How This Impacts You

Simply put, learning requires creating new neural pathways in your brain, and the messiness of experiential learning is the fastest way to do it.

It’s a bit like carving out a hiking trail in a dense forest: you can’t just walk from point A to point B and expect to be able to find that same path again in the future. You have to walk that path several times, with a chainsaw and a machete; and then you need to return frequently to do cleanup, or else it’ll just overgrow again. We provide you opportunities to blaze those trails through many, many code challenges, with lectures, peers, videos, readings, TAs, and instructors there to support and guide you along the way.

Sometimes, blazing your own trail and neural pathways may feel scary and sometimes, it may make you feel vulnerable. We help you prepare to pursue a new career in tech.

Explore Our Program

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