Herding Code 81: Simplicity, balance, and focus in teaching software development

This week on Herding Code, the guys discuss compare notes on how to teach software development topics. Is hands-on instruction key? How much should you simplify to focus on mechanics? How do you teach, and how do you like to learn?

Jon talks about his impressions on the effectiveness of hands-on learning at Web Camp Toronto.
K. Scott questions if people really learn at Code Camps, and Scott K. talks about hack-a-thons at Code Camps.
We talk about open source contributions as development. Jon demonstrates that he’s bad at doing math while he talks.
Jon asks Scott K. about what works for him with his training classes with Pluralsight.
We all talk about the MVC Music Store, and the gaps between marketing, introductory training, and advanced training.
Jon and K. Scott talk about the difficulty in finding the correct focus and simplicity level in introductory training.
Jon talks about the mistake he’s made several times in not clarifying the level of content he’s presenting.
Kevin talks about how he expects to see unit tests in any samples, but Scott K. says that won’t save you from public shame.
Scott K. asks if we should be focusing on concepts and “why?” questions rather than products or frameworks.
Jon and Scott K. talk about the fun of looking at the ASP.NET MVC source code.
Kevin comments on the difference in complexity he sees in .NET code and Ruby source code. Scott K. talks about how Fubu MVC code is pretty easy to read, too.
Jon asks about the difficulty of doing “real world” samples, and K. Scott asks whose real world we’re talking about.
K. Scott drops a surprise mini-lightning round on us with a question about the effectiveness of video as a learning tool.

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Herding Code 81: Simplicity, balance, and focus in teaching software development

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