Dev Academy Way
Our Approach to Learning
Dev Academy requires you to acclimate to a new learning environment and mindset. You will be confronted every day by your limitations - whether they be technical or cultural.
Our educational model is fundamentally different from those offered in traditional institutions. At Dev Academy, facilitators act as a guide or resource rather than a transmitter of information or an expert. You will learn new information and technologies through challenges, not a lecture.
Theory of education
Just as software is opinionated, the curriculum we have developed is opinionated. It is shaped by the experience of training hundreds of developers and preparing them for jobs in the industry. Our curriculum is continuously improved by harvesting knowledge from student feedback, employers, and education specialists.
Skills over Knowledge
Students must understand some core concepts, but it is more important that they can use the technologies to build 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. Assessment is designed to occur continuously and unobtrusively during the students learning experience. However, we provide tools and strategies for self-assessment, as it is crucial for evaluating your progress.
Flipped classrooms
Dev Academy uses a flipped-classroom approach, where you as a 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 generic content upfront, we give you just enough to achieve a challenge. It differs from the 'just in case' philosophy of many educators, where students learn many 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.
Tips to Success
To be successful at Dev Academy, you'll 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!
(but) This is Difficult!
The wonderful thing about difficulty is it helps your brain grow. Unfortunately, many of us inherit a mental model that rewards output and labels struggle as a failure. While aspirations (i.e. to be good at something) are positive, overlooking the process can lead to unhelpful behaviours in the classroom.
You will learn more about fixed and growth mindsets, but to summarise, here is a table with some key differences:
| 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 feedback | learns from feedback |
| threatened by others | inspired by others |
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 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!
Learning as a group
There is a lot more emphasis on co-creation of learning between learners, facilitators and peers than in traditional academic programmes. We 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.