Knowing What We Know and What We Don't Know - Experience of One Person in Coding Training

My own experience was that I tried one method that didn't work for me and then one that did.

I knew that I didn't want lecture-style classes, so I didn't chose that method.

The worst parts for me in the first system, which I will call machine learning with correct/incorrect feedback, were those areas where I just cruised along getting the right answers. I only understood the material, if you want to call it material, on a superficial level. There wasn't really much content, but if I plugged in the right answer, it told me my answer was correct. I was basically learning by rote. I didn't have any questions to ask because I wasn't learning at a deep enough level to have any questions. That particular electronic system didn't require me to do much thinking. I truly didn't know what I didn't know. Now that I think about it, I didn't really know what I did know either. LOL.

It was fun at first, I'll have to admit, but then it got to be frustrating when I knew I wasn't really getting a good understanding of anything that I could use on a job. It got even more frustrating when there were errors that confused me. After that I wasn't really sure if what I was learning was really correct or a glitch in the system. I didn't have much confidence in the quality of what I was learning and I knew that I wasn't happy with the coverage of the material. Finally, it got a little boring once the 'fun' aspect of it wore off. It was a matter of spending a lot of time and not getting much in return.

I didn't have anything else to compare it with at that time, so in the beginning I thought I was actually learning coding. I wasn't.

Later after I finished, I wanted to actually understand what I was doing at more than a superficial level.

My second approach let me learn at a much deeper level, which was much more rewarding to me personally. I could see that what I was learning was marketable. There were times when I struggled and didn't always enjoy it when the instructor challenged me to truly understand the point I was missing. She was stubborn enough not to let me get away with any superficial understanding of the material, and the material I was learning from was substantial. In fact, the main textbook was one that is used in most college courses and is what I would call a coding classic. Now that I've gone through it, I don't know how anyone could learn to code without that text.

That said, each of us has to decide how we want to learn and what works best for us. I just wanted to share my own personal experience, without criticizing anyone else for their choices and without discussing any specific schools, programs, or courses.