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During my time at Lambda School, seeing people's quick arguments against it have drastically lowered my priors on how correct "hot takes" are likely to be in ge

During my time at Lambda School, seeing people's quick arguments against it have drastically lowered my priors on how correct "hot takes" are likely to be in general. Sort of like reading a newspaper article about your area of expertise for the first time, and realizing how many inaccuracies all newspaper articles must have. There are places for skepticism but the actual critiques made are shockingly wide of the mark in my opinion as someone who found the value proposition compelling.

austenallred 7y ago
How is Lambda School going for you?
- MispelledToyota 7y ago
  I graduated two weeks ago and got a job offer, and am overjoyed by the fact. I think if I asked myself at the beginning, what's the most you can hope for in going to Lambda School, my expectations were met by the education quality and the follow-through from the outcomes team. It's not perfect but the incentive structure forces constant improvement in the factors that matter most for getting us hired. People point out it's not a CS degree and they're right. But the staff manages to teach concrete skills to get students hired, and the CS, data structures, algorithms stuff in the curriculum is taught well enough and with enough enthusiasm that it gives students the basis to be conversant with CS concepts and continue growing forward. It might not work for everyone; some people are going to struggle to become programmers. But Lambda is trying their hardest to make it work for as many people as they can, and their heart is in the right place. And it is structured so if it doesn't work for a student their downside is hedged. Due to the $50k/industry-specific cutoff for repayment, the downside of going to Lambda but not making a career transition will be least harmful to the least advantaged students.
  - austenallred 7y ago
    What was the worst part of Lambda? What are we really bad at?
    - MispelledToyota 7y ago
      My biased view: - Teaching assistants and section leads play a huge role in the quality of student experience. I think sometimes a supply/demand for filling these positions can result in not the best people filling them, which then can undermine the experience if your teaching assistant isn't the best. - The system relies on teaching assistants for reviewing student code, and determining if students pass their tests. I worry what it means for ensuring students aren't progressing through the curriculum without having truly learned prior material. This goes back to having properly motivated and talented TAs too. Maybe some sort of randomized spot-checking, QA from full-time staff on this could help. - I think sometimes the startup nature, remote-aspect, and fast iteration can mean various transitions through the curriculum aren't explained properly, but rather communicated piecemeal and students assemble an understanding of what's happening by discussing among themselves. There's a lot going on and structures are evolving constantly and sometimes instructors themselves can have trouble keeping track. I think being live in a room forces teachers to properly add ceremony and bookending structures to classes, but that can get dropped in the remote sphere. Another thing, which is more a worry than a critique, is keeping the character/values and quality level there as it scales.
      - austenallred 7y ago
        Perfect, thank you!
      - SiempreViernes 7y ago
        That mostly sounds like it's a normal school then, or do you mean there are aspects of these issues tied to the things Lambda does differently?

austenallred 7y ago

How is Lambda School going for you?

MispelledToyota 7y ago
I graduated two weeks ago and got a job offer, and am overjoyed by the fact. I think if I asked myself at the beginning, what's the most you can hope for in going to Lambda School, my expectations were met by the education quality and the follow-through from the outcomes team. It's not perfect but the incentive structure forces constant improvement in the factors that matter most for getting us hired. People point out it's not a CS degree and they're right. But the staff manages to teach concrete skills to get students hired, and the CS, data structures, algorithms stuff in the curriculum is taught well enough and with enough enthusiasm that it gives students the basis to be conversant with CS concepts and continue growing forward. It might not work for everyone; some people are going to struggle to become programmers. But Lambda is trying their hardest to make it work for as many people as they can, and their heart is in the right place. And it is structured so if it doesn't work for a student their downside is hedged. Due to the $50k/industry-specific cutoff for repayment, the downside of going to Lambda but not making a career transition will be least harmful to the least advantaged students.
- austenallred 7y ago
  What was the worst part of Lambda? What are we really bad at?
  - MispelledToyota 7y ago
    My biased view: - Teaching assistants and section leads play a huge role in the quality of student experience. I think sometimes a supply/demand for filling these positions can result in not the best people filling them, which then can undermine the experience if your teaching assistant isn't the best. - The system relies on teaching assistants for reviewing student code, and determining if students pass their tests. I worry what it means for ensuring students aren't progressing through the curriculum without having truly learned prior material. This goes back to having properly motivated and talented TAs too. Maybe some sort of randomized spot-checking, QA from full-time staff on this could help. - I think sometimes the startup nature, remote-aspect, and fast iteration can mean various transitions through the curriculum aren't explained properly, but rather communicated piecemeal and students assemble an understanding of what's happening by discussing among themselves. There's a lot going on and structures are evolving constantly and sometimes instructors themselves can have trouble keeping track. I think being live in a room forces teachers to properly add ceremony and bookending structures to classes, but that can get dropped in the remote sphere. Another thing, which is more a worry than a critique, is keeping the character/values and quality level there as it scales.
    - austenallred 7y ago
      Perfect, thank you!
    - SiempreViernes 7y ago
      That mostly sounds like it's a normal school then, or do you mean there are aspects of these issues tied to the things Lambda does differently?