Coursework content

Over the next months you will have lots of coursework to complete! How will you manage it all? Go to the link and do the course.

Estimated time in hours

1.5

What is the purpose of this assignment?

This activity will give you practice using Google Sheets to create and maintain a schedule.

How to submit

Complete the quiz at the end of the course. Share the screenshot of your results in your coursework board.

Coursework content

You should have analysed your weekly patterns and started identifying improvement areas by now. In this exercise, we’ll create a few positive areas for your performance and well-being and convert those into a plan.

Areas that matter most:

• Time to learn: You reserve enough time and energy to learn
• Start of the day: You start the day with a clear mind
• Income: You create a stable financial income (if possible)
• Boundaries: You set clear boundaries between work, study, family and other responsibilities
• Distractions: You minimise distractions from the internet
• Teamwork: You learn to work with others and ask for help
• Food: You eat food that enhances energy and concentration
• Daily Learning: you manage to concentrate and work on your training daily, even if for a short amount of time

Considering these areas, which are the 2-3 you struggle with most? Choose them and add them to your “Development Career Plan” spreadsheet as a “Theme”.

Now, read this text about your area so that you can define your goals for each theme. Be as SMART as possible with your goals.

Example of learning/development needs:

• Daily 20 min walk to reduce my anxiety
• Make sure I finish my shift on time so I can study
• Sleep by X so I can get up early and study
• Make notes of the number of hours I am studying so that I can have evidence of my development
• Practice mindfulness 5 minutes a day to enhance my focus

The next step is to define your actions to achieve that goal. Remember to challenge yourself, but at the same time, be realistic. Thinking about small steps to reach your bigger goal is also good. With every little (maybe daily, weekly) achievement, you get closer to it.

Write these actions on the same spreadsheet so you can assess them regularly.

If you have some time, share this with your pair so that you can give each other insights.

Estimated time in hours

1

What is the purpose of this assignment?

We all have to make changes and adapt our routines to achieve goals. But we cannot change everything at once and will change different things according to our reality. This exercise is for you to take the first step to planning these actions. It’s not about size but about the impact it will have in your life as a developer.

How to submit

Add the following to this ticket:

• The link to your development plan. Make a copy of this template. Make sure anyone can comment on it.

Anything else?

The Development Plan is not a one-off exercise. It is a plan you should review constantly with your new knowledge and when you have developed new skills.

Coursework content

Set up your Google calendar to show your weekly availability for calls with your peers. Share your calendar with your pair of the week. If you prefer, you can use Calendly instead of Google calendar.

Estimated time in hours

0.5

What is the purpose of this assignment?

This assignment aims to help you start using calendar software effectively to manage your time and to collaborate with your peers and volunteers.

How to submit

Share the link of your calendar or a screenshot on the ticket on your coursework board.

Anything else?

• Create a Google calendar
• Share your Google Calendar

Stretch You can also set-up a Calendly page, which you can share with people, so they can book time with you. Just make sure your calendar is up-to-date with your avaiability, or you might get invitations for times you cannot make.

Coursework content

Now that you have your spreadsheet, you reviewed it, and you are confident it is a good picture of your availability and commitments on a typical week, we can reflect on it.

An important goal of this exercise is to observe your life from an external perspective.

• Write a statement about your reflection. It should be at least 50 words long.
• Don’t forget to check your text with a grammar tool, such as Grammarly

Read it a few times aloud and ensure you haven’t missed anything. Ask yourself if this is what you had planned or a realistic description of what happens. Make any changes and iterations to it.

Now look at the number of hours you dedicate to each activity per week.

Ensure you include your energy and concentration levels when studying or CYF training.

Read the updated sample and iterate again on it, ensuring it has the expected level of detail.

Share your reflection with your pair. Ask them to ask you questions about the accuracy of it. Get them to help you to refine it.

Estimated time in hours

1

What is the purpose of this assignment?

Observing your week and reflecting on your real availability will be key to ensure you have a clear plan to achieve your ultimate goal, which is a job as a developer.

Be transparent in all what you are writing and thinking about, to ensure you have a reliable plan. Remember: the plan doesn’t end when the CYF course ends.

How to submit

Add the following as a comment on this issue:

• If you feel comfortable doing so, link to the updated Google Docs with your statement. Make sure anyone with this link can comment on it.
• Add a comment about your discussion with your pair (up to 100 words). Remember to check the grammar and spelling before posting it.

Coursework content

At Code Your Future and in the Tech industry, most communication and collaboration happen in Slack.

The Huddle function is a simple and informal way to communicate with someone on Slack for quick conversations. A lot of the time, cameras need to be turned on. This is used for pair programming, for example.

Book some time to talk to your pair. Use a Slack huddle to talk. During the call, share your screen and go through your coursework planner. Then let your pair show theirs.

Estimated time in hours

1

What is the purpose of this assignment?

This assignment will help you start using the Slack huddle function, which is an easy way to talk to the community or team members.

How to submit

The trainee attended a Slack huddle. Share a screenshot of your huddle with your pair on the ticket on your coursework board.

Anything else?

How does Slack huddle work

Why are we doing this?

Code review is an essential part of self-evaluation. Get a code review for a piece of work; then reply and iterate on this feedback.

We’re using GitHub Labels in our Code Review process. In order for a volunteer to review your pull request, you will need to add a “Needs Review” label to it.

• Open your pull request
• In the right sidebar, click Labels, then select “Needs Review”

Take a look at our code review process from beginning to end. Let us know if you have any questions or need help!

You can also use any solutions to review your code independently.

Maximum time in hours

1

Link to the coursework

https://codeinplace.stanford.edu/public/studenthome

Why are we doing this?

In this module, you will be introduced to Karel the Robot and write your first program.

Then, you will learn about control flow statements in Karel the Robot, including for loops, while loops, if statements, and if-else statements. You’ll learn how to use these control structures to write more complex Karel programs. You’ll also get an introduction to your first principle of programming style and learn to write beautiful code.

Maximum time in hours

6

Link to the coursework

Your own accounts!

Why are we doing this?

Naming Accounts Consistently

Consistency in online account names

During the CYF course you will make accounts online. (Such as Slack, GitHub, Google, LinkedIn…)

You should always use your real name. It must always be the same name. Don’t use any other words apart from your name. Do not ever put your birth year or age in your user name. These things can harm your job prospects so start as you mean to go on.

Trainees use the same name everywhere in their work with CYF.

Your profile picture does not have to be a picture of you. It must be safe for work, consistent and unique, so you don’t get mixed up with other people. If you need to keep your photo private, you can use Robohash to make a unique profile picture.

Summary

Don’t use cute handles or put the year of your birth in your username.

Use the same username and picture across all CYF accounts. This also means professional profiles like Linkedin and GitHub.

Maximum time in hours

.1

How to get help

Swap with a classmate and check their profile. Ask yourself:

If you didn’t know them, would you know this was their Slack account? If you didn’t know them, would you know this was their LInkedIn? If you were a recruiter reading their GitHub, could you find their LinkedIn within six seconds? If you wanted to invite them to an opportunity, could you do that without asking them first?

Link to the coursework

https://cantunsee.space/

Why are we doing this?

To make a professional looking website, you must attend to all the small details. Play this fun game to sharpen your eye for the professional polish that will set your portfolio apart.

Maximum time in hours

.5

How to get help

Play it again!

Link to the coursework

https://codeinplace.stanford.edu/

Why are we doing this?

Code in Place is a free introductory programming course using the Python language, based on material from the first half of Stanford University’s established intro course, CS106A. It assumes no prior programming experience.

Stanford offers a free, good quality programme to learn the basics of coding. It has a scheduled course, which you should sign up for if it’s open. If the scheduled course is not running, work through the course materials in your CYF study group. The videos and problems are the same either way.

You will learn Python, which we will use later for handling data.

Maximum time in hours

.10

Link to the coursework

https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/Module-User-Focused-Data/tree/main/Wireframe

Why are we doing this?

A wireframe is a simple line diagram representing the skeleton of a website or an application’s user interface (UI) and core functionality. It shows where components should be in relation to each other and what, roughly, they should do.

A common task for a web developer is to take a wireframe and express it in web code. Websites are made up of regular, repeating component pieces, so before you start coding, identify each component on the wireframe and write that out as your skeleton.

Maximum time in hours

3

How to get help

Share your blockers in your class channel. Use the opportunity to refine your skill in Asking Questions like a developer.

You can also open draft PRs and link to the actual code you are working on.

How to submit

1. Fork Module-User-Focused-Data to your Github account.
2. Make a branch for this project called feature/wireframe.
3. Make regular small commits in this branch with clear messages.
4. When you are ready, open a PR to the CYF repo, following the instructions in the PR template.

There are several projects in this repo. Make a new branch based on main for each project (each branch should not contain the commits for the other projects). This might feel challenging at first, so this is a good problem to bring to class to work on in groups with mentors.

How to review

4. Complete your PR template
5. Ask for review from a classmate or mentor
6. Make changes based on their feedback
7. Review and refactor again once the coursework solutions are released.

Anything else?

A really good habit to get into is to look at existing web pages and turn them into wireframe sketches. You can do this with pen and paper. You don’t have to be good at drawing: it’s just lines and boxes. Start to look at the internet like a web developer: break it down and understand how it was made.

A good place to start is YouTube. What components make up those views? Can you sketch them? What about GitHub? Somebody made everything you see.

Link to the coursework

https://programming.codeyourfuture.io/user-data/success/

Why are we doing this?

🔑 The most important thing is that you are secure in your understanding.

At the end of the course, we will expect you to build novel applications using your understanding. If you cannot build things, we cannot put you forward for jobs. It is in your personal interest to make sure you have properly understood this module.

To progress to the next module you need to meet the success criteria for this module. How will you as a cohort meet the module success criteria? Discuss it in your class channel and make a plan together.

Maximum time in hours

.5

How to get help

Discuss with your cohort. Support each other.

How to submit

At the end of your module you will need to submit your own work in the CYF dashboard. This means things like pull requests you have written sent from your GitHub account, and Google Docs you have written.

What you need to submit is listed on the success page for the module.

Remember - the goal is your understanding. If you are not confident you could delete and re-do the work you’re submitting easily, you should take more time to revise the topics. It’s more important that you understand the work, than that it gets done quickly.