I am currently doing the responsive Web Design Certification course. I do it pretty much every day and I am almost done, however I am concerned about retaining the information that I learn doing the steps in each class. So far I am just sort of typing what I am being told to type and seeing how it works.
Other then that, I take time to build stuff on my own based off what I have learned and doing spin-offs of the projects that we have on here and also doing projects off of FrontEnd Mentor.
I sometimes get worried that these other things slow me down from finishing the course and getting the certification. I don’t know if I should just hurry up and finish the certification or keep doing what I am doing which is stopping to practice often. How do you study and retain information?
I think you are on the right track. I would suggest keeping to a nice simple process that you can consistently follow.
Go through the practice projects from the certification.
Do the certifications along the way.
Then when you are finished with the course, start the JavaScript course and keep building HTML and CSS projects on the side for extra practice.
It takes time to get comfortable with programming and it will take time and a lot of practice to retain the information over a long period of time.
It sounds like you are on the right track, you just have to be patient with the results because it takes time to get good at coding.
Continue practicing. Building projects (and solving related problems) on your own will make you learn information more than “doing what is told” type of learning.
Take the curiculum slowly. There’s a lot to learn so understanding the concepts are important as well as applying it to what you’re practicing.
I’ve been learning Web Dev. for more than a year now (still continuing) and if I can dedicate myself for this amount of time, then so can you.
I have finished my certification in Web Design today, and I didnt hurry. I took as much time as possible even that some steps took me ages, especially that I am perfectionist…
And Im aslo confident now, that i know what Im doing.
once you start doing the projects for the certification, it’s no longer just typing what each lesson tells you to type, so for me it’s where my knowledge gets tested, and I can go back and learn from the lessons or get outside help from the forum or elsewhere.
Yes, I do the projects and too, but I found myself looking at the source code of the examples in the projects when I get lost. Though, looking at that source code helps me review and learn a lot.
I agree with you on the course presentation. Being told exactly what to type does absolutely nothing for adult student learners to retain the information. Adults learn by instruction, followed by demonstration, followed by immediate application for - and the ability to practice - the skills that were just learned during the training. Of the three courses I have taken on FCC, NONE do that.
What all the courses lack is real-life application for the subject being presented.
It’s like somebody read a book then created the course, with no real practical programming experience. I would suggest having a web page project ongoing the entire time you are following the course. Make the project goals somewhat more complex, It will help you to think about what the course is trying to get you to learn, and inspire you to do more learning on your own through Google, Stack Overflow, and similar sites with actual real life programmers.
