Introduction to Labs

Labs

Throughout this program, you will be asked to complete some activities during lab time (typically in the afternoon after lessons).

Lab time will include activities that are designed to:

• reinforce the information that you have learned so far,
• present new information for you to explore with minimal instructor input,
• and, prepare you for upcoming lessons.

Much of your future work as developers will include doing some independent learning and exploration, so it’s a good idea to start practicing this habit now!

During lab time, you are encouraged to work with your cohort-mates. By discussing what you are working on with each other, you will deepen your own understanding. Instructors will be available during labs to answer questions, or discuss any code you want reviewed. Instructors may also call the whole group back together to work through a tricky concept, or cover additional information as needed; so, it is important to still be keeping an eye on slack!

During today’s lab, we will be assigning you into some groups to get you started down this collaborative path; but in future labs, you will be responsible for reaching out to your cohort for collaboration.

Practice

With your group, discuss your answers to the Checks for Understanding from the Intro To Programming Lesson. To get the ball rolling, you can start with these prompts and sentence starters:

• When I described programming, I said that…
• I didn’t quite understand…
• Let’s discuss any differences in our diagrams.

As you review and discuss, make note of any lingering questions you may have, or of interesting discoveries you make! We will be coming together as a large group to share out before moving on to the next part of the lab.