Optimizing my Study Approach at Launch School

I started the Launch School Core Curriculum a little over 7 months ago and just passed the third course, RB 129: Object Oriented Programming. I thought I was doing OK until I read an article by Callie Buruchara which changed my mind. She averaged about a month per course. I have spent 7 months completing just three courses! Clearly I have a lot to learn about learning efficiently!

Photo by Cup of Couple: https://www.pexels.com/photo/light-workplace-with-laptop-in-office-6177607/

So a couple of weeks ago I decided to get my act together. I read through Callie’s article in which she outlines her approach, reviewed all my notes from TA sessions on studying and from other how to study resources we have from Launch School, and put together a new plan to streamline my studies and hopefully pick up the pace. I am committed to completing the core curriculum within 18 months, start to finish, which means that I need to work through 12 more courses in just under 12 months. Here is what I started doing about 2 weeks ago:

1. Focused study time. I had been spending 25–30 hours a week on Launch School, but my time wasn’t focused. My goal is to complete 10 focused Pomodoro sessions per day, 25 minutes each, 6 days a week (250 minutes a day is about as much as I can handle of intense learning). I will use a timer, and record what I accomplished after each session in a spreadsheet.
2. Study the right things. I intend to roughly follow Callie’s philosophy of trusting the curriculum, mastering the material on the study guides, and becoming familiar with the other concepts in the curriculum. I intent to spend my time on the curriculum and SPOT resources only, avoiding distratictions like other online resources (except the Ruby docs, of course!).
3. I will also attend group study sessions, but they will not count toward my quota of 10 Pomodoro sessions per day. As an extrovert, these sessions renew my energy levels.

In each course, I plan to take the following general approach:

Learn the Material

1. Work through the Material: Work through each lesson twice, once for general understanding, while typing out the examples, and the second time for thorough comprehension while taking notes. Then take the quiz and move on. During this phase I will also write any larger programs and complete all assignments in the material.
2. Work the Exercises: Work through the supplemental practice questions twice, once to solve the basic problem, and read the solution and other student contributions, and then a couple of days later, a second time while exploring multiple solutions if possible.

Master the Material

1. I will use the list of study topics to create a study guide. Each topic will be it’s own page of notes, and on that page I will put definitions, explanations, and code samples. Second, I will convert the study guide to a set of questions which I will then practice answering verbally and in writing along with code samples. I will not refer to notes for these practice sessions. I will work through as many of these questions as I can in one-on-one study sessions with the students. I value the practice explaining and writing with other people, receiving their feedback, and listening as others work the problems.
2. I will rework any practice problems from the curriculum which I found difficult or needed help with. I also plan to redo the larger program assignments, and submit them for a code review. By waiting until this stage in the process, I ensure that I am doing my best work, which enables the reviewers to give me tips for improvement starting with my best work, rather than my first attempt.
3. I will work through any SPOT wiki questions. If possible, I will do this in group settings as well.
4. Finally, I will take the exam.

That’s it! If you are reading this, are in the Ruby core track, and are on a similar time table, please reach out to me on slack! I would love to find a few students committed to a similar approach with whom I can study and be held accountable for my goals!