Creating the next generation of Senior Engineers

An introduction to the science of teaching — pedagogy — how it applies to leadership and techniques to grow our teams in the era of doing more with less.

Mentoring less experienced engineers can be intimidating, but there’s a whole field of study – pedagogy – that we can use to help us. In this talk, I’ll introduce you to the basics of pedagogy, from mental models to (human!) memory. Then — using my experience across IC and management — I’ll show how you can apply these techniques in your day-to-day leadership work. We’ll see how you can mentor and coach your team, leveling them up through effective learning science.

In today’s market, it’s more important than ever to make the most of your resources. That’s why it’s critical that engineering leadership have the skills to invest in and grow our teams.

I learned these techniques by training hundreds of developers over seven years of volunteering at Code Your Future, a free training program for refugees and other people excluded from tech education. Since 2016 we have helped more than 250 people start careers in tech. I’ve become a core contributor to our open-source curriculum, providing proven tools and strategies to our incredible volunteers.

Transcript

1. Creating the next generation of Senior Engineers Ali Smith Sta Software Engineer, Natcap Core Maintainer, Code Your Future Source: Paramount Pictures
2. Pedagogy The study of teaching
3. We teach people who don’t have access to traditional education how to code
4. How can we do more with less?
5. Mentoring Coaching Lunch-and-Learns/Brown bags Yes, you are teaching! Code reviews Pairing Steering a colleague away from a dead end Annual review feedback
6. 1. Understand your learners 2. Structure their learning plan 3. Deliver teaching
7. Non-expert Expert Mental models Understand Structure Teach
8. Get your coaching hat on Questions not landing? Get more precise Be patient! Try not to jump in with answers Mental models Understand Structure Teach
9. Source: Kalyuga, Ayres, Chandler & Sweller, 2003 Learning techniques that work for experts don’t work for non-experts Expertise reversal eect Understand Structure Teach
10. Practice empathy Expertise reversal eect Understand Structure Teach Get practical Encourage experimentation
11. Source: McTighe and Wiggins, 2013 Backward design Understand Structure Teach A statement that clearly describes what we expect to achieve after teaching Outcomes Learning objectives
12. Outcomes Learning objectives Backward design Understand Structure Teach • Interpret requests in browser dev tools • Identify components of HTTP requests/responses • Simulate requests with cURL • … Multi-page apps
13. Working memory Understand Structure Teach Working memory Long term memory
14. Working memory is limited to between 7 ± 2 chunks Source: Miller, 1956 Working memory Understand Structure Teach
15. Cognitive load is the mental eort required to solve a problem Cognitive load Understand Structure Teach
16. Source: Hedy Introduction Talk Cognitive load Understand Structure Teach
17. Source: Hedy Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Cognitive load Understand Structure Teach
18. Use predictions to check progress Write things o-topic on a shared doc/whiteboard to revisit later Stay focused on 1 - 2 learning objectives Cognitive load Understand Structure Teach
19. Invest in your team with teaching
20. Freely available online at: teachtogether.tech
21. Practice these skills with CYF! Or try: MigraCode, Hack Your Future, Codebar, Outreachy codeyourfuture.io/ volunteers
22. Thanks for listening! More info & follow: alasdairsmith.co.uk