Crossing The Canyon Of Cognizance: A Shared Adventure

Most of the four learning stages - unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and unconscious competence - are bridged by acquiring experience. But the gap between unconscious incompetence to conscious competence is where the most discomfort and discouragement occurs.

Helping new developers bridge the void ensures a vibrant, accessible community, and having visible members/mentors in each stage encourages newcomers' learning. This talk illustrates (literally!) how to help new colleagues build this bridge and prevent losing them in the what-do-I-even-Google abyss.

Given at RailsConf 2015

Transcript

1. Crossing the Canyon of Cognizance: a Shared Adventure RailsConf 2015 Pamela O. Vickers, @pwnela
3. Jeff Atwood, @codinghorror blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code “It assumes that more code in the world is an inherently desirable thing.”
4. “It assumes that coding is the goal.” Jeff Atwood, @codinghorror blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code
5. “It puts the method before the problem.” Jeff Atwood, @codinghorror blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code
6. “It assumes that adding naive, novice, not-even-sure-they-like-this-whole-programming-thing coders to the workforce is a net positive for the world.” Jeff Atwood, @codinghorror blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code
7. “It implies that there's a thin, easily permeable membrane between learning to program and getting paid to program professionally.” Jeff Atwood, @codinghorror blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code
9. ⛔Do Not Learn to Code⛔ • “It assumes that adding naive, novice, not- even-sure-they-like-this-whole-programming- thing coders to the workforce is a net positive for the world.” • “It implies that there's a thin, easily permeable membrane between learning to program and getting paid to program professionally.”
13. not everyone should learn to code…
14. anyone should be able to learn to code
15. Crossing the Canyon of Cognizance
18. “Four Stages for Learning Any New Skill” Noel Burch
19. unconscious incompetence “don’t know what you don’t know”
20. Level 1 The Dark & Foggy Forest
21. conscious incompetence “know what you don’t know”
22. Level 2 The Valley before the Climb
23. conscious competence “know what you know”
24. Level 3 The Steeply Sloping Ascent
25. unconscious competence “don’t know what you know”
26. Level 4 The Hazy & Lofty Clouds
27. The Dark & Foggy Forest Level 1
32. Raven Covington, @_raven_io “As I began learning, I found that there is so much great content out on the internet. That's both awesome and overwhelming. It was difficult for me to chart my own path and figure out where to go next.”
36. Level 4 The Hazy & Lofty Clouds
38. <level5ers.png drawing6>
39. Level 5 Vision Beyond the Clouds
40. <tiptopmountain.png drawing5>
41. ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨
42. The Valley before the Climb Level 2 The Steeply Sloping Ascent Level 3
44. (conscious incompetence) (conscious competence)
45. (unconscious competence)
47. “Rails isn’t easy; it’s approachable.” Stephanie Morillo, @radiomorillo RubyWanKenoobie.tumblr.com
53. Hi new Friends! How do I get across this canyon? Thanks, Tenderfoot
56. “I want to really dig into programming but I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.” /u/Glothr
57. /u/Glothr “I am absolutely lost in the amount of technical jargon…”
58. “…worried about the mathematical aspects of programming.” /u/Glothr
59. “I've struggled for most of my educational career…” /u/Glothr
60. “…with anything beyond advanced algebra.” /u/Glothr
61. “…I might have to give it another try.” /u/Glothr
62. “what level of math…” /u/Glothr
63. “…if I want to go anywhere with programming?” /u/Glothr
65. helpful redditor “The first thing you'll want to do is take a look at yourself. Do you like math? Do you like Logic problems?”
66. helpful redditor “Are you good at breaking complex problems into parts?”
67. helpful redditor “If you answered yes to one or more of these, keep reading, if that stuff sounds like a drag, please save yourself some time and look into something else!”
68. helpful redditor “That is all that programming is, and if you delve deeper you will find just that.”
70. “...people came because they wanted to learn how to make websites. Because of those motivations, the curriculum had virtually no math.” Sarah Mei, @sarahmei sarahmei.com/blog/2014/07/15/programming-is-not-math
71. Sarah Mei “People with a math background did fine, of course…”
72. Sarah Mei “…but people with a heavy language background often did better.”
73. Sarah Mei “…and I finally figured it out. Programming is not math.”
74. helpful redditor “…if that stuff* sounds like a drag, please save yourself some time and look into something else!” *math
77. Tenderfoot, Haven’t you heard of a bridge? Later, NinjaCoder10x
80. “Why are experienced programmers so hostile toward beginners?” /u/Epsilon1472
81. /u/Epsilon1472 “It's usually assumed that I haven't done my own research, which is never the case.”
82. “For every helpful reply, it seems like I'll get 4-5 useless replies attempting to call me out for my own laziness.” /u/Epsilon1472
83. ❤️❤️
86. Tenderfoot, Haven’t you heard of a bridge? Later, NinjaCoder10x
88. Hi Tenderfoot, Are you asking how to build a bridge? Best, pizzapartypuppy
89. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
90. Asking the ✨Perfect Question✨
91. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Trying to Answer the Question Asking the ✨Perfect Question✨
92. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Trying to Answer the Question • Provide enough context Asking the ✨Perfect Question✨
93. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Trying to Answer the Question • Provide enough context • Frame the problem Asking the ✨Perfect Question✨
94. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Trying to Answer the Question • Provide enough context • Frame the problem • Provide sample code and data Asking the ✨Perfect Question✨
95. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Trying to Answer the Question • Provide enough context • Frame the problem • Provide sample code and data • Take time to write something articulately Asking the ✨Perfect Question✨
96. Providing the ✨Perfect Answer✨
97. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Receiving the Answer Providing the ✨Perfect Answer✨
98. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Receiving the Answer • Provide enough context Providing the ✨Perfect Answer✨
99. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Receiving the Answer • Provide enough context • Frame the solution Providing the ✨Perfect Answer✨
100. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Receiving the Answer • Provide enough context • Frame the solution • Provide sample code and data Providing the ✨Perfect Answer✨
101. • The Golden Rule: Imagine You’re Receiving the Answer • Provide enough context • Frame the solution • Provide sample code and data • Take time to write something articulately Providing the ✨Perfect Answer✨
102. Your Brain's API: Giving and Getting Technical Help Sasha Laundy, @SashaLaundy PyCon 2015
103. Sasha Laundy “My current understanding is _____. I expect to see _____ here, but instead it's doing _____. What's going on?”
104. Sasha Laundy “I want to do ____ and I'm trying it by _____. What do you think about this approach?”
106. Hello, I’ve just found this canyon and would like to cross it. I don’t know how wide or how deep it is, but I see that some of you have made it across. Can you tell me what you did in order to get there? I would like to build a bridge, but I’m not sure what materials to use. <3 Tenderfoot
109. Hi Tenderfoot! Crossing the canyon is super easy! All you need to do is grab your foo and then bar the baz. (Make sure you don’t baz the bar or else the foo will bazizzle.) See you soon! mechanical_keyboard_kid42
123. EASY, RIGHT?
124. Seven Months Later Sara Simon, @sarambsimon blog.turing.io/2015/01/29/seven-months-later/
125. Sara Simon “Trying to understand something […] without having the vocabulary to speak coherently about it is a lost cause.”
126. Sara Simon “By building fluency, you allow connections to fall naturally into place. Then, with fluency, you’ll be able to do incredible things.”
129. Hi Tenderfoot! Crossing the canyon is super easy! All you need to do is grab your foo and then bar the baz. (Make sure you don’t baz the bar or else the foo will bazizzle.) See you soon! mechanical_keyboard_kid42
131. Installationception
133. Horrors in Installations
134. • Partial previous installations Horrors in Installations
135. • Partial previous installations • Double installations Horrors in Installations
136. • Partial previous installations • Double installations • Weird OS decisions Horrors in Installations
137. • Partial previous installations • Double installations • Weird OS decisions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Horrors in Installations
138. • Partial previous installations • Double installations • Weird OS decisions • Ancient OS versions Horrors in Installations
139. • Partial previous installations • Double installations • Weird OS decisions • Ancient OS versions • Ancient machines Horrors in Installations
140. • Partial previous installations • Double installations • Weird OS decisions • Ancient OS versions • Ancient machines • VIRUSES Horrors in Installations
141. • Partial previous installations • Double installations • Weird OS decisions • Ancient OS versions • Ancient machines • VIRUSES • Did I mention MALWARE Horrors in Installations
142. • P • Double installations • W • Ancient • Ancient • VIRUSES • D ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
143. “[The command line] looks really matrixy. We’ve all seen it in the Matrix. That’s as much command line as I ever had.” Stephanie Morillo, @radiomorillo alterconf.com/speakers/stephanie-morillo
145. Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
146. • Difficult Question: Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
147. • Difficult Question: 
 
 “How do I get RVM installed on my 1995 ThinkPad?” Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
148. • Difficult Question: 
 
 “How do I get RVM installed on my 1995 ThinkPad?” • Horrible Answer: Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
149. • Difficult Question: 
 
 “How do I get RVM installed on my 1995 ThinkPad?” • Horrible Answer: 
 
 “Get a new Macbook Pro” Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
150. Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
151. • Difficult Question: Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
152. • Difficult Question: 
 
 “I’m having issues installing ______ on my Windows/Linux machine. Any ideas why?” Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
153. • Difficult Question: 
 
 “I’m having issues installing ______ on my Windows/Linux machine. Any ideas why?” • Horrible Answer: Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
154. • Difficult Question: 
 
 “I’m having issues installing ______ on my Windows/Linux machine. Any ideas why?” • Horrible Answer: 
 
 “Because everything is harder on Windows/ Linux.” Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History
155. Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History • Difficult Question: 
 “I’m having issues installing ______ on my Windows/Linux machine. Any ideas why?” • Horrible Answer: 
 “Because everything is harder on Windows/ Linux. Don’t do this.
156. Horrible Exchanges in Installfest History • Difficult Question: 
 “I’m having issues installing ______ on my Windows/Linux machine. Any ideas why?” • Horrible Answer: 
 “Because everything is harder on Windows/ Linux. Instead:
160. <tenderfoot drawing2>
161. Hi friend, Sorry, what is a foo? I can’t seem to find one. Sorry to ask so many questions, Tenderfoot
162. Hi Tenderfoot! Oh goodness, did I say a foo? I meant to say a norf. Have a great day! mechanical_keyboard_kid42
163. foo != norf
164. Amelia Bedelia Learns to Code Kylie Stradley, @kyfast RailsConf 2015
165. How’s it going? Did that work for you?
168. 1) grab your foo 2) bar the baz
169. 1) grab your foo 2) bar the baz norf
178. Hello friends! I have successfully barred the baz!! I have a step of my bridge now. Thank you so much! What do I do now to finish my bridge? Thanks again, Tenderfoot
180. Hi Tenderfoot! Great news! Now just keep at it! You have to bar a lot of bazzes to finish building your bridge across this canyon. See you soon! mechanical_keyboard_kid42
184. The Five Levels of Psychomotor Skills R.H. Dave
185. Imitation Observes and patterns behavior after someone else. (Performance may be of low quality.)
186. Manipulation Performs skill according to instruction rather than observation.
188. “Is it ok if I'm successfully going through code academy lessons while not fully understanding some of them?” /u/MathTheUsername
189. /u/MathTheUsername “…it’s not quite clicking yet.”
190. /u/MathTheUsername “…it will be correct, but I'll not understand why it worked.”
191. /u/MathTheUsername “Should I just keep going…?”
194. (unconscious incompetence) (conscious incompetence)
195. “…I didn't realize how easily you can type something wrong and break your program.” Raven Covington, @_raven_io
196. “I was missing a comma or something.” Raven Covington, @_raven_io
198. Learn Code the Hard Way Zed Shaw, @zedshaw
199. Zed Shaw “ …keep at it. Force yourself.
200. Zed Shaw “At first, you will not understand anything.”
201. Zed Shaw “BANG”
202. Zed Shaw “your brain will snap and you will suddenly ‘get it.’”
204. “BANG”
206. • Imitation • Manipulation The Five Levels of Psychomotor Skills
207. • Imitation • Manipulation • Develop Precision The Five Levels of Psychomotor Skills
208. • Imitation • Manipulation • Develop Precision: Reproduces a skill with accuracy, proportion and exactness; usually performed independently of original source. The Five Levels of Psychomotor Skills
216. “[Companies] who've decided to hire juniors have decided to take a risk. You have to connect personally to be the one they take that risk on.” Rebecca Poulson, @rebeccapoulson
220. The Junior Jump Rebecca Poulson, @rebeccapoulson Ancient City Ruby 2015
222. Crossing the Canyon of Cognizance
223. Crossing the Canyon of Cognizance: Pioneer Expansion Pack
229. Institutional Barriers for Women of Color at Code Schools Stephanie Migdalia Pi Herrera, @pi_inthecloud modelviewculture.com/pieces/institutional-barriers-for-women-of-color-at-code-schools
230. Stephanie Migdalia Pi Herrera “Prospective and current students need to be able to see people like them…”
231. Stephanie Migdalia Pi Herrera “…at every level of these organizations, from boardrooms to HR, there are WoC who understand…”
232. Stephanie Migdalia Pi Herrera “The value of this kind of presence is immeasurable.”
234. “We are here, and we want to get caught coding while black.” Dominic M. Liddel, @dominicmliddell modelviewculture.com/pieces/lessons-learned-while-working-to-build-black-tech-community
236. On Heroes Ashley Nelson-Hornstein, @ashleynh blog.ashleynh.me/on-heroes
238. Ashley Nelson-Hornstein “Having visible examples of people that look like you in an aspirational professional field is powerful.”
239. Ashley Nelson-Hornstein “By merely existing, these examples prove there is an achievable pathway to that field.”
245. S
250. Thank you.
251. Special thanks to Tam Vo, illustrator & coworker extraordinaire. tamvo.com
252. Stay in touch:
253. Pamela O. Vickers @pwnela (everywhere) Software Engineer at Blue Bottle Coffee Co-organizer of Rails Girls Atlanta