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cbcbcb
16,560 PointsIs Treehouse being pressured to focus on growth due to all the VC backing as opposed to keeping your current students?
Everything that you guys have released in the last month as well as what is planned for September is a backstep that is aimed at prerequisites for your courses as opposed to building off of them. The only exception to that is having Kenneth Love teach Python. Although I do think that going back and providing more of an emphasis on PHP as opposed to the emphasis on web development was cool. The last instructor made better quizes and challenges (assuming there isn't a group of people who write the quizes and challenges without the instructor) but the instructor who is taught the PHP basics 1/3 course did a better job at explaining core concepts related to PHP and did a great job in connecting dots by the order in which he hit certain topics that were related.
I think there would have been greater value in taking the Ribbit application and since they both used Parse go ahead and rewrite the Ribbit application using Cordova...or Xamarin...or whatever it is that is being used a lot in the industry and hooking it up to the same web service for pushing data to both platforms and maby have it push data to a rails app too.
Sorry just a thought I had. Figuring out a way to bring the courses together or just extending them forward as opposed to extending the courses backwards...
2 Answers
David Tonge
Courses Plus Student 45,640 PointsI think they are catering to the students who are here now. When I initially signed up in Feb they were some courses that I personally felt skipped the basics. I wasn't the only one who felt that way because it was common issue that was echoed in the forums. Adding basic courses with more advance stuff caters to everyone imo.
There was some tracks that were updated and more supplemental courses were added. I notice that there's now courses that seem extremely easy to some students but may really connect some dots for someone else.
Treehouse has been pumping out a great bit of supplemental courses recently and I really think it helps. In your case, if there's something you really want to learn I think making suggestions to Treehouse directly. This is online community so every voice should be heard.
cbcbcb
16,560 PointsI agree with you completely in regards to trying to teach a framework at the same time as the language it was written in. Especially the Ruby course but I'm biased because I just absolutely hate Ruby's syntax.
cbcbcb
16,560 PointsHowever the Android course I feel was done right. Becoming accustomed to using JavaBeans with facade patterns can actually cause a lot of bad habits if all they want to do is develop for Android....I know that was the case for me. I trying to force to much into my model classes as opposed to conforming to adapters and was storing member variables in my model classes that were being manipulated with getters and setters inside my activity classes when the member variables should not have even been in my pojos and instead should have been in my activity class.
cbcbcb
16,560 PointsThe guy who did the JavaScript basics course did above and beyond with JavaScript...JavaScript clubhouse or whatever it is being called...completely unnecessary. HTML club....completely unnecessary.
James Barnett
39,199 Points.JavaScript clubhouse or whatever it is being called...completely unnecessary. HTML club....completely unnecessary.ser
The Treehouse Club courses by Joy Kesten are meant for ages 9 - 14 (so I'm guessing you aren't the target audience 
You can read more about the Treehouse Club in the What's the Treehouse Club thread from 2 weeks ago.
cbcbcb
16,560 PointsAh shucks. I always go out looking like an ***hole. (Hey did you see that. There is children present. I'm paying attention. No curse words!)
James Barnett
39,199 PointsJames Barnett
39,199 PointsTagging Hampton Paulk so he see's this feedback.