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edward suggs
1,346 Pointsit seems like i need help on almost every question now from the basic python and the OOP
is that a bad thing can i still learn that way i alway's check to see if someone else was stuck were i am to get help with the answer what should i do it seems like the videos aren't covering what the question ask
3 Answers
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse TeacherHi there! I would suggest sticking with it. Programming is not a magic formula. There is no specific set of keys you can press in a certain combination to get your desired result. I would recommend first following along with them while coding and then if everything is working, go back and review the video, but don't type anything. Try instead to wrap your head around the point they are trying to get across.
Some learning happens through repetition. I'll bet you've added 10+20 so many times in your head over the years that you can't even pinpoint when you first learned it. Moreover, you'd have a really difficult time saying when the concept of addition made sense to you. Some things you will learn by seeing and doing them so often that they feel a bit like second nature.
Then there's the other type of learning. Some days you will trudge along and feel like you haven't learned anything at all. That's ok, it happens to everyone and it's part of the learning process. I can have heard an explanation 10 times and seen 10 different examples. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, it's the 11th explanation and 11th example that finally makes sense. It is like a lightbulb had gone off in my mind and I have one of those moments where the idea crystalizes in a way that it simply hasn't before. That's what you're shooting for here.
The problem with attaining these moments of clarity is that they're a bit random and unpredictable. You may be on the 49th explanation and the 49th example. Keep going! It may be the 50th that does the trick, but you'll never know unless you keep going.
Hang in there!
edited to expand on example
To expand on the mathematics example: The concepts are covered in the videos with examples. However, you must be able to take that idea and apply it to a completely different problem. To use the mathematics example, if all you ever learned was 10 + 20 = 30, and you never learned the idea behind addition, then you wouldn't be able to answer 10 + 21. But because you understand how addition works, you can apply that idea to other problems. This is very similar to the challenges.
edward suggs
1,346 PointsThank you for those words of encouragement. I will keep going i just felt like i was cheating buy looking at what other students have wrote in the code task
Katie Wood
19,141 PointsHello there,
Jennifer's answer is awesome, and there's really nothing I could say better, so rather than putting in my own answer I'm going to respond to what you've said here. I don't think you're cheating when you look at others' code, or ask others for help with a challenge. Programming is an incredibly collaborative thing - in the "wild", programmers share code all the time. It's kind of the point! We create things that are useful to others, and it's great if someone else can use part of that code in their own project to make something new.
In this learning environment, the challenges are meant to cement the concepts, like Jennifer was talking about. Sometimes the challenges themselves can be great examples, so sometimes just reading another student's explanation can help you to understand it better. You can also take the challenge as many times as you want, so there's nothing wrong with asking for an explanation the first time - you can always come back later and see if you can do it on your own. Keep going, and do whatever helps you learn!
edward suggs
1,346 Pointsthats a great idea