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General Discussion

Posted by Jason Giglio
Jason Giglio
2,829 Points

What is the average number of hours of work for a track?

If say, the Beginner Javascript Track says 17 hours, what's that in hours of effort outside of teaching? How can I anticipate the REAL average time of the tracks?

3 Answers

Jay Padzensky
Jay Padzensky
4,731 Points
Jay Padzensky
Jay Padzensky
4,731 Points

Hey Jason,

While an interesting question, the reality is that the "real" average time is highly unique to each individual and dependant on a range of factors. The posted time in each track is an estimate an individual can expect to spend going through all the tasks- videos, Code Challenges, quizzes, Workspaces- in a track.

However, mastery, as I believe what you're alluding to, varies person to person and is arguably a life-long process. As such, it's impossible for us to put a number on that. I wouldn't necessarily be too concerned with either of these numbers, however, and would suggest move through tracks at your own pace.

Jason Giglio
Jason Giglio
2,829 Points

Okay, I'm in the Urban Tech program here in Portland, Oregon and in lieu of of doing a Techdegree since I have experience with HTML/CSS/LESS/Sass as a UI designer, I'm thinking about doing the Beginner JS track followed by the React track. Since I'm gong to ask them to pay for it, I'm wondering what the time commitment might be.

Randy Owens
Randy Owens
3,837 Points
Randy Owens
Randy Owens
3,837 Points

Depends on how much work you put into each track. While the tracks are just video and simple practices/questions, there is practice you can and should do between them on your own. Not saying you have to practice between each video, but maybe every few steps you should take a look at it outside of Treehouse. I have some experience with HTML/CSS and I've blown through the tracks for those at a much faster rate then Treehouse says. The one CSS course said 7 hours and at 1.5x video speed I completed it in 3-4 hours. Completely depends on the person.

Brandon Gibbs
Brandon Gibbs
9,636 Points
Brandon Gibbs
Brandon Gibbs
9,636 Points

I'll echo the general answer here of ... it depends on a few factors. Just a few that I'll throw out there are:

  • Time to commit without distractions.
  • Mental stamina
  • How quickly you pick up each concept

So, don't think of it as "How much time to complete?". That will leave you with a neat number and color ring around your avatar. But you should probably look at it as "How much time will it take me to become proficient enough from these courses to be able to use the knowledge?" That approach will free you from the burden of rushing to complete, but instead gear you towards focusing on learning.

Best of luck and happy coding.