What's your preference? Full courses or workshops?

I like both, as both serve their purpose. Projects are awesome because they combine a lot of relevant material in one place. And I've even found myself using the videos as reference when I need to. Workshops on the other hand are short and to the point, either for specific features, or solving a specific type of problem.

1. That said, I prefer the projects for the code challenges and the quizes.
   
2. I learn more form projects as they give more relevant information. And then I get to practice the new concepts in challenges.
3. Code challenges.
4. Projects and deep dives can seem a little daunting at first, but not really an issue.
5. Workshops are to the point. I like the focused approach, specially for intermediate and advanced techniques.
6. I want a code challenge.

Not that you need to have a code challenge to prove that you learned, but it helps to practice the concepts while the information is fresh so you get a better understanding of it.

1. I can't say I prefer one over the other. From the courses and workshops I went through, they seem to have different goals. Courses usually deal with basic aspects of something, becoming more advanced as you go through the lessons. Workshops seem to require at least basic knowledge of a technology and usually provide an introduction into some specific part of a technology (Stripe API, Angular, Auto Layout...). The workshops seem to expand on the content in the courses and they complement each other.

2. Having plenty of programming experience prior to joining Treehouse, I think I learn more from workshops, but only because they deal with specific parts of technologies I'm already familiar with. But when it comes to areas where I'm only still getting my feet wet (like iOS), I think I learn more from the courses.

3. I like the basic structure the courses offer, and I like the fact that they are split into shorter videos, allowing me to pause mid-course if I want to.

4. There's nothing that I don't really like about the courses, but sometimes I think there should be a "harder" quiz/code challenge mode, one that you could enable if you wanted to. It could give you more points than the normal mode, and you wouldn't be allowed to fail any quiz questions and the code challenges would require extra research.

5. The workshop format seems perfect for providing insights into different technologies that aren't that complicated (or extensive) to warrant lessons of their own. I think you are doing a great job with them.

6. I dislike the length of the videos, or rather the fact that they aren't split into sections. I don't think you should split them into really short videos as some lessons do, but I'm pretty sure the content of a workshop could be logically split into 2-3 sections, allowing for 2-3 videos, 10-15 minutes each. I also think workshops could do with a code challenge of their own. There's no need for several of them, just one longer (5ish steps) at the end of the video. Even if I follow along with the video, typing the code, I like the opportunity to test how much of the lesson I've memorized, once the video is over.

I like workshops because their short length provides a great opportunity to open my eyes to new ways of doing things. I don't like workshops that fail to provide enough information on taking the next step to go deeper into the subject, however.

I like courses because they are designed to give a deep understanding of a subject. Sometimes, I need that deep dive. That said, they do take a lot of time, and I find that their biggest drawback.

Thanks for asking! I hope this helps.

I find workshops more useful for me because it helps me learn the code faster and memorize it. As I follow along with workshops I'm watching videos to learn how to code. It's very useful and sticks in my brain much faster.

The both serve a pretty specific purpose in the learning process. Dino mentioned "...they seem to have different goals." That’s because they do have different goals. Is it really a "one or the other" proposition?

Use workshops to reinforce what we've already learned, and integrate those lessons into more advanced projects. We’re building on the knowledge and skills we got in the courses.

If you guys feel like you've got a pretty solid course foundation down, prioritize workshops to build on top of those courses.

I like courses because they follow a step by step way of doing things in a specific area, ideal for people just starting out.

I like workshops because they are small tips or howtos for a more wider advanced area, ideal for people that knows what it needs.

I think it will improve the learning experience if you can link various workshops in different courses that share a common tree of knowledge.

Full courses or workshops?

Which style do you prefer, and why? Both, Full courses for learning new things, workshops for advancing my knowledge in the field. I like seeing the errors during the workshops. Helps me understand the "Why" behind my broken code.

This is awesome feedback. Thank you all for chiming in! A lot of you are echoing our own opinions, so it's good to hear that we're on the right track with things. I look forward to reading more feedback in here in the coming days.

As mentioned before, I believe that both courses and workshops are equally useful. There's one thing that I don't like about the courses, though. Challenges. I mean, I find them to be the MOST effective in sense of making you understand the topic described in the videos but there's definitely room for improvement in the way that they're implemented.

Error messages are often misleading ("task 1 no longer passes" in JavaScript for example, when it's not the case - there's just a syntax mistake in task 2). I think there should be more (optional maybe) challenges to be done after the course for extra practise.

I hate to say that because I love treehouse, but you could really learn form the competition (codeschool in particular) in that area. They've done much better job with the exercises.

Little late in the game, but if you guys are still taking comments:

1. If I had to choose, full courses ftw! It's nice getting into more involved projects because it helps me develop the mindset and determination to get through future projects of my own. Workshops don't really provide that lasting feeling.

2. Depends on how each is taught. If I go through a full course on a regular basis, I feel that's a sustainable way of practicing and retaining knowledge.

3. Courses go in depth without leaving me behind.

4. Exercises could definitely be wayyyy more challenging. I feel like most of the time I'm just retyping code I just say. I'm worried that I pass not because I truly understand, but because of memory.

5. Workshops provide more of a breather and are able to provide really diverse topics.

6. Sometimes it's hard to tell at which one is ready for a workshop; do you need a full course in HTML before you can take this or that workshop. Maybe that's just me...

Also, random things I find super awesome about Treehouse: *ability to play videos at different speeds *The Arrival episodes - gosh, I look forward to these SO much! They're so funny and mysterious and well done and ugh why can't I be in something like that!! *How everything is connected somehow (I see Mike in an episode and then in Randy's PHP course) *Mike. He's quite delightful. *Energy of instructors. You guys got mad personality. I dig it.

A small quiz at the end so that we can have Workshop specific badges... Give us like 5 points or something symbolic :) Badges is what first drew me to choose Treehouse as my #1 education tool, and i love the Workshops but something is missing :)

I also think its too bad that you had such a great output of awesome JavaScript workshops on topics like, the This keyword and Booleans and so on. You went on full throttle for like 2-3 months and then they stopped coming. Why is that?