# Principles - Programs - CodePath.org

The following principles guide our course and programs philosophies:

1. **Multi-year Growth and Support** - Our programs are designed to support students in their own growth over years alongside college.
2. **Develop a Bridge from the Destination** - Our programs should be designed to start with students closest to crossing the gap and then expand methodically outwards to reach a wider and wider audience.
3. **Immersive Learning** - We believe that programs should focus on context and application before concept.
4. **Context is Crucial** - Our programs are designed to provide students a high-level of context and necessary foundations throughout the curriculum.
5. **Progressive Spaced Repetition** - Our programs are designed to layer concepts and build on applied knowledge over time, with escalating repetition which combines past concepts and progressively extending them.

## 1. Multi-Year Growth and Support

A crucial aspect of our programs involves working with each student spaced over multiple courses and years to help set the foundations and then build on that over time.

Rather than thinking about our program as a single item a student takes once over a semester, we believe highly effective outcomes require a more in-depth sequence of programs, and a deeper professional collaboration that spans time.

## 2. Develop a Bridge from the Destination

To most effectively ensure outcomes, programs should be methodically and carefully designed starting by serving students that are closer to the desired outcome target and then deliberate expanding programs outwards to support a wider and wider range of students.

In order to serve the broader audience of students, sometimes a course sequence is required, allowing students to enter into the sequence based on their current level of preparedness. This is crucial to ensuring every student is setup for success in a given program.

In cases where we don't have a course sequence, the programs need to be designed very carefully to serve an elastic audience. This is usually done by designing projects and labs that have a smaller number of required stories, as well as having a high level of additional supporting materials (which students can choose to leverage or not) to serve students at different levels of preparedness for the course.

## 3. Immersive Learning

Immersive learning means focusing squarely on context and application before explaining jargon and concepts. We believe **theory is best learned when closely intertwined and guided by practical applications.** These two are not at odds, but go hand in hand.

Immersive-style learning is about focusing on specific use-cases and skills, and providing sandboxes and guided opportunities to try applying them in a student-directed way. For example, if you are going to teach someone to swim, you don't start by explaining the chemical breakdown of water.

"ABC/CBV" means "Application before concept, concept before vocabulary". Effective programs weave these aspects together in a cohesive narrative, and never allowing students to lose the "forest through the trees". By interlacing theory and practice, and allowing students to "play" while they learn, we believe we can radically effect the enjoying and efficacy of learning.

## 4. Context is Crucial

Curriculum, projects, labs, videos, and materials must be developed with clear context and frameworks made available to students throughout. This is about giving students the "bigger picture", helping them to develop a mental framework for understanding and contextualizing their learning every step of the way.

Teaching individual concepts or topics is not helpful unless students are given a proper map for associating and integrating new knowledge as they take courses.

Providing students a clear understanding how how each thing fits into the larger narrative and gets them closer to their goals is also essential to maintaining motivation when things are tough.

Check out this [guide on providing context](https://hackmd.io/CDVI8X6mRyO3lIbOxq1_xw) for more details on how to provide relevant context within videos.

## 5. Progressive Spaced Repetition

Our programs are designed to layer concepts and build on applied knowledge over time, with escalating repetition which combines past concepts and progressively extending them.

All of our courses start by introducing a clear deliverable to work towards (either a project, or a test or a lab), and then introduce key concepts and techniques needed on their quest to complete the deliverable.

The deliverables students submit are layered and build out over time, both frequently repeating past applied concepts and topics, while also challenging and expanding the student's understanding through new deliverables.

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:page_facing_up::arrow_right: **Next:** Review the [Course and Programs Breakdown](/Dxo7QDFpQ2WLeS8sHaaNIA) or return to :books: [Table of Contents](/QqlbG9ZySt-7VLLz5xkUbA).