Academy
About the Camp
Our Code & Design Camp is an intensive full-time training program, developed to equip people from various professional backgrounds with the necessary skills and understanding to join the world of digital product development.
For 2 years, we supported 13-week camps and found that despite over 85% of our graduates working in technical jobs after graduating, many Jr. developer jobs require a deeper skill set and many students needed months of additional self-training to feel competitive.
Our 23-week course is designed to provide all students with the curriculum, environment, and support they need to be prepared for a Jr. Frontend developer position and the foundation to grow into other technical roles.
Key Features
2 Weeks of Agile and Professional Development Workshops
4 Weeks of UI/UX and Product Design Curriculum
4 Weeks of Backend and Deployment Curriculum
6 Weeks of Portfolio Project Work
12 One-on-One Sessions to support technical, career, and personal development
2 Professionally Designed Hackathons featuring hiring companies
2 Days of Career Development Workshops with hiring companies
Our Approach
Holistic Software Developers
Software Developers are not code monkeys. We believe the best developers understand programming as a tool to solve problems, develop skills, and build knowledge outside of coding to expand the range of problems they can tackle. They understand and appreciate all aspects of creating a software, and are able to constantly evaluate how their work best contributes to the overarching problem that the software they are building is trying to solve.
Self-Regulated Learning System
Experts are expert learners. Our primary goal is thus, to teach our students an effective, self-regulated learning system that will serve them for the rest of their lives. By using a simple journaling system that promotes the most effective learning strategies every day during the camp, we are able to build up powerful routines that are also designed to work for self-directed learning after the camp.
Evidence Informed Teaching
We rely on findings from the learning sciences to inform our teaching methodologies and combine these with our practice and intuition to create powerful and adaptive learning experiences. The most prevalent findings we base our methodology on are:
- Rosenshine principles of effective teaching using worked examples of authentic tasks and gradual fading towards independent practice
- Retrieval practice, utilizing both spacing and interleaving
- Feedback-driven metacognition to develop self-regulated and directed learning
Practice, Practice, Practice & Repeat
As with any skill that's worthwhile, software development and, programming more specifically, take consistent practice to master. Our curriculum has a pronounced focus on repetition that allows students to achieve confidence within a relatively short timeframe. The strategy is to build muscle memory around fundamental mechanics in order to free up headspace for learning advanced skills and focusing on higher level design decisions.
Challenging Creative Projects
Software Development is an intellectually and emotionally demanding discipline. The most reliable way to create the motivation to withstand these difficulties, and continually expand one's knowledge, is by working on exciting, personal creative projects. No level of discipline trumps the energy that's generated when one becomes excited about a creative idea. We encourage students to take on such challenges, even if they seem slightly outside their current reach, and help them along the way to complete the projects they start.
Mentorship Program
We believe the relationship to a mentor is key to sustain one's development past the intermediate stage in any discipline. Our goal is to facilitate such bonds between the students in the Academy and members of our community. In our mentorship program, we engage students on projects in the Studio and connect them to mentors that can support them. We hope to help every graduate build a sustained relationship to a mentor, who can guide and support them on the next steps in their professional development.
Meet the Instructors
Franz
Valeria
Dan
Sven
Learning Path
Orientation & Software Development Fundamentals
The course opens with a quick tour through the software development cosmos, starting from bits & bytes, through computer hardware to an overview of the many branches of software applications.
We'll also familiarize ourselves with tools of the trade that software developers use on a daily basis and practice using them by creating a shared recipe collection.
Programming in Typescript
Although programming is only one of many skills involved in software development, it is the key to its power. Starting from "Hello World", we'll build a collection of small programs with increasing complexity and, thereby, learn not only the syntax and grammar of the Typescript Programming Language, but also the principles and techniques that are common to all programming languages.
One Page Love
Our next goal is to get familiar with the technologies that run the web and build basic skills in User Interface Design. We’ll start off with a practical introduction to the Human Centered Design process. We’ll go through one iteration of the design steps —starting from research all the way to prototyping and testing. We'll continue with analyzing and carefully re-constructing multiple websites built for different use-cases. We’ll dive into design systems, color theory, and typography. At the end of the module, everyone will design and build a personal website project that may become the first item in their portfolio. The projects will be documented via building out their Information Architecture.
Design Responsively
“Mobile first” is a popular approach for modern products and services. In this phase of the curriculum, we’ll teach you how to design webpages that comfortably fit any device as well as some fundamental design practices, such as navigation design, mobile stacking, and responsive design. Then we’ll apply those learnings to your personal website.
Review Week + 1st Hackathon
It's time to refresh and reflect on the material learned so far. During this week, there will be no new material. Only individual check-in sessions, opportunities to solidify your skills through focused practice, and a hackathon to boost your confidence in your fledgling skills.
Full-Stack Web Application
In the beginning of the second half of the course, we are going to design and build a more complex web application. After walking together through a product design process, we'll prototype and build the user interface. This is an opportunity to take a close look at all components of a professional software development process in full detail and practice them in a controlled environment.
Backend Engineering
To round off the skillset, we'll build and deploy the backend of our web application. This is the most challenging part of the course, as it normally requires a long time to master the complexities of a production level backend, including authentication, database design & continuous deployment. However, with a lot of focus, carefully designed instruction, and a bit of cheating you'll become able to build a full stack web application from start to finish all by yourself.
Professional Frameworks + Specialization
Our final weeks of formal curriculum walk students through professional development processes and provide basic starting tracks for interested students to dive deeper into specializations like Backend development & DevOps, Data Science, UI/UX Design, and Agile Management. We’ll also dive into our second hackathon to kick off the final project.
Final Project + 3rd Hackathon
After 18 weeks of intense training, you'll have all you need to team up with your fellow campers and start building your own projects. You'll get extra support from mentors in our community who can provide technical support and also help you explore options for life after the course. The final week will consist of a two day career development program and our last hackathon to wrap up final projects.
Graduation
Where our graduates have been hired
Tuition & Financing
Our goal is to make the Code Camp as accessible as possible and we strive to keep student costs minimal.
We provide a range of options to help you finance your education, including payment plans, government programs, loan partners, and scholarships. Make sure to reach out to us so we can evaluate the financing options that fit your specific situation.
If you are eligible for educational support through the Jobcenter and would like to pursue financing your seat via a Bildungsgutschein, contact us at info@devhausleipzig.de with any questions.
Application Process
Step 1
Complete an online form for us to get a detailed idea of who you are, how you’ve spent your time until now, and your motivation for joining Devhaus.
Step 2
Complete a follow-up online form to round off the information for our profile of you. When you complete this step, you automatically receive a copy of the profile we generate based on your answers to the online forms.
Step 3
Interview with two members of the Devhaus team to discuss your career path and how Devhaus might play a role in your journey.
Our team makes decisions on applications as they are received. Meaning applicants can expect to get a decision on their application within 30 days, regardless of when they apply.