
Ask HN: Would you want to do projects and get personalised feedback? - manibatra
Hi everyone,
So Udacity is a really awesome place to learn coding, and has projects you can complete and get personalised feedback if you’re on the subscription plan ($200 a month). But it is on the little more expensive side.<p>If there was a platform where you could solely complete projects whilst using the resources that are already available to learn coding (like Codecademy, Udemy, Udacity’s free courses)- and get personalised feedback for the projects, free and some complex paid ones ($5-$30 for each review&#x2F;feedback), would that be something anyone would be interested in?<p>Edit :<p>1. Are there any other fields apart from programming ( design, language learning, maybe product development, management, etc ) for which you would want to do similar projects?<p>2. Would you be interested in more advanced programming projects, introductory ones or both?
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tkosan
I think teaching fundamental mathematics to programmers using ITS (Intelligent
Tutoring System) technology is a very promising idea. For example, an ITS that
is capable of doing step-by-step elementary algebra equation solving would be
able to teach this subject, and it would also be able to provide instant
feedback which is much more detailed than a human would typically provide.

I have been working on a step-by-step elementary algebra equation solver for a
few years now, and here is an example of what I have working so far:

[http://p1.ssucet.org/tkosan/misc/mathfuture/steps/solve_equa...](http://p1.ssucet.org/tkosan/misc/mathfuture/steps/solve_equation_1.png)

If you are interested in discussing the possibility of teaching programmers
fundamental mathematics using technology like this, feel free to contact me
(my email address is in my profile).

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ivan_ah
> 1\. Are there any other fields apart from programming...

The personalized feedback could be really good for learning math. You could
develop an "async" model for learning, where the student works on a proof (on
their own) and tutor checks in once in a while to give tips and add
corrections.

Note for basic arithmetic and algebra, the computer could check the answers
automatically, but for proofs and more advanced/subtle arguments, the tutor
will serve as the "math compiler" checking the student's work. Here's the
discussion where the notion of a "math compiler" came up
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11267877](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11267877)

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manibatra
Awesome thanks for the link! Love how it applies to mathematics. "learn by
doing" that is so true not just for mathematics but for almost every field.
And that is why I find Udacity's model of projects and getting feedback on
them quite fascinating.

You can study, watch videos, read, do exercises but doing a project/proofs
from the ground up can teach one a lot of skills that they directly implement
in a work environment. Thanks again.

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karmacondon
I think it would be interesting to find a way to put the study projects to
practical use. For example, look for incomplete feature requests on open
source projects in various languages and critique the students on their
implementations. Or find people who need small website work done and set up a
dev environment where the students can learn on a real project, and then get
feedback on their work. A kind of practical learn by doing, with a teacher.

~~~
manibatra
Excellent idea! Thanks!

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fiatjaf
Yes, if the feedback came from an interested person I would pay $5 for it. I
don't want a "specialist" or some consultant, just a person which would look
at my project instead of just saying "blablabla ok".

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manibatra
Exactly "personalised" being a key word. Any other areas of interests for
which you would like to have such projects? (Design, Language learning? ) .
Thanks for the reply :)

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fiatjaf
I'm just thinking about apps or internet services.

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manibatra
Cool! Thanks for the feedback!

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myroon5
Yes

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manibatra
Great to hear! A couple of questions :

1\. How would you describe your programming level..beginner, intermediate,
advanced or any other way you would want to describe it..

2\. Would you interested in doing projects in some other field of interest
like maybe UX design, language learning, etc. ?

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myroon5
Undergraduate CS senior. I would probably most likely use it for code
reviewing larger side projects like Android/iOS apps or larger Web apps.

