Lesson curating editor

Many people contribute to lesson and thus are “editors” The lesson editor refers to the person managing all the contributions, like the editor of a edited volume.

Everyone may “edit lessons”, including merging pull requests and pushing directly, when it’s appropriate. There are plenty of simple improvements that can be done without some “permission”. See the left sidebar, especially :doc:lesson-review.

How lesson development and maintenance usually works

Our lessons are quite battle-tested, and teaching isn’t expected to require major edits. At most, there may be minor updates with respect to software/Github/etc. that has changed.

  • Minor updates are done as needed, usually right before the lesson is taught.

  • Github Issues with bigger ideas accumulate over time. Sometimes these are done quickly, but often they pile up.

  • Through this time, the lesson editor keeps an eye on things and can advise on contributions.

  • Every so often, there is a time for a big update. This might happen, for example, at an in-person CodeRefinery meetup or similar.

    • People get together and think about the big structure, making bigger changes to the lesson topics.

    • It’s usually rough at first, but over time it gets better refined.

Responsibilities

This person is not expected to work on the lesson alone, or even do changes all the time. They are not expected to always teach it, but it’s good if they can stay hands-on with the teaching some.

  • Keep the long-term vision of the lesson and ensure the different contributions remain consistent with this.

  • Be very aware of the main trade-offs of CodeRefinery lessons: we have to teach something that’s achievable for the common learner, not necessarily what we would do ourselves. This is a delicate balance, and lesson editors are on the front line.

  • Avoid too much feature creep or thing becoming too complex. Instead, it’s OK to have sections with advanced material that aren’t usually taught.

  • Manage cycles of major development. Many ideas may pile up over time, and at some point there are bigger changes. The curator should managing this process. (Or maybe, when it’s time for a big change, a new curator comes in manages the rearrangement/restructuring/rewrite, and takes over as the editor)

  • Talking with new instructors of the lesson and briefing them on the spirit of the lesson and common pitfalls. (You aren’t expected to always be the instructor, but if you can sometimes, great)

  • Keeping the instructor guide up to date.

  • Can be around for at least a few years.

Qualifications

  • Ideally, has taught the lesson a few times so understands the flow and what usually goes right and wrong. Also ideally they’ve taught a few other lessons for a broader perspective.

  • Ideally has been around CodeRefinery for a while, so they have seen a wide variety of teaching.

  • Any pedagogy experience is good, but it’s OK to read our guidelines.

Resources

  • Everything under “lesson development” in the left sidebar.