[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by HelloRobot

A lot of times, what looks like lack of motivation is actually someone needing guidance. Personally, it's very hard for me to learn unless I'm being taught. I mean, if it's something where I have a little background knowledge, then all I need is a brief refresher. At the beginner level, at which I assume is where a lot of people you want to teach are, it is important to build a solid foundation in any skill, whether it be programming or some other area. Mentors and teachers can really help with that. I know they've made a difference for me.

It can be very intimidating to learn, especially if every other programmer has very very advanced skills. Sometimes, juniors and seniors are not the best teachers (a lot of times, we'll assume that our underclassmen know something seemingly fundamental, or we might forget to teach something because we think it is too fundamental to be mentioned), so I must stress again the importance of mentors and teachers.

It would be nice to have a way to track progress. I think that could help with motivation. Maybe have checkpoints, like "Level 1: be able to write a program to _____," and set a minimum level for each area (ex. lead programmer must be at Level X or higher).

So, yeah. I think I've given you more of a how to go about training rather than specifically what to do. I have not done programming, but I know that that would help me when I learn... or when our strong programmers graduate. Best of luck!

Pointing them towards places like CodeAcademy and having them work on that on their own is a good way to teach some of the basics.