I’m stuck! What do I do?!
Part 1: How to approach a Practice Question.
Read the question and any other background information carefully.
- If there is code you don’t understand in the background information or the questions:
- Try running it in the Jupyter Notebook to see what it does.
- Use the help function to see how a specific function works.
- Look online at the Python documentation - use the search bar at the top.
- https://docs.python.org/3/
- If you can’t figure out how to do something specific, try Googling it. StackOverflow is a useful forum for troubleshooting.
- If you’re getting an error, read and try to understand the error and look for bugs in your code (ex. a parentheses in the wrong place, a missing argument to a function, etc.).
- Ask your neighbor if they have any ideas.
When to ask a facilitator for help:
- If you have questions about how to troubleshoot a Practice Question.
- If you have been stuck on a Practice Question for more than a few minutes.
- If you have a more general question about understanding topics being covered in the Practice.
Part 2: How to approach a Challenge Question.
Read the question carefully.
- Think about the approach you will use to solve the problem. Write down the steps you need to take in your digital notebook.
- What objects will you need to make? (ex. variables, lists, functions, etc.)
- Can you break the question down into pieces?
- What are the logical steps you need to take to solve the problem?
- Starting with the first step, write the Python code to answer the question.
- If you get stuck (or even from the beginning), find a neighbor working on the problem and try figuring it out together.
When to ask a facilitator for help:
- If you have questions about what the Challenge Question is asking.
- If you don’t know where to start and you have tried everything listed above.
- If you want to check that your logic makes sense.
- If you are trying to debug your code and have tried Googling it and asking your neighbor.
- If you want to check your answer.