Schedule
Below is the planned schedule. Dates, topics, and assignments may adjust as needed.
Class Format: Class meets Mondays 3:30–4:45 PM in 2439 TNRB. Each session pairs a short lecture segment with live build time in Claude Code. Most of your work happens between classes; class time is where we practice skills and review what you built.
Note: Fall classes begin Wed, Sep 2, but Labor Day (Sep 7) means our first in-person class is Mon, Sep 14. Week of Sep 2 is an online setup week. We DO meet Mon, Nov 23 (Thanksgiving break begins Wed, Nov 25). Last day of class is Thu, Dec 10.
The six axes
The course is built around six builder skills, about two weeks each. You rate yourself on all six in week 1, and your sprint reports then show a builder profile on the same six axes. The chapters, the sprints, and both exams are organized the same way.
| Axis | The question it answers | Classes |
|---|---|---|
| Agentic Workflow | How do I put AI to work, as the way I build and inside the product? | 1–2 |
| Discovery | What should I build, for whom, and should I? | 3–4 |
| Design | What does the surface look like, how does it flow, and how do I write it down so an agent can build it? | 5–6 |
| Application Architecture | How is it structured, shipped, and kept safe? | 7–8 |
| AI Systems | How do the models work, and why do they behave the way they do? | 9–10 |
| Launch and Learn | How do people find it, and did it work? | 11–12 |
Agentic Workflow comes first on purpose. You will ship something in week one that you do not fully understand, and you will spend classes 7 and 8 learning what you shipped.
Weekly schedule
| Class | Date | Axis | Reading | Assessments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Week of Sep 2 (online) | Setup | Computer Setup | Accounts and installs complete |
| 1 | Mon, Sep 14 | Agentic Workflow | Building with AI Agents | Baseline hexagon survey, Sprint 1 Assigned (plan due Wed, Sep 16, 11:59 PM) |
| 2 | Mon, Sep 21 | Agentic Workflow | Directing the Agent | |
| 3 | Mon, Sep 28 | Discovery | What Is Worth Building | Sprint 1 Due, Sprint 2 Assigned (plan due Sat, Oct 3, 11:59 PM) |
| 4 | Mon, Oct 5 | Discovery | Finding and Validating the Problem | |
| 5 | Mon, Oct 12 | Design | Interface and Flow, Design Fundamentals | Sprint 2 Due, Sprint 3 Assigned (plan due Wed, Oct 14, 11:59 PM) |
| 6 | Mon, Oct 19 | Design | Testing the Design, Specs | |
| – | Oct 20 to 22 | – | Testing center | Midterm Exam (covers classes 1–6) |
| 7 | Mon, Oct 26 | App Architecture | Anatomy of an Application + The Browser, Developer Tools, and Claude in Chrome | Sprint 3 Due, Sprint 4 Assigned (plan due Wed, Oct 28, 11:59 PM) |
| 8 | Mon, Nov 2 | App Architecture | Data and APIs + Version Control, Environments, and Deploys + Tests and Tech Debt | Peer Code Review Assigned |
| 9 | Mon, Nov 9 | AI Systems | How Models Work | Sprint 4 Due, Peer Code Review Due, Sprint 5 Assigned (plan due Wed, Nov 11, 11:59 PM) |
| 10 | Mon, Nov 16 | AI Systems | Models in Your Product | |
| 11 | Mon, Nov 23 | Launch and Learn | Going to Market + Business Models | Sprint 5 Due, Sprint 6 Assigned (plan due Wed, Nov 25, 11:59 PM). Withdraw deadline is Tue, Nov 24. |
| 12 | Mon, Nov 30 | Launch and Learn | Measuring What Matters | Peer Product Testing Assigned |
| 13 | Mon, Dec 7 | Wrap Up | Storytelling and the Final Demo | Peer Product Testing Due, closing hexagon survey |
| – | Dec 8 to 9 | – | Testing center | Final Exam (cumulative, all six axes) |
| – | Thu, Dec 10 | – | Last day of class (no meeting) | Sprint 6 Due |
Demos and peer feedback
Every few weeks a portion of class is given over to small-group demos: you show your real, deployed product to three or four classmates, they tell you what worked and what confused them, and you spend the rest of the session building on what you heard.
These are informal working sessions. Bring something that runs. The first half of the course is mostly solo work, and these are your regular chance to see what classmates are building and to have people who have not seen your product try it before the final.
Sprints
Six sprints, two weeks each. Every sprint is the same assignment: plan by the first Wednesday, build, review and demo at the end. What changes is what you decide to work on. Full instructions are in Assessments.
| Sprint | Assigned | Plan due | Due | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon, Sep 14 | Wed, Sep 16 | Mon, Sep 28 | 50 |
| 2 | Mon, Sep 28 | Sat, Oct 3 | Mon, Oct 12 | 50 |
| 3 | Mon, Oct 12 | Wed, Oct 14 | Mon, Oct 26 | 50 |
| 4 | Mon, Oct 26 | Wed, Oct 28 | Mon, Nov 9 | 50 |
| 5 | Mon, Nov 9 | Wed, Nov 11 | Mon, Nov 23 | 50 |
| 6 | Mon, Nov 23 | Wed, Nov 25 | Thu, Dec 10 | 100 |
Peer Assignments
| Assignment | Due | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Peer Code Review | Mon, Nov 9 | AI-assisted analysis of peer’s codebase |
| Peer Product Testing | Mon, Dec 7 | Be a real test user for peer’s app |
Exams
Both exams are taken in the testing center on your own schedule within the window. Each window opens at 8:00 AM on its first day and closes at 9:00 PM on its last, and the testing center charges a $5 late fee after 2:00 PM on the last day. They are closed book and proctored, which makes them the one place in this course where your own knowledge is measured without AI assistance. Each is worth 5% of your grade.
| Exam | Window | Covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midterm | Tue, Oct 20 to Thu, Oct 22 | Classes 1 through 6: Agentic Workflow, Discovery, Design | 36 |
| Final | Tue, Dec 8 to Wed, Dec 9 | Cumulative, all six axes | 84 (72 scored), 2 hours |
On both exams, 80% correct earns full credit, and you get a result for each axis (Developing, Proficient, or Strong). See Assessments for how points are figured.
Readings
Read the assigned chapter before class. Two weeks pair two chapters under one session.
| Axis | Chapter | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Agentic Workflow | Building with AI Agents | Mon, Sep 14 |
| Agentic Workflow | Directing the Agent | Mon, Sep 21 |
| Discovery | What Is Worth Building | Mon, Sep 28 |
| Discovery | Finding and Validating the Problem | Mon, Oct 5 |
| Design | Interface and Flow | Mon, Oct 12 |
| Design | Design Fundamentals | Mon, Oct 12 |
| Design | Testing the Design | Mon, Oct 19 |
| Design | Specs: Designing the Build | Mon, Oct 19 |
| App Architecture | Anatomy of an Application | Mon, Oct 26 |
| App Architecture | The Browser, Developer Tools, and Claude in Chrome | Mon, Oct 26 |
| App Architecture | Data and APIs | Mon, Nov 2 |
| App Architecture | Version Control, Environments, and Deploys | Mon, Nov 2 |
| App Architecture | Tests and Tech Debt | Mon, Nov 2 |
| AI Systems | How Models Work | Mon, Nov 9 |
| AI Systems | Models in Your Product | Mon, Nov 16 |
| Launch and Learn | Going to Market | Mon, Nov 23 |
| Launch and Learn | Business Models | Mon, Nov 23 |
| Launch and Learn | Measuring What Matters | Mon, Nov 30 |
| Wrap Up | Storytelling and the Final Demo | Mon, Dec 7 |