// For returning LabCats and college students who already know how to code.

Coding in the Age of AI

Maybe you think you’ve already got AI figured out. Maybe you’d rather not touch it. Here’s what might change your mind: one of our students spent a year building an app for the Congressional App Challenge, then rebuilt it in six sessions of this course. She’s not headed for a coding career, but she left inspired by knowing she can build her own tools for whatever comes next.

AI doesn’t replace you. It takes the grind off your plate, like the boilerplate and the week lost chasing one bizarre bug, so you can build things that used to be out of reach. But it will break things, and if you don’t understand what it built, you can’t fix them. That’s what this course teaches.

What We'll Do

Session 1

The Magic

Install Claude Code, build the same app from prompts. It feels like cheating. That's the point

Session 2

The Mess

Add features and watch it break. Redundant code. CSS chaos. Nobody knows what anything does. Most important session of the course.

Session 3

Step Back

Why it broke. How to plan before you prompt. Thinking in pieces before writing a single line of code.

Session 4

Building it Right

Your own app, built piece by piece with Claude Code. You're the architect. Claude is the contractor.

Session 5

When AI Gets it Wrong

Debugging with AI. Spotting bad code, fixing it, prompting better next time.

Session 6

Ship It

Finish, present, reflect. Leave with a working app and a real workflow for using AI in your own projects.

The Details

Who it's for: Returning LabCats and college students with a foundation in HTML/CSS/JavaScript/PHP or Python (or other equivalent experience)
Adults with coding experience are welcome too. Just ask.
Tracks: Web track (HTML/CSS/PHP) · Python track
Format: 6 sessions, 2 each · Online or in-person NW DC · Maximum 6 students
Cohort 1 - December 7-18: For students on the quarter system home for winter break.
Cohort 2 - January 5-16: For students on the semester system home for winter break.
Cost: $400 for the full course *
What you need: A laptop you can install software on - that's it.

* Discounts for returning students. Need-based scholarships available. Just ask, no explanation needed.

// Choose your track.

Web Track or Python Track?

The course structure is identical — what changes is the language stack you build with. Choose the track that matches your background:

Web Track

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and SQL. You’ve built web pages before. Now build a full web app with AI as your coding partner.

A working app with a front end, PHP back end and MySQL database
Live data pulled in from an outside API
Built piece by piece from your own spec, so you understand every part of it

Python (Data Science)

For students who know some Python and want to use it on real data, whether in stats, econ, engineering or science. If you’ve done a class or two of Python or R, you’re ready.

Load, clean and analyze real datasets with pandas
Pull data from public APIs and store it in a SQLite database
Turn your findings into clear charts with matplotlib
Learn to check that the AI’s numbers are actually right
Bring a dataset from your own field, or use one of ours

Both tracks are available in both cohorts. Tell us which one interests you when you reach out.

// FROM OUR Students

What our students say

★★★★★

"The coding with AI course provides a very nice overview of Claude Code and how to approach it. Elizabeth will teach you how to use the tool without letting it take over your whole process, and how to spot and fix its mistakes. I walked away from this course feeling like I had a much better understanding of how AI can be harnessed as a tool in my life, and with a shiny new app to show off to my friends! Don't worry if you're not a master coder — I hadn't touched a piece of code in nearly 4 years and still felt like I learned a lot without being in over my head"

Margaret P.

College Student

★★★★★

"This AI Coding class helped me better understand how to integrate AI into the coding process, while still being able to control the final product and understand how it worked. I learned skills that will continue to be useful in school and the professional world, especially as AI becomes more prevalent in both places."

Cameron L.

Rising College Student

// PHILOSOPHY

Why this matters

Steve Jobs said everyone should learn to program because it teaches you how to think. That was 1996. In 2026 the question isn't whether to use AI — it's whether you're thinking with it or just copying from it.

The LabCats who went through years of building things the hard way have a real advantage here. You know what code is supposed to do. This course teaches you how to get AI to help you do it faster — without losing that understanding.