jleech@BILL (Jay Leech) (12/17/87)
Since there are far too many PHDs, it would be a crime NOT to hire them for teaching school positions over people who have Masters degrees. The situation is indicative of the glut. I believe that it would be better if people teaching computer science (in teaching schools) had PHDs in education, with a lesser degree in CS. Someone with a PHD in computer science should be solving modern computer science problems at major universities and private institutions, and CS schools should be sure they can really do that before they hand out another PHD in CS. Also, I agree that you don't need a PHD to make important contributions. All you need is the ability. I believe that these are the people who should consider a PHD, since they have shown that they have the ability. Computer Science is now so very popular that people are getting degrees (including PHDs) simply because they view their accomplishment as success in the world. And so popular that more schools wants to jump on the PHD in CS bandwagon. The real questions are: Is this good for education? What does a PHD mean now? Jay Leech, MS in CS.
bakken@hrsw2.UUCP (David E. Bakken) (12/20/87)
In article <8712162035.AA09800@bill.ads.arpa>, jleech@BILL (Jay Leech) writes: > > I believe that it would be better if people teaching computer science (in > teaching schools) had PHDs in education, with a lesser degree in CS. I'd be happy if some had even a minor in education. :-) -- Dave Bakken Boeing Commercial Airplane Company uw-beaver!apcisea!tahoma!hrsw2!bakken (206) 234-2039 (generic) disclaimer: these views are my own, not my employers.
rbl@nitrex.UUCP ( Dr. Robin Lake ) (12/28/87)
In article <39@hrsw2.UUCP> bakken@hrsw2.UUCP (David E. Bakken) writes: >In article <8712162035.AA09800@bill.ads.arpa>, jleech@BILL (Jay Leech) writes: >> >> I believe that it would be better if people teaching computer science (in >> teaching schools) had PHDs in education, with a lesser degree in CS. > >I'd be happy if some had even a minor in education. :-) >-- >Dave Bakken >Boeing Commercial Airplane Company >uw-beaver!apcisea!tahoma!hrsw2!bakken (206) 234-2039 >(generic) disclaimer: these views are my own, not my employers. Over the past decade or so, I've been asking new faculty (and some well-used faculty) at the various institutions I visit whether anyone ever bothered to teach them how to teach. NOT A SINGLE FACULTY HAS ADMITTED TO ANY FORMAL TRAINING IN TEACHING, either course design, curricular design, delivery, evaluation, etc. On occasion I still do site visiting and, if anything, the situation appears to be getting worse! There were one or two whose spouses were in education and had some appreciation of instructional methods. In my own case, I had a graduate student who spent a few years in my program who was destined for a Ph.D. in Educational Psych and politely informed me how disasterous my teaching was, how to correct it, and what the underlying prinicples were. What a blessing! It even makes presentations to Senior Management far easier (what we're really trying to do is teach them why they should approve our proposals...). The saddest two things are: 1. An institution that grew from a well-thought-of state teachers college and still retained that expertise, but didn't bother to get it to their faculty in other areas. 2. The teachers and textbooks that try to teach a student to WRITE a programming language before they teach them how to READ it! Maybe icon-based languages will help that problem??? -- Rob Lake {decvax,ihnp4!cbosgd}!mandrill!nitrex!rbl
al@gtx.com (0732) (01/05/88)
In article <589@nitrex.UUCP> rbl@nitrex.UUCP ( Dr. Robin Lake ) writes: >Over the past decade or so, I've been asking new faculty (and some well-used >faculty) at the various institutions I visit whether anyone ever bothered >to teach them how to teach. NOT A SINGLE FACULTY HAS ADMITTED TO ANY FORMAL >TRAINING IN TEACHING, either course design, curricular design, delivery, >evaluation, etc. On occasion I still do site visiting and, if anything, >the situation appears to be getting worse! I'm sure part of the problem is the reputation of education courses and people who take them. At least when I want to school, education courses were considered, rightly or wrongly, something akin to basket weaving, that no-one seriously interested in academics or scholarship would be caught dead in. I once saw a graduate-level class in Mathematics Education in the hallways learning how to use meter sticks by measuring the doorways. But I agree in principle. A course called "No-nonsense Practical Principles of Pedagogy for People who think that Teaching is a Trivial Skill that requires no Training" should be a required course for any Ph.D. If this were done right, this could be one of the most valuable courses one takes. What Universities offer a nice capsule course like this, directed toward teaching post-high-school students? I've taught on and off at Universities since 1974, and have figured out some teaching methods for myself, but I'm sure it would have been much better for myself and my students if I had had such a course. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | Alan Filipski, GTX Corp, 2501 W. Dunlap, Phoenix, Arizona 85021, USA | | {ihnp4,cbosgd,decvax,hplabs,seismo}!sun!sunburn!gtx!al (602)870-1696 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------
pjh@mccc.UUCP (Peter J. Holsberg) (01/06/88)
I can recall that Rutgers had available a "course" on teaching for all
new faculty and GTAs back when I was there in 59-65. (No idea whether
it still exists.) As I recall, it was much better than the usual --
emulating the prof you liked best. Unfortunately, my first dissertation
advisor must not have taken it, as he was one of the worst instructors I
ever had! He was topped only by a full professor at Purdue whose idea
of teaching was to copy the textbook -verbatim! - onto the balckboard!!!
--
Peter Holsberg UUCP: {rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh
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