x@mit-prep.ARPA (Dean Elsner) (02/27/86)
2 stories, both from hazy memory.
At Sydney Uni Basser Dept of CS, they give the 1st years an exam.
In response to employer feedback they put in practical questions like
"If you have n-byte magtape records, recording density q, a m-byte file
and r-inch inter-record gaps, how many reels of tape will it take to
store the file". In the exam I saw, about 30% of credit was for questions
of this type, AND IT WAS THE WORST PERFORMED SECTION OF THE EXAM.
They couldn't multiply and often showed sloppy thought. I applaud Basser's
attitude of "prove you can think about practical things, and we will
let you play with the elegant theory in the rest of the course".
I never went to any of my engineering lectures, but I am told that a
person from Public Works (A *BIG* engineering employer) used to give a
career talk to the 1st-years("freshmen" in US English) ---
[paraphrased] "We don't expect university to teach you anything useful.
(How can they when they don't know very much about the real world anyway?)
We expect to have to train new hires from a very low level. We hire people
with degrees because they have proven (a) they can learn a certain amount
of bullshit in a certain time and (b) they can be well behaved enough not
to discrace themselves over the 4-year (well... 5 or more if you repeat years)
course."
<flame ON>
Me? I *DO* have to hire people and (sometimes) risk my own money. I also
have to stay abreast of theory just as a duty to myself (not to be an
impediment to whatever project I am working on). If a person says they
spent time at a university I ask them why. The answers that get my
respect (and usually my job) are like "I enjoyed the subject material",
"good sex", "I wanted to do something excellent and thought that was a
good environment to attempt it" or "I liked the type of people I met there".
Losing answers include "meal ticket", "training" or "learn [by imitation?]
the latest technology". I guess I finally lost faith in computer science
education when a CS professor told me that Newton's "If I have seen farther
than others it was because I have stood on the shoulders of giants"
quotation meant "you should not presume to criticize CS until you know it
all". I hope that was just an isolated abberation but I am not so sure...
I do know that his kids never seemed to have half as much fun with CS as my
(self-taught) generation.
--
x@prep.ai.mit.edu Disclaimer: I am not me.