[gameprogrammer] Re: State of Computing education
- From: Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:54:54 -0700
Hey Bob,
As we all keep hearing, rising education costs are one of the "hot items"
for the news to report on these days.
As an insider can you provide any insight into why education costs are going
up?
On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 5:05 PM, Bob Pendleton <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 11:44 AM, Suvamsh Shivaprasad
> <theamericansushi@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > You teach at ACC? I actually go to UT!
>
> Yes, I've been living in Round Rock for 20 years now. Central Texas is
> a great place to live. One of the reasons I reasons I don't spend a
> lot of time on line any more is that a typical day at ACC is like
> yesterday when I got there at 9:00 AM and left at 9:00 PM. I'm not
> supposed to do that. I'm supposed to only be their to teach my classes
> plus 3 "office hours" per week. But, my students are mostly working
> people and my class are spread across the day starting at 11:05 AM and
> ending at 7:30 PM. So, on the days I have classes it is easy to get
> there "early" 9:00 AM, so I can work with students before classes, and
> stay after the end of my last class for the evening students. I also
> usually manage to spend an hour between my afternoon and evening
> classes in the student lab.
>
> People who are going to ACC have a lot of other barriers that are
> keeping them from getting an education. They do not need arrogant
> "Professors" who only show up at times that are convenient for the
> professor. Education should not be a privilege, it is in the best
> interests of society to educate every person to the maximum level
> possible. Basic capitalism says that you maximize the future value of
> every asset.
>
> (Why is it that I live in a capitalistic society but when I talk about
> applying capitalistic principles to humans I get called a socialist?)
>
> You know, if it wasn't for the political power of the UT system and
> the classist attitudes of Texas society college like ACC could offer
> BA and BS degrees at 1/10 the cost of going to UT. Many other states
> do exactly that.
>
> Bob Pendleton
>
> >
> > On Oct 7, 2011 11:31 AM, "Bob Pendleton" <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>
> >> I went to school way back in the dark ages starting college in fall
> >> 1971. I then went back to graduate school in starting in January 1981.
> >> I now teach at Austin Community College in Austin Texas. So, I have a
> >> limited view of what is being taught in the world at large and a
> >> limited view of how it has changed. I also have no good idea of how
> >> the educational system is meeting the needs of the students.
> >>
> >> At the risk of starting a huge flame war, I would like to ask you all
> >> to tell me about the courses you had/have to take in school and what
> >> they were worth to you when you got out into the working world. Also,
> >> what kind of classes do you wish you had taken. What kind of classes
> >> you wish had been required. And, what books, online resources,
> >> materials you use to fill in the gaps.
> >>
> >> Also, did you schools do anything "interesting" to aid your learning?
> >> Did they use online systems, or was it all just sit in a class and
> >> listen traditional lectures? To give a silly example, I've eliminated
> >> the use of paper in my classes. I have flexible due dates on homework
> >> and projects (why not, the computer does most of the grading). I've
> >> also eliminated in class tests. I only take roll the first couple of
> >> weeks to make sure people are coming to the right class. OTOH, I work
> >> with people who still do everything on paper, take roll every class
> >> and make attendance 10% or more of the grade.
> >>
> >> Have your instructors embraced the 21st century or are they still
> >> holding onto the 19th century?
> >>
> >> I want to hear your experience and opinions on computing education.
> >>
> >> Bob Pendleton
> >>
> >> P.S.
> >>
> >> The school I went to changed their name from "The Computer Science
> >> Department" to the "School of Computing". They were never comfortable
> >> with the use of the term "computer science" and I agree with the name
> >> change. Despite occasional slip ups I've stopped calling is computer
> >> science and started calling it simply "computing".
> >>
> >> Oh, yeah I went to the University of Utah.
> >>
> >> --
> >> +-----------------------------------------------------------
> >> + Bob Pendleton: writer and programmer
> >> + email: Bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> + web: www.TheGrumpyProgrammer.com<http://www.thegrumpyprogrammer.com/>
> >>
> >> ---------------------
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> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
>
> --
> +-----------------------------------------------------------
> + Bob Pendleton: writer and programmer
> + email: Bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> + web: www.TheGrumpyProgrammer.com <http://www.thegrumpyprogrammer.com/>
>
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>
>
>
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