The Future of Education

Philip Greenspun talks about Improving Undergraduate Computer Science Education:

• Lecturing has been found to be extremely ineffective by all researchers. The FAA limits lectures to 20 minutes or so in U.S. flight schools.


• Lab and project work are where students learn the most.


• Engineers learn by doing progressively larger projects, not by doing what they’re told in one-week homework assignments or doing small pieces of a big project.

And the kickers:

• Everything that is part of a bachelor’s in CS can be taught as part of a project that has all phases of the engineering cycle.


• It makes a lot of sense to separate teaching/coaching from grading and, in the Internet age, it is trivial to do so.  Define the standard, but let others decide whether or not your students have met the standard.


• A student who graduates with a portfolio of 10 systems, each of which he or she understands completely and can show off the documentation as well as the function (on the Web or on the student’s laptop), is a student who will get a software development job.

I'll summarize in my own words:

• Lecture is a synonym for nap time


• Folks learn by doing


• Folks can learn everything in a degree program by doing real work in an environment that values learning


• Grades do not matter


• Employers love experience more than education

Using the "letters on the piece of paper model" to weed out applicants isn't helping employers find qualified candidates; it is helping them make applicant pools smaller. I've have never ran across a hiring manager that would pick a resume with lots of letters over a personal referral.

I believe apprenticeships will be the educational tool of the, ahem, future. That is to say, true apprenticeships. I certainly don't believe OJT is a model that will work for everyone (especially the throw them to the wolves model). People are different. (related)

I, too, am sure that the modern university system isn't going away (especially the tax-payer funded ones). I do believe that unless more change happens (eg. the MIT CS program), the institutionally educated graduates will have a harder and harder time finding a job.

If my kids were graduating high school today, i'd strongly encourage them to pursue an apprenticeship in lieu of a piece of paper.

Hopefully the college grads, when interviewed, can impress my kids. ;-)

Work, get Paid

Anastasia Goodstein has an insightful post entitled Baking Bagels Builds Character. It reminded me of the various odd jobs i had over the years before moving towards the career path in college:

• Babbages Software - started when i was 15 as the Apple ][ specialist (manager thought i was in college), worked there for several years on the weekends. I promise, it had nothing to do with their software check-out policy.


• Lechters Housewares


• Sears Product Services Marketing Center - answering inbound calls :-)


• Collier-Keyworth - janitor


• Cook Out - as the grill master


• Walnut Circle Press - stacker/sweeper


• Liberty Data Systems - network installation - copper/fiber


• Drug Emporium

There was one other furniture factory i worked for a brief stint, but i can't remember the name.

Back in the day, the 30 miles of twisted pair cable i helped pull inside High Point Regional Hospital, with Liberty Data Systems, was the largest CAT-5 install on the east coast.

There is now a Cook Out around the corner from the office. I was sitting in the drive-thru the other day wondering how long it had been since i worked there...i was slightly disturbed to figure out that it was *18* years ago that i chopped some cow, made patties and ran the grill.

Drug Emporium, ironically, was my first experience working for a boss doing drugs.

Collier-Keyworth, a furniture manufacturing facility, was memorable. Well, i was the janitor. Actually, i was the temporary replacement for the janitor who was out on workman's comp due to an injured back from lifting a garbage can loaded with scrap metal. I was there to witness his return, him asking for a raise, the manager saying no, then him leaving. It was a reality check that all the workers on the factory floor were paid hourly and worked by the bell. And, too, that the former janitor was making only a buck more than i was and had a family.

Some views of the world i would have missed out on had i stayed home eating Doritos and watching Donahue.

Knife of Utility

C11BK_M.jpg
Originally uploaded by jerobins.

The other day i was trying to remember when i started carrying a pocket knife. It had to be sometime in middle school as i do vividly remember my eighth grade math teacher asking to borrow it. Wow, have times changed.

I have carried many knives over the years. The first was a small Case Stockman series.

After a carving accident, which i still have the scar from, i learned the value of the lockback and have carried one ever since (i did try a frame-lock once, didn't feel as "secure").

I've lost (had to give it up) two knives, one at the airport (of course) and one at a concert at a local arena (sigh). To be fair, i could have kept both had i more time or felt like walking two miles to go put it in back in the car. Both were $12 knives and it wasn't worth jumping through hoops to keep'em. I'd feel a little differently now...and do my best to remember to avoid situations like those.

Today i carry a Spyderco Delica. By far the most expensive knife i've ever carried, but it is a real joy to use and maintain (just hone the blade a little when it feels a little dull).

I'm a little sad that my sons will not experience the same satisfaction of carrying such a useful tool with them...or introduce them to ceramics early?