[clue-tech] Are colleges dumbing down computer degrees?

[Angelo Bertolli]

William wrote:
> Kevin Cullis wrote:
>> Hey all,
>>
>> I had dinner with a long time friend who works at a telecom here in  
>> town stated that the college kids that he is working with, while  
>> smart, all not as prepared as previous years graduates. I.e. most  
>> only know Windows and know very little Mac/Linux from the UNIX  
>> background to do the "heavy" work that they need. Are the rest of 
>> you  finding the same thing? Are colleges NOT preparing young 
>> computer  users to even think about going down this route?
>
> I'm in college right now.  Our Computer Science program teaches 
> "alternative OSes" very heavily (literally including everything out 
> there from SunOS to Unix to Mac to Windows; we even have a Linux lab, 
> though access is limited), as well as teaching several programming 
> languages in the mandatory curriculum.  Grouping "all college kids" 
> into some arbitrary stereotype is a very bad idea.  Your friend either 
> made, or led you into, a generalization that is clearly based on 
> limited exposure to the "college kid" population.  Frankly, if any 
> colleges are cutting back on their OS exposure initiatives, then those 
> colleges are just appealing to the masses -- Windows is, after all, 
> the dominant OS.  Regardless, my college isn't in that group.
>
> On a final note on this subject:  There's no accounting for slackers. 
> In other words, if someone graduates my college -- with all that 
> exposure -- by barely paying attention and sliding by, that person 
> might seem uneducated or inexperienced.  That's not the college's 
> fault and is certainly not a good measure of the rest of his/her 
> classmates. 
It is the school's fault if it gives the school a bad reputation.  If 
students aren't cutting it, then they shouldn't be passing the classes.  
If it's the teachers' fault, then maybe they need new teachers (we all 
know how the job market is in Denver--there's GOT to be some skilled 
people interested in teaching).  I think the quality control in the CS 
department of education is a little bit lacking.

Angelo