Software and Higher Education
February 12th, 2006Browsing the latest Communications of the ACM I came across an article called “Inside risks: Software and higher education“, by John C. Knight and Nancy G. Leveson. The column argues that many contemporary computer science educations fall short providing adequate training for the real world. I would hope that this does not apply to my program, but seeing as my school is merely dreaming of having a top 25 program, I am left a bit worried.
The column goes on to talk about the many common “deficiencies” in computer science education. As I read the issues, I applied it to my current education and shuddered. Not because we heavily violated the authors concerns, but because as a student there is no way to tell how the program is doing.
One of the most troubling issues is the lack of accountability. As an undergrad I have no idea how qualified my instructors are to teach their respective subjects. I have to walk into class and blindly trust that what I am being told is accurate and relevant. Furthermore, I pay for this with no consumer data backing up my decision. Would I spend tens of thousands on a new car with out doing any research beforehand? No. Or maybe education is not a manufacturing industry, and instead it is a service industry. Still, no matter how much money I throw at it I will never get a service level agreement. And I am not alone. There are roughly 20,000 of us at OSU for some reason agree to pay for a service that offers no accountability or guarantee. Have we been fooled?
What happens if my school did not adequately prepare me? Who is accountable? I asked and paid for a computer science education, in turn they took my money and educated me. If I am under-prepared it is clearly arguable that it is the programs fault, not mine. However, can I ask for my money back? Unlikely.
The next natural question is, how do you determine ones preparedness for the work-force? Is it the ability to get a job? If that is the case I will definitely not give my classroom education credit. The Open Source Lab is where I had preparation for that. They even paid me!
Now it sounds like I am really down on my education, but that is not the case. If I pay a lot of money for something I want to know that I got something valuable in return. Right now I cannot see it. I honestly hope this is one of those “young and ignorant” moments and I just cannot see the importance of it because I am right in the middle of it. Can someone assure me that is the case?
February 13th, 2006 at 1:43 am
Agreed, but our schooling does give us time and a little extra push to work on and try things that we may not have otherwise.
February 13th, 2006 at 8:47 am
Sorry to say, but I feel I learnt more in my first 3 months at work than in my whole final year of my degree.
February 13th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
I went to OSU and i would say that you don’t have to worry to much about this problem.
I have known more then a few engineers who graduated and all seem to have gone on to get good jobs and do well.
The real problem tends to be the general dissconnect from what a day to day job is and what a education is trying to do. This is seen in just about every major you could imagine. I know that my time at OSU prepared me well for what i am doing now, even though i don’t use any of the specific skills i learned. What they did well was force me to figuer out problems and forced me to become a self learner, go and find the information that i needed.
Once i learned to problem solve, and where to get the information i needed, i found that i could tackle just about anything.
So don’t worry to much, although this might be a good question to ask the dean of the department since they are shooting for that top 25 goal.
February 16th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
Listen bub. I am going to lecture you some. Now, I never got no college educated, but look at me now. I am the tops in my chosen field, which is nonprofit. that’s right. I make less than zero. Every time I go to work, I lose more money. So, what I’m saying is this….what good would an education have done me? I mean really. Maybe gotten a real job so I wouldn’t be using the computer at the library and sleeping under a bridge nights? Yeah right. And for what price? Four to six years of my life wasted along with a lot of taxpayer dollars. right now, I am not wasting one second of time. Nada. Am I a burden on society? Well, that is a subjective question and I’m just not going to answer. I learned that. don’t answer what could be incriminating. So, the school of life is where it is at buddy. Yup. Just drop out now or sue the school for not teaching you what you need. Then meet me under bridge with the bucks and some bottles and we’ll talk your future and take care of that sue money. See, the lottery is real big right now. We could invest sue money in tickets and if we won, we’d split. I have the know how for gambling, although I haven’t won yet. Just giving you youngsters some unneeded advice. But you never listen.