Exams are exciting
Thu Dec 10, 2009 23:53 (UTC -5)Busy times again. Yesterday was the last day of classes. Some professors decide to have their final exams on the last day instead of during exam week, so I had two exams yesterday. I had studied a lot for them the day before, so they weren’t too hard. I already know that I got an A in Statistics, which I thought would be impossible.
It kind of puzzles me that I’m still having to take classes like Statistics that really have nothing to do with my major. I tell people who go to other universities the kinds of classes I’m taking, and they’re also puzzled, which in turn makes me mad. I don’t want anyone to think I’m getting a bad education. I think I’ve touched on this theme before, but I’m too lazy to find the link.
The professor of my Data Structures and Algorithms class (the most important class I’m taking) says they don’t have time to teach us computer science and computer engineering majors everything, especially when it comes to programming languages. He suggests that we go off and learn some languages on our own. It’s not a bad idea, but I’d like to learn more than one language in school.
Isn’t it obvious why there’s no time? It’s because the university, or whoever tells them what they have to teach, insists that students have well-rounded college education. The Dutch sisters I met on the train from Venice to Zagreb this summer were puzzled by that idea. I could see their point. If I wanted to have a well-rounded education, I would have gone to high school. Oh, wait, I already did!
Sure, it would reflect well on me to learn programming languages by myself (as I actually have). And sure, it’s not the worst thing in the world to write essays about the spice trade on the Indian Ocean during the Middle Ages and early modern period (as I also have). But I daresay that time spent doing the latter when I should be concentrating on the former is not time well spent. And they wonder why they can’t teach us enough of what we need to know…
Anyway, I have an exam on Saturday and my last one on Tuesday. I’m not sure exactly when I’ll be going home yet.
Joshua reports on abuse of authority and endorsement of religion at California public school. He’s started a letter-writing campaign to stop the injustice. I’ve been too busy to write a letter, but I hope to get to that soon if it’s still necessary.
And here’s A Flowchart to Determine What Religion You Should Follow. (Via Pharyngula)
Filed under Atheism, Computers, Musings and Observations, Programming, School, Stuff
8 comments
#1 by Daniel: Fri Dec 11, 2009 02:35 (UTC -5)
We’re taught Java and C here, and expected to be quite fluent in both by the completion of our second year of classes. Also, shell scripting/basic sysadminnery. There’s a course taught on “Comparative Programming Languages”, which covers 3-4 languages, but they tend to be more of the academic type (i.e., Prolog). Our algorithms courses generally don’t even use a “language”, all assignments are pseudocoded. When they’re required to be programmed, C/C++ or Java is usually allowed. A good education in computer science is more than just fluency in a few languages. What you’re learning in your structures/algorithms course should be useful in any language (:
#2 by Jordon Kalilich: Fri Dec 11, 2009 09:42 (UTC -5)
You win by far.
#3 by Kate: Fri Dec 11, 2009 18:59 (UTC -5)
It’s a bad advertising, but I always sigh while thinking about how many things I was taught and how little I did to be well-educated. However, they told us that university education shouldn’t give a strong knowledge of languages, which we should learn by ourselves; it gives a knowledge of principles, methods, patterns, theories, etc. But maybe those things differ in your case. Good luck with exams! :)
#4 by Kirsten: Sat Dec 12, 2009 01:11 (UTC -5)
I hated taking the “core curriculum” classes as well. When I was majoring in Interior Design, was there a reason why I needed a lab science? (For the record, I changed my major to business, then liberal arts and somehow got my associate’s degree in the scheduled 2 years without taking a lab.) While I don’t doubt the need for a well-rounded education, I do think that a lot of the core classes could be cut back to make a bachelor’s degree a 3 year program instead of 4 and bringing higher education in the US more in line with the rest of the world.
#5 by Jordon Kalilich: Tue Dec 15, 2009 23:23 (UTC -5)
You’re both right. I can see it both ways. Fortunately, I guess the worst is over as I’m really getting into my major now.
#6 by Kate: Mon Dec 21, 2009 16:39 (UTC -5)
About the last link… I won’t mention my result, ’cause it’s obvious, heh, but reading another questions was fun, and it seems like they confused about hummus… It’s a Jewish food, not Muslim. :P
#7 by Jordon Kalilich: Mon Dec 21, 2009 17:21 (UTC -5)
Wikipedia says hummus is an Arab food that’s very popular in Israel, so you’re both right.
#8 by Kate: Tue Dec 22, 2009 01:20 (UTC -5)
Oh, really. It seems to be Arabic by origin. So, a lot of Jewish should be Muslim instead. :P