Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
lazowska.cs.washington.edu
Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
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Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#2Professionals who talk about this stuff never mention that learning computer science is a lot like learning a foreign language. The people who learn something in their early years tend to have an easier time learning new computer skills as they age. I wish more parents knew this.
Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#3Professionals who talk about this stuff never mention that learning computer science is a lot like learning a foreign language. The people who learn something in their early years tend to have an easier time learning new computer skills as they age. I wish more parents knew this.
[Citation needed]
Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#4Professionals who talk about this stuff never mention that learning computer science is a lot like learning a foreign language. The people who learn something in their early years tend to have an easier time learning new computer skills as they age. I wish more parents knew this.
I learned programming & CS at age 18 and I'm on par with people I met who learned it at say 11.
I learned English starting at age 5 (I read as almost fluently in English as in my mother tongue, Russian); I learned Hebrew starting at age 10 (I have a hideous accent and prefer to read in other languages); and I tried French in university at age 20 (it was the only time I had to take private lessons to pass the exam).
I'm not sure CS/programming are that much like foreign languages.
Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#5How about "Possibly, they see people making ridiculous amounts of money in tech and want a piece of it?"
Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#6Professionals who talk about this stuff never mention that learning computer science is a lot like learning a foreign language. The people who learn something in their early years tend to have an easier time learning new computer skills as they age. I wish more parents knew this.
Programming and graphic design perhaps (personally, I've yet to meet someone who programmed as a child who was better than a good programmer who learned later), but I really doubt there is much of an advantage to teaching your child Depth-First Search.
I don't really think CS is like learning a foreign language at all. The advantage for languages supposedly comes from the fact that we are hard-wired to acquire language at a specific age range ("Critical period hypothesis"). The biggest advantage is for infants, which steadily tapers off until puberty. I doubt we're hard-wired to acquire CS the same way - programming or theory.
Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#7I didn't understand this:
"10% of Princeton’s students are computer science majors
Far more at MIT
10% of Princeton’s faculty are unlikely to ever be in computer science!
Ditto"
It's the last two lines I don't understand. 10% of currently existing faculty are not likely to work in the CS department? Or it's unlikely that in the future 10% of Princeton faculty will work in the CS department?
And the 'ditto'? Far more than 10% at MIT are unlikely to be in computer science?
Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#8How about "Possibly, they see people making ridiculous amounts of money in tech and want a piece of it?"
When I started college in 1982 as a CS/EE double major, the big-money major was petroleum engineering. If I remember correctly, they lost a lot of people who had done well in high-school when they hit the calculus for engineers classes.
Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#9What is the biggest reason for this growth?
Re: Responding to the Explosion of Student Interest in Computer Science [pdf]
#10I didn't understand this: "10% of Princeton’s students are computer science majors Far more at MIT 10% of Princeton’s faculty are unlikely to ever be in computer science! Ditto" It's the last two lines I don't understand. 10% of currently existing faculty are not likely to work in the CS department? Or it's unlikely that in the future 10% of Princeton faculty will work in the CS department? And the 'ditto'? Far more…
I think he's saying that "it's unlikely that Princeton will ever have 10% of its faculty dedicated to computer science". Despite the demand, universities want to remain balanced and avoid becoming trade schools.
"Ditto" means "same for UW"; Ed Lazowska is the department chair at UW.