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From: mjl@cs.rit.edu
Newsgroups: comp.edu,comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: CS education
Message-ID: <1409@cs.rit.edu>
Date: 18 Nov 89 20:51:54 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.1409
References: <1054@scotty.Atlanta.NCR.COM> <7091@hubcap.clemson.edu>
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Reply-To: mjl@prague.UUCP (Michael Lutz)
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Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
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In article <7091@hubcap.clemson.edu> billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu writes:
>    ... a domain should be selected from the 
>    "real world", for which little advance documentation is available, 
>    and in which real users will have to be satisfied.  Local industries
>    would probably be very happy to have some real problems solved for 
>    them for free... they would be an excellent source for "real" projects.
>
> 
>    Bill Wolfe, wtwolfe@hubcap.clemson.edu


Well, local industries usually don't believe in free lunches, and have
even lower regard for free software.  But a variant on this has been
used at RIT for years in Programming Systems Workshop (a senior level course).
We scout around for projects on campus that are desirable but not
critical.  Teams then meet with the "contracting agency" (often a faculty
member or department chair), work out the requirements, do the design,
and, with any luck, deliver at least a prototype.  That's about all one
can expect in a 10 week term.  Of course, the fact that all of our
students will have completed at least 2 of their 4 co-op quarters by
the time they take PSW means they have some familiarity with the
industrial and commercial sectors, so they're a bit more savvy (perhaps
cynical) than most students at this point in their education.

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Hire co-ops -- help start students on their way to productive, creative,
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Mike Lutz
Mike Lutz	Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY
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INTERNET:	mjlics@ultb.isc.rit.edu