Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1exp 10/6/83; site ihuxf.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxl!houxm!ihnp4!ihuxf!parnass From: parnass@ihuxf.UUCP Newsgroups: net.cse,net.flame Subject: : Anecdotes Message-ID: <1613@ihuxf.UUCP> Date: Fri, 4-Nov-83 14:20:45 EST Article-I.D.: ihuxf.1613 Posted: Fri Nov 4 14:20:45 1983 Date-Received: Mon, 7-Nov-83 21:39:25 EST Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, Il Lines: 180 X - 1 - Recent discussion in the news media of "the crisis in our schools" is interesting. While pondering this topic, glimpses of my own educational experience come to mind1. I graduated from high school in 1970. Some positive memories: o+ A short, elderly woman taught Analytic Geometry and Calculus in 11th and 12th grades. Although she rarely cracked a smile, this gray haired dynamo inspired her students. Every class was something to look forward to. I loved her quizzes, they were like solving mysteries. My questions were always answered with patience, and in sufficient detail. If she didn't know the answer, she said so, but did it in a way that showed her interest in finding out. o+ My high school drafting teacher showed a personal interest in the future of his students. Each week found this fellow bringing in some marvelously crafted mechanism that we could all explore together. Some negative memories: o+ A 4th grade teacher assigned the class a report on a topic of our choosing. I spent hours reading about the structure of flowers, then writing my report. After reading my report, she walked up to my desk, smiling, looking real friendly and understanding. She asked, "Oh, Bob, are you interested in flowers?" I responsed, "No, but I didn't know anything about flowers, and there seemed to be a lot written about them." Her smile became a frown. My report received a 'D'. She had interpreted my response to mean that I selected the topic because it was easy to write about. This left one angry, confused 10 year old! o+ A junior high school English teacher was convinced that my paper on "The History of American Lexicography" was just TOO good to be original. Her unfounded and incorrect accusation of plagiarism was used as justification for a low grade. What's a kid to do? __________ 1. The schools involved are part of the Westwood (N.J.) Public School System. - 2 - o+ A 7th grade science teacher insisted that sunspots were ALWAYS detrimental to radio transmissions. That con- tradicted my own observations. I had studied this sub- ject, out of my own curiosity, and presented references addressing this topic. Her response: "Oh, those are JUST MAGAZINES"2 End of discussion. I stopped asking questions in science class. o+ In 1968, my 10th grade Algebra teacher actually devoted over 33% of class time to discussions of the Vietnam war. It wasn't as if the war concerned the students to such a degree that they just had to get it off their chests ... these discussions were ALWAYS initiated by the teacher3. I wanted to learn Algebra. o+ My high school Physics teacher, entrusted with educat- ing college bound students, answered a question about wave propagation with the snide retort: "Like, man, why is the sky blue? Who knows?" This same teacher would also respond to questions by focusing class attention on some aspect of the questioner's appearance ("Hey, what are you, a pumpkin? I mean with that orange shirt and black pants...") I received a 'C' in Physics that year as a reward my curiosity4. I stopped asking questions in Physics class. By contrast, my undergraduate education, at a small private college5, was a truly enjoyable, satisfying experience. The competence of the professors and instructors was exceeded only by their ability to stimulate students. The professors spoke perfect English, and were quite eloquent6. Sure, __________ 2. Perhaps we computer scientist types are kidding ourselves by reading "CACM", "Computer", etc. :-) 3. The teacher was a young man of draft age. 4. I was a good Physics and Math student, getting straight A's in both subjects during college and graduate school. 5. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts. 6. Graduate school, at Purdue, was a different story. - 3 - there were "screw" exams and some real bores, but nothing's perfect. One unpleasant experience does stand out in my mind: I had just completed a large software package to plot histograms (bar graphs) for my CS201 course and was eager to use this neat 700 line FORTRAN program for something practical. A professor gave out a homework assignment in Statis- tics class. The details escape me. To satisfy this assignment, the other students analyzed baseball scores and submitted a single page of numbers. Being very inspired by the problem, I conducted a REAL experiment and submitted a complete report, along with several histograms produced my FORTRAN package. To my amazement, my efforts earned a 'C'. When I asked about this, the professor expressed doubt that I had really performed the experiment. He thought the histo- grams had been produced by some commercial package! He couldn't believe, at first, that someone would be interested in a simple homework assignment to the extent of doing extra work! My assignment was kicked up 2 grades after I showed him the source code listing for the histogram package. What is my point? This submission is not intended to express one. Future discussions in this area are likely to foment some suggestions. Does anyone else have interesting anecdotes about the "edu- cational experience?" -- ============================================================================ Robert S. Parnass, AT&T Bell Laboratories, ihnp4!ihuxf!parnass (312)979-5760