Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pdn!reggie
From: reggie@pdn.UUCP (George W. Leach)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Student Preparedness
Message-ID: <5382@pdn.UUCP>
Date: 16 Jan 89 13:50:25 GMT
References: <13432@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Reply-To: reggie@pdn.UUCP (George W. Leach)
Organization: Paradyne Corporation,   Largo FL
Lines: 68

In article <13432@bellcore.bellcore.com> duncan@ctt.bellcore.com (Scott Duncan) writes:

>Should very many be expected to commit to such an expense -- they have many
>courses and buying "every" book on the subject is a tremendous commitment!  I
>would expect people at the very least in their Senior year to have at least
>looked at or read "every" book in a specific area of interest.

    Lots of folks in graduate school don't go this far!  I think one of the
problems is finding an area in which to concentrate that really stimulates
the student.  Undergradutes are presented with a great variety of material,
but at an introductory level.  In graduate school the student should concentrate
on a few areas, but in greater depth.

[Commenting on Eric Green's suggestion to check out the literature on a topic]
>I think that's a good idea, only many introductory books (first year) don't
>reference many "papers" that students might easily find available.  I think an
>enterprising instructor might want to try to make such things available as an
>extension of source materials -- so thanks for that idea.

    I did at one time, but one must be extremely careful not to dump too much
information on the "introductory" level student.  If every week I hand out
papers for them to read, it may turn more people off than on.  The quality
and appropriate content for an introductory level student is more important
than the quantity of papers.  I will only hand out a paper to an introductory
level class if it is outstanding and fits in well with what we are discussing.
The introductory level student will not be as willing to read a lengthy paper
as a junior or senior.  Also, many papers in the literature require some basic
knowledge in the subject matter that these students just don't have at this
point!  Many tutorial or survey papers, while written for the novice in a
particular subject area, require some level of basic general CS knowledge.

      I will try to draw from the literature to add to the course
content.  Essentially I must act as a filter to derive appropriate information
from the literature and present it in the class so that it makes sense for
my students.  The temptation to show the introductory level class the wealth
of information that is available on the course subject is great.  But one must
remember that in order to learn how to walk, one must learn how to crawl first!




[Eric Green writes:]
>>I don't know how to impart upon students the self-confidence needed to
>>participate in class and pursue outside questions.

>I would like some suggestions about how folks have addressed this.  I always
>felt a bit more responsible for students than just to teach the material (even
>well) since I dealt with first year students (or some second year in a commun-
>ity college setting).


      I think this discussion is not just isolated to instructor/student
relationships, but to many situations in life.  There are people, who just
are not good at dealing with others, especially others who don't have as
much experience and knowledge as themselves.  Take a look at any profession.
There are people who take new people under their wing, show them the ropes,
etc...  There are others who wouldn't give such people the time of day and
go out of their way to antagonize them.  My assessment of the situation is
the former types of people feel comfortable with themselves while the later
need to feed their fragile egos due to their own feelings of inadequacy.



-- 
George W. Leach					Paradyne Corporation
..!uunet!pdn!reggie				Mail stop LG-129
Phone: (813) 530-2376				P.O. Box 2826
						Largo, FL  USA  34649-2826