Re: [OT] Software Engineering at 14 (was: Re: Beginner's Language?)

[peter.schuller@infidyne.com (Peter Schuller)]

>I actually meant to ask if you checked out Brown University.
>From what I remember, they don't have any core requirements.

Oh. I think I had a look, but I don't remember if I checked out the CORE
situation (I "dumped" a lot for other reasons).

>It probably has something to do with accreditation, though I
>don't see how it would have such an effect. Seems like a
>marketing excuse, for the most part.

Possibly. If there are indeed many universities that doesn't have CORE -
that's a good thing IMO. 

>You gain a useful perspective. It's something that comes
>along naturally as you learn facts even without you being
>necessarily aware of it.

Very true. But re-iterating the same parts of history mulitple times doesn't
add much to it. And that's what I've been doing. I learned a lot of good
stuff in history in the 9th grade (good teacher, interesting material). In
the "10th grade" (first grade at the gymnasium level) I didn't get anything
out of it.

> And who's to say that you won't
> be interested in it?

I am :) It is obviously not a black and white situation; and there is much
room for making bad and/or un-informed decisions. But the decisions should
be yours to make, not the system's.

>This is an idealistic but wildly impractical view. It's not
>that easy to evaluate others based on those principles alone.

I agree. However the overall "attitude" of the educational system shows no
indication of even trying to reach those goals.

>Besides, there are some other things to consider, such as
>potential, aptitude, character, social status, etc.

Of course. As long as it's relevant.

>Of course that's why there are things like the GED test and a
>number of other standardized exams. Besides, nothing stops you
>from getting a high school diploma while studying other things.
>You could also take classes at a local college.

That might solve getting into it, but there's still the degree issue.

>I see that as *more* of a problem in a system that divides kids
>into separate schools and specialized courses. It creates those
>artificial requirements, for kids who haven't learned to deal
>with them.

I'm not proposing anything like that. I just want choice. That's all. No
segregation or anything; just let people pick their own courses if they want
to - and without going to extra-ordinary means in order to do so.

>You're saying that as if one system offers more choices than
>the other. There's no such dichotomy here. In any system, if
>you choose to go to a certain school, you are limited by its
>course offerings and graduation requirements. The question
>is, which limitations are beneficial or necessary and which
>ones aren't.

Yes, but when the system works such that if you don't silently accept
everything and do what everyone's expected to do you're in "trouble", that's
when it gets bad. Obviously, if someone chooses to go with a program where
you have 50% required courses, that's fine. My point is that alternate
choices aren't considered equally valid, nor are they as commonly available.

-- 
/ Peter Schuller, InfiDyne Technologies HB

PGP userID: 0xE9758B7D or 'Peter Schuller <peter.schuller@infidyne.com>'
Key retrival: Send an E-Mail to getpgpkey@scode.org
E-Mail: peter.schuller@infidyne.com Web: http://www.scode.org