[Edu-sig] Low Enrollments - programming as anit-intellectualism.

[John Zelle]

Arthur wrote:
> A business trip had me passing through New Haven.  As a lover of books, and
> therefore bookstores, I took the opportunity to stop to look for a bookstore
> near the Yale campus - figuring I would find a bookstore with significantly
> more depth than those to which I normally have access.
>

I'm a big bookstore fan too. It's the best place to go when you want to 
learn about some hot new technology ;-). It's not necesarily the place I 
go for a liberal education.

> I was right.
> 
> I will make this short.  
> 
> Without a question (IMO) - the least interesting section of the bookstore
> was the Computer area.  Hundreds of how-tos on the commercial technologies
> currently hot. The end.

They stock these books because that's what sells. Professionals buy 
books to learn new technologies. There are many such professionals in 
the New Haven area.

> Nothing worth talking about that precedes the current hot technologies - one
> would conclude from the book selection. 

Yes, one might conclude that from the book selections. But that would be 
a silly conclusion.

> Why would anyone spend $40,000 a year to study how-tos of technologies that
> will be obsolete by the time they are 30 - if not before.  
> 

One would be a fool to do this. Fortunately, that is not a description 
of very many academic programs, certainly not those in the liberal arts 
tradition (the ones you pay $40,000 for). On the other hand, if you 
actually ask students what they look for in a CS program, this is 
exactly the answer you'll often get. They _think_ they want to learn 
about all the latest hot technologies. It's more likely they don't go 
into CS because they perceive (correctly, in our opinion) it's not 
primarily about that.

> I am no more an intellectual than I am a comedian. But give me a good
> stand-up, or a facile, learned mind to try to follow and digest.

I don't understand how this is precluded, just because certain kinds of 
technical books have a big market. If I look at the "psychology" section 
of a bookstore, I see tons of titles on self-improvement, birth order, 
quantum conciousness, and other assorted new-age poppycock. What does 
any of that have to do with the academic study of psychology? I 
certainly don't conclude from this that the study of psychology would be 
a waste of money. Bookstores are measures of markets, not of academic 
practice or worth.

> Programming as an academic subject area is *way*, *way* off track  - to the
> extent my little browse of yesterday was indicative of anything - which I do
> believe it was.  
> 

What you saw has very little to do with programming as an academic 
subject. Actually, most CS types would say that programming itself is 
not an academic subject; rather it is a skill of some importance to the 
study of "real" academic subjects such as Computer Science.  I 
personally think programming teaches wonderful habits of mind including 
problem-solving, modeling/abstraction, mastering complexity, and 
attention to detail. But please don't confuse technology books with a CS 
curriculum.

And again, I'm sorry to say that from where I sit, even fewer students 
would express an interest in CS if it were really presented to them in 
its academic glory. Technology is often a useful "hook" that can help to 
get them jazzed on more fundamental enduring principles and "deep" ideas.

--John

-- 
John M. Zelle, Ph.D.             Wartburg College
Professor of Computer Science    Waverly, IA
john.zelle at wartburg.edu          (319) 352-8360