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The perfect IT Education? (IT/Nerd Alert)
Posted on 07/27/2003 9:24:31 AM PDT by BushCountry
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Just would like some input from the experts @ Freerepublic. Thank you in advance.
To: BushCountry
"Electives (Degree - 2 courses) - Students are required to take a 3-credit-hour humanities/fine arts course and a 3-credit-hour social/behavioral science course. For once, I am at a loss for words. These courses are suppose to make the IT professional a well-rounded individual. I would like to find a more practical use for these 6 credit hours. Any suggestions?"
One focus here could be on typography, graphic design, human factors of perception, marketing psychology, and such factors relevant to the websites that many IT-hacks inevitably design. Basically, an artsy-fartsy creative web-design course.
To: BushCountry
For those who can't afford to go back to school, or have already "been there, done that", I have started a list of books I think everyone in IT should have in their technical library, feel free to add your own.
1. Design Patterns (The Gang of Four Book)
2. Refactoring - Fowler
3. Mythical Man-Month - Brooks
4. Professional XML
5. Patterns of Enterprise Software Architecture - Fowler
6. Beyond Software Architecure - Hohmann
7. Crossing the Chasm - Moore
8. The Cathedral and the Bazaar - Raymond
9. The Design of Everyday Things - Norman
10. The Peopleware Papers - Constantine
3
posted on
07/27/2003 9:34:36 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
To: BushCountry
I would also include a madatory course in English Composition.
To: BushCountry
Fact is as long as the Democrats can keep the nation divided and for the most part uneducated they can do as they please.
Their obstructionism is killing America and the legal system aids them.
America is much closer to a dictatorship than most believe. If the liberals ever have firm control of the Supreme Court it will happen.
5
posted on
07/27/2003 9:40:51 AM PDT
by
gunnedah
To: dfwgator
What a list, I am aware of only two or three books on it. I will check them out. Thanks.
6
posted on
07/27/2003 9:41:06 AM PDT
by
BushCountry
(To the last, I will grapple with Democrats. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at Liberals.)
To: BushCountry
How about we make the fine arts course focuse on public domain literature, blogging and correct copyright usage.
The science course could be on marketing psychology.
7
posted on
07/27/2003 9:42:17 AM PDT
by
Valpal1
(Impeach the 9th! Please!!)
To: BushCountry
Electives (Degree - 2 courses) - Students are required to take a 3-credit-hour humanities/fine arts course and a 3-credit-hour social/behavioral science course. For once, I am at a loss for words. These courses are suppose to make the IT professional a well-rounded individual. I would like to find a more practical use for these 6 credit hours. Any suggestions? These are the type of courses that just make life miserable, and discourage potentially great engineers from going through the non-sense. Why not say the truth " these courses will NOT make you a better person, they are extortion to help fund educators/courses that have no viable purpose at an institution of higher education"
Forcing a person to take course on morals and ethics does not make a moral or ethical person. It simply is a extortion of money from a trapped student, directly into the coffers of the department in which the student must donate. The college exists to sell it's product (education) to the customer (student). The student buys the skills he/she needs to pursue the career of choice. To force a student to take unrelated courses makes as much sense as forcing a person to buy a car and a Balsa wood entertainment center (Balsa entertainment centers just aren't selling like the Liberals would like to see them sold; so they will be a conditional requirement for purchasing a car).
8
posted on
07/27/2003 9:42:41 AM PDT
by
Hodar
(With Rights, comes Responsibilities. Don't assume one, without assuming the other.)
To: Valpal1
Not a bad suggestion! That makes a lot of practical sense.
9
posted on
07/27/2003 9:43:33 AM PDT
by
BushCountry
(To the last, I will grapple with Democrats. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at Liberals.)
To: BushCountry
I have about a dozen people in my IT group. I hired about half of them. Only one of my people has a formal education in computer science. In fact not only do I not give much weight to a CS degree, in many cases it has been my reason to toss out a resume from the pile.
I have one with a masters in english. One with a BA in classics/latin, one with a BA in Lit, and a few with no BA/BS at all but a great record of experience. I have a BA in accounting.
The hardest thing to find is IT staff that are good with people. Lots of people are good with machines, but rarer is the person who is good with machines AND good with people. IT is far more about dealing with users than it is about dealing with machines. I tell them "First: you fix the user, THEN you can move on to fix the machine."
10
posted on
07/27/2003 9:46:35 AM PDT
by
Ramius
To: Semper Paratus
I would also include a madatory course in English Composition.You are 100% correct on that recommendation. Otherwise, they ought to read the entire line of O'rielly books and a promising career is within reach.
To: Semper Paratus
I would also include a madatory course in English Composition. Writing skills! Amen to that. The other oft-ignored skill is public speaking. Lots of IT people at all levels will end up needing to speak to groups. Training sessions, demos, that sort of thing.
12
posted on
07/27/2003 9:49:40 AM PDT
by
Ramius
To: BushCountry
I recommend courses on Indian Culture and Indian Political Science. And maybe a non-credit course on procedures to immigrate to India.
To: BushCountry
Where are your African-American History, and Womyn's Studies courses? What about "Sensitivity in a Diverse, Multicultural World"? Without proper grounding, your students will be loose cannons ...
14
posted on
07/27/2003 9:54:37 AM PDT
by
spodefly
(This is my tagline. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)
To: HennepinPrisoner
LOL. But there is some ring of truth there. Like it or not, we are going to have to work and play well with others from different cultures, so the person who does have more knowledge of the world outside of the US is definately going to have an edge. That's just the way it is.
15
posted on
07/27/2003 9:55:06 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
To: BushCountry
Computer programming and problem solving. This course should be based on html, html help, java script, and SQL.No. A course such as that should avoid language-specific instruction. In all reality, what language you use would depend on what you seek to accomplish. A course such as this should introduce would-be, or existing, programmers to programming methodologies that work, rather than teaching a specific langauge... just my opinion, of course...
16
posted on
07/27/2003 9:56:39 AM PDT
by
Chad Fairbanks
(Some days, it's just not worth gnawing through the straps...)
To: Chad Fairbanks
Actually I would start everyone out with Assembler. It helps them to see what's behind the "magic."
17
posted on
07/27/2003 9:57:56 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
To: BushCountry
This course should be based on html, html help, java script, and SQL.
Bwahahahaha!....
18
posted on
07/27/2003 9:58:36 AM PDT
by
dr_who_2
To: BushCountry
bump
19
posted on
07/27/2003 9:59:53 AM PDT
by
VOA
To: dfwgator
Excellent point. However, that would be a class all its own - If people want to learn a programming language, have classes on them, but only AFTER they understand the math and methodolgies behind the languages... :0)
I mean, anyone can "learn VB in 21 days", but if they have no grounding in anything else, how good of a VB Programmer could they ever really be?
20
posted on
07/27/2003 10:01:07 AM PDT
by
Chad Fairbanks
(Some days, it's just not worth gnawing through the straps...)
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