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IP: Students getting worse?
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Sat, 09 Dec 2000 05:11:09 -0800
From: EDUCAUSE <EDUCAUSE () EDUCAUSE EDU> Subject: Edupage, December 8, 2000 [...] IT'S THE TECH-LITE GENERATION Many computer science and engineering majors today do not understand the fundamentals of how computers work, and colleges are modifying their curriculum to fill this gap. In the past, engineering majors came to college with experience in taking apart and rebuilding machines. However, today's engineering students "have never taken a toaster oven apart, certainly never built a radio," says Virginia Tech's Lynn Abbott. David Macaulay, author of "How Things Work," attributes the lack of understanding about computer architecture to computers themselves. Making a computer work typically requires pressing the right keys, not tearing the machine apart, Macaulay says. Concerned about this trend, colleges are beginning to offer courses that provide hands-on training. Virginia Tech, for example, requires students in Intro to Computer Engineering to build digital circuits. Arizona State University focuses on the design process and testing real designs, while the University of Colorado built a special lab to provide future engineers with hands-on design experience. At the same time, colleges are offering new "tech-lite" courses for non-technical majors who want to learn some basic technology skills. (Interactive Week, 4 December 2000)
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