I mean this is a story as old as time. Really, abstract math problems like this I don’t think really make great programmers. Someone with good memory can just memorize these things and I knew plenty of people who were smart enough to memorize things but couldn’t think critically and people who could think critically but needed a calculator for simple math.
At a certain point we need to accept people put in what they want to get out of it. Business schools largely take this approach because grading someone’s understanding of management theory is really hard. This is why you could take a person with average intelligence and they’ll make it through Harvard Business School or other high profile schools. I’d be okay with schools just doing away with tests or making them optional, along with grading. Maybe have a simple pass fail. Who is it going to hurt? No one ever asked me what grades I had in school.
If people are shocked at the idea that someone from certain schools could get a degree without trying very hard that’s incredibly elitist and frankly off-putting. It makes schools seem like they are just gatekeepers to getting a good job, and I’d like to see education for education’s sake, not just training programs for FAANG, and before them investment banks.
Edit: Stanford at one point very early on (~2002?) had their entire undergrad CS and Engineering catalog it seemed online with video, course notes, tests, etc. They seem to largely gotten rid of it for some reason but it was a fantastic resource. I was getting my degree elsewhere but diligently went through the entire curriculum. I missed a lot not being able to talk to other students and ask for help when stuck but I did it while I was getting my degree in something unrelated. I wish more schools would do this and update it. I’d love to refresh my education and maybe add some graduate studies in there. Get a discord and talk it out with people who are also well into their professional careers and want to just keep the continued learning.
I mean this is a story as old as time. Really, abstract math problems like this I don’t think really make great programmers. Someone with good memory can just memorize these things and I knew plenty of people who were smart enough to memorize things but couldn’t think critically and people who could think critically but needed a calculator for simple math.
At a certain point we need to accept people put in what they want to get out of it. Business schools largely take this approach because grading someone’s understanding of management theory is really hard. This is why you could take a person with average intelligence and they’ll make it through Harvard Business School or other high profile schools. I’d be okay with schools just doing away with tests or making them optional, along with grading. Maybe have a simple pass fail. Who is it going to hurt? No one ever asked me what grades I had in school.
If people are shocked at the idea that someone from certain schools could get a degree without trying very hard that’s incredibly elitist and frankly off-putting. It makes schools seem like they are just gatekeepers to getting a good job, and I’d like to see education for education’s sake, not just training programs for FAANG, and before them investment banks.
Edit: Stanford at one point very early on (~2002?) had their entire undergrad CS and Engineering catalog it seemed online with video, course notes, tests, etc. They seem to largely gotten rid of it for some reason but it was a fantastic resource. I was getting my degree elsewhere but diligently went through the entire curriculum. I missed a lot not being able to talk to other students and ask for help when stuck but I did it while I was getting my degree in something unrelated. I wish more schools would do this and update it. I’d love to refresh my education and maybe add some graduate studies in there. Get a discord and talk it out with people who are also well into their professional careers and want to just keep the continued learning.