Good ideas for fixing our broken education system

http://www.wired.com/culture/education/magazine/17-09/st_essay

The dust settles...what remains.

I received an email updating me on the situation. I have been wholly consumed with my other responsibilities. What follows is a modified annotation of the details.

Currently, computer science here at WWU is technically not a department, but a program. Even though there is no departmental chair for computer science, everything else is pretty much the same. Jim Klein is in charge of academic and curricular issues for CS, and Ken Wiggins is in charge of the budget. The request for establishing criteria for reinstating CS as a department has been submitted to administration and they have conveyed agreement with the request. These criteria will probably be determined during the 2009-2010 school year.

The courses that Anthony Aaby taught have been divided among Jonathan Duncan, Larry Aamodt, and Jim Klein. Jonathan Duncan has a double major in Math and CS from WWU, graduating in the class of 1997. He recently completed his masters in computer science along with a PhD in math at Indiana University. Jonathan’s involvement in CS is on loan from the math department for two years.

Jim Klein is heading up the creation of a CS advisory board to lend more weight to the opinions of CS alumni to better equip the department to address issues regarding computer science with the WWU administration and university board.

A Dilbert Moment

One of the major mistakes of the ignorant is the misconception that the study of computer science just means that you learn how to program. This could not be further from reality.

Technical schools have been churning out trained monkeys under this pretext. Is there anything special about Cirque du Soleil -- or can anyone that learns acrobatics do what they do?

There is obviously something more to it than just the observed execution of acrobatic training. There is an understanding that transcends the skill itself. Teaching acrobatics will never equate to training Cirque du Soleil performers. Teaching programming will never equate to training computer scientists.

And what would be the point exactly in pontificating about it on this blog?

Computer scientists inherently understand little nuances that most people never know exist until they run unceremoniously into them.

Say for example, that you operate a business that has an immediate cash flow problem. You know that salary and benefits are your largest drain on cash -- so you propose terminating some employees. You want to be fair so you choose employees that are part of "underperforming" departments. You create a spreadsheet to document cash savings projected out a year to show your supervisors and get their approval. Done. Problem solved.

Maybe. How accurate was your savings projection? Did you model reality correctly? Did you account for little nuances like employment contracts? Hope so, because calculating ROI (return on investment) in that slick little spreadsheet should really take into account severance packages.

For example, you wouldn't want to end up terminating an employee "to save money" only to discover that you missed the fact that their contract stipulates that upon termination you owe them a year's salary plus benefits.

Yes, it is easy to nitpick from the sidelines. Still, a textbook Dilbert moment for sure.

The Princess at the Keyboard: Why Girls Should Become Computer Scientists

Amanda Stent and Philip Lewis have written a gentle, friendly and comprehensive introduction to computer science. Each chapter covers one area of computer science and includes: examples of how the computer science works; sidebars that contain historical notes or ideas for you to explore; and biographies of women in computer science. The last chapter covers questions that you might have about becoming a computer scientist. We hope that after reading this book you will want to join us in studying this uniquely beautiful and practical subject.

Link: Full article

CS enrollment trends

It looks like CS enrollment trends are starting to rebound.

NY Times, March 16, 2009 Computer Science Programs Make a Comeback in Enrollment

Answers to some questions + Moving Forward

I talked with Jodi Wagner today for nearly 45 minutes. I can put forth an answer to some of the earlier questions.

1. WWU administration have taken steps to avoid cutting personnel. Reducing administrative staff, auxiliary support staff, and existing staff hours -- even as far as cutting back on consumables like paper towels, etc.
2. Overall enrollment is down in all schools, and not just at walla walla university. The computer science program is not the only department in dire straights right now -- the current action of reducing staff FTEs is an immediate action made to triage the immediate monetary shortfall. There is also effort being expended to maintain the computer science major despite the necessity of cutting an FTE.
3. Contemplating both the possible and probable effects of cutting the computer science program have contributed energy to the effort of finding a way to keep the computer science program alive.

Moving Forward

We talked about the ideal situation and how to foster motion towards improving enrollment. We discussed:

• Business department's alumni advisement committee -- specifically how active they are in talking to potential students; the computer science program needs this
• Why should a 18 year old consider computer science @ WWU?
  1. Over a technical school like Devry
  2. Over a community college
  3. Over a state run university like UW/WSU
  4. Over other private universities like Whitman/Whitworth
  5. Over other SDA universities like Southern
• Why would you want to go to school in a small place like Walla Walla?
• Why would you want to study computer science?
  1. Who invented the Internet -- hint: it wasn't a politician
  2. The reality is that you will be in front of a computer for most of your job -- so the real question is if you want to only use software or do you want to create software too
• Getting interested alumni together to talk to prospective students about computer science.
• Why advertising is shunned by engineers, computer science, mathematicians, and the like -- how to get the word out to those that have the spark -- how to get the word out without advertising

Possible Questions To Ask Tonight

1. What steps have you enacted to avoid cutting personnel?
2. Does the fact that previous reports erroneously have the cs program much worse off then current reality play any role in maintaining the current course of action? Or is it the decision of those in charge that it is too difficult to turn this ship around? -- If so few students can have such an impact in the measured "health" of the department, why is the program on the cutting block?
3. Have they weighed the full impact of the cs program cut on both actual engineering enrollment as well as future engineering enrollment?