Modern Electronics (was Re: List charter mods & headcount... ;

From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
Date: Wed Jun 23 16:58:00 2004

> I'm not sure if I agree with the current trend toward open book exams -
> yes, in the real world, chances are you will have reference material
> handy. But the current attitude of most people I've known who have taken
> such exams is that they don't need to actually know anything, because
> they can just bluff their way through it in an exam by reading the book
> and get sufficient marks to pass.

This, alas, simply shows that the examiners are clueless. It's perfectly
possible to produce questions that can't be answered by simply looking
things up in books. Yes the books will be useful, but if you're clueless,
you'll not be able to do the exam.

>
> Then these people go out into the real world and they can't think for
> shit - as soon as an oddball problem hits them they're just incapable of
> working it through to a solution as they're too used to just being able
> to read the answer in a book right when they need it.

This proves that it's possible to distinguish the clueful from the
clueless even if they both have the appropriate books :-)

> I'm amazed at how often the fundamentals that we were taught have helped
> me work some problem out - and I've lost track of how many of the later
> generations of graduates I've had to deal with who just can't think

So, alas, have I :-(. These people have no 'feel' for the subject,
they'll produce 'solutions' that either can't work at all, or which are
totally impractical (ridiculously long run times, ridiculously
close-tolerance components, etc).

> properly because all they've been taught is how to push a mouse around a
> screen.
>
> Interesting the point somone made about the games industry stagnating
> because there's no innovation any more. I think that's true of the whole
> industry - the current generation of students are rarely taught the
> basics and how to drive a GUI. They get good pass marks for doing this,

I suspect that was my commment, and yes I agree with you. Progress does
not come by simply using that which is used now. It comes from
understanding that which is used, along with that which came before, (and
all the way back to the fundamentals) and then modifying it in some way.

-tony
Received on Wed Jun 23 2004 - 16:58:00 BST