> To follow the example of the automotive mechanic: Universities think they > are producing Mechanical Engineers, not automobile mechanics.
Train the Mechanical Engineering students entirely in theory, turn them loose at Ford, and unless somebody who really does work on cars steps in to prevent it they end up designing a car whose oil filter can only be changed after removing the battery. Theory and abstract concepts are clearly important but it seems to me that these should not be so completely divorced from real world considerations as they often are when taught in the Universities. Also for those folks who need to learn something practical in subject A to help them with their primary work in subject B finding only a highly theoretical presentation of A is of dubious value. For instance, a lot of scientists and engineers in many disciplines often need to wire together circuits and write programs, and not in theory, but in practice. Their needs may be a lot closer to the electrician and programmer than either the EE or CS departments would care to address, but if they don't teach to this need who will? Should the Physics, Chemical Engineering, or Biology departments be teaching separate "practical circuit design" and "introduction to programming" courses? Regards, David Mathog [EMAIL PROTECTED] Manager, Sequence Analysis Facility, Biology Division, Caltech _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, [email protected] To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
