At 07:35 13/10/2005, Toby Donaldson wrote: >I think when a kid says "engineering is too hard", they are also >saying that they don't see the rewards of engineering as very >significant. I really don't see kids as being afraid to work hard; >quite the opposite, I am often amazed at how hard students will work >on something that is interesting and valuable to them.
Could it also be because Engineering is never advertised as being creative? Certainly when I was looking at doing civil & environmental engineering it was sold as "You get to direct large machines, follow someone else's plans, and make sure the concrete is poured in the right place". OK a bit of an overexaggeration, but no creativity or innovation appeared in the description. I would have loved to study cartography or photography which would satisfy my creativity, but neither had good job prospects, so I did physics instead (which is supposed to - if you want to employ a masters graduate who's done his project on teaching programming to unwilling physics undergraduates, contact me). >Doctors and nurses make a difference every day. This is why they put >up with grueling work schedules. They love their jobs, and they see >first-hand the difference they make. The rewards are tangible and >obvious ("for every death a birth, for every sickness a cure"). Mind you that applies to most jobs, from journalist to author to teacher to musician. I've yet to meet a passionate accountant, which leads me back to the role of creativity in a job. Peter -- Maple Design - quality web design and programming http://www.mapledesign.co.uk _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig