eli_sennesh comments on Rationality Quotes April 2014 - LessWrong

8 Post author: elharo 07 April 2014 05:25PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 06 April 2014 01:50:19PM 1 point [-]

It was probably mentioned in the earlier discussions, but I believe the "two humps" pattern can easily be explained by bad teaching. If it hapens in the whole profession, maybe no one has yet discovered a good way to teach it, because most of the people who understand the topic were autodidacts.

Bad teaching? There's an even simpler explanation (at least regarding programming): autodidacts with previous experience versus regular students without previous experience. The fact that the teaching is often geared towards the students with previous experience and suffers from a major tone of "Why don't you know this already?" throughout the first year or two of undergrad doesn't help a bit.

Comment author: Viliam_Bur 07 April 2014 08:22:51AM 1 point [-]

"I can teach you this only if you already know it" seems like bad teaching to me. Not sure if we are not just debating definitions here.

Comment author: [deleted] 07 April 2014 08:37:38AM 0 points [-]

I don't think we're even debating.

"I can teach you this only if you already know it" seems like bad teaching to me.

Yes, that is the definition of bad teaching. My assertion is that CS departments have gotten so damn complacent about receiving a steady stream of autodidact programmers as their undergrad entrants that they've stopped bothering with actually teaching low-level courses. They assign work, they expect to receive finished work, they grade the finished work, but it all relies on the clandestine assumption that the "good students" could already do the work when they entered the classroom.

Comment author: Viliam_Bur 07 April 2014 02:47:11PM 1 point [-]

Exactly.