Is a one-size-fits-all list really a sound constraint on the desired solution? ISTM that the curriculum likely to suit each student will be idiosyncratic.
How do you plan to evaluate the quality of proposed solutions?
Is a one-size-fits-all list really a sound constraint on the desired solution? ISTM that the curriculum likely to suit each student will be idiosyncratic.
The task was to pick options that would constitute the set of eligible courses. The student would pick their course load from within that set. A “Directed Reading in X” course would be a fine answer, IMHO.
How do you plan to evaluate the quality of proposed solutions?
I’m not sure I’m getting the point of the exercise qua exercise. If this were a real-life opportunity my first inclination would be to explore how far I could stray from conventions and normal habits of thought. E.g. give the students themselves the task of designing the program for optimal results (which is why it’d help to define the results sought). So maybe the first thing they’d study would be the psychology of learning; math and probability theory would take a back seat to that, or would be taken as tools to understand the research on learning.
There are things it is rational to want, no matter what else you want. If you do not precisely know what you want, then the first thing you want is self-knowledge.
That’s a broad question. Specific examples: what is it about my brain that makes some topics (e.g. math) hard to absorb and others (e.g. languages) easier. How does the traditional lecture format compare to so-called experiential learning (students are set a problem to solve and given access to conceptual tools that may help solve it), in terms of retention, comprehension etc.
Constructivism to name only one theory holds roughly that knowledge is always created anew, not transferred. (Note in particular the section “Influence on computer science”.) Consider how this theory would change your predictions on what kinds of settings work well or poorly for learning.
Is a one-size-fits-all list really a sound constraint on the desired solution? ISTM that the curriculum likely to suit each student will be idiosyncratic.
How do you plan to evaluate the quality of proposed solutions?
I like how you think!
The task was to pick options that would constitute the set of eligible courses. The student would pick their course load from within that set. A “Directed Reading in X” course would be a fine answer, IMHO.
I don’t—this is a brainstorming exercise!
I’m not sure I’m getting the point of the exercise qua exercise. If this were a real-life opportunity my first inclination would be to explore how far I could stray from conventions and normal habits of thought. E.g. give the students themselves the task of designing the program for optimal results (which is why it’d help to define the results sought). So maybe the first thing they’d study would be the psychology of learning; math and probability theory would take a back seat to that, or would be taken as tools to understand the research on learning.
There are things it is rational to want, no matter what else you want. If you do not precisely know what you want, then the first thing you want is self-knowledge.
Thanks.
Can you tell me more about “the psychology of learning”?
That’s a broad question. Specific examples: what is it about my brain that makes some topics (e.g. math) hard to absorb and others (e.g. languages) easier. How does the traditional lecture format compare to so-called experiential learning (students are set a problem to solve and given access to conceptual tools that may help solve it), in terms of retention, comprehension etc.
Constructivism to name only one theory holds roughly that knowledge is always created anew, not transferred. (Note in particular the section “Influence on computer science”.) Consider how this theory would change your predictions on what kinds of settings work well or poorly for learning.