Computer Association of SIUE - Forums

I would go one step further than RK and say that freshmen/sophomores definitely want to try and get a co-op/internship, be it with Monsanto or some other company.  Allow me to list my reason.

1) Find out early if you really want to do this for a living.
2) It will make school easier.
3) Later when you want that really cool co-op you have more experience than other people.
4) Even later when you want to get a job all the co-op/intern experience will make a big difference, unless you're a complete jack-ass.
5) You can sample different companies to see what kind of place you want to work.
6) What else were you going to do with your summer?

I think there are more reasons but this will do for now.

For the freshmen/sophomores:  Don't be discouraged from attending just because you're not looking for permanent employment anytime soon.  Monsanto hires a ton of co-ops from pretty much every level of education.  At least check out the meet and greet to find out some more information.  Some SIUE alumni will be presenting, and I will also be on hand in order to help answer any questions about Monsanto from the POV of a current co-op. 

Sorry about the last minute post!

As shown on the blog post on the main page, there is a Meet and Greet from Monsanto THIS THURSDAY at 4pm in Room 1010 of the Engineering Building. Please refer to the main blog post for more information.

Those skills are undeniable.  I have them.

Quote from: William Grim on 2010-09-18T01:03:45-05:00 (Saturday)
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Programming-Dummies-Wallace-Wang/dp/0470088702

Boom, baby!

[lightbox url=http://caos.cs.siue.edu/gallery2/d/1720-2/mike_grim_after_winning_prize.jpg caption="Mike Grim after Winning a Prize" set=g2image][/lightbox]

http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Programming-Dummies-Wallace-Wang/dp/0470088702

Boom, baby!

and if we were studying material that is covered by the "for dummies" series, your point might be relevant. 

I hear Reading for Dummies is interesting and written in an interesting way as all the Dummies books try to be.

I wasn't really talking about using the video for the course.  I was thinking more along the lines of using the structure of the course.  That is of course working under the assumption that a course and its associated materials are thoroughly planned out before the Professor gives his/her first lecture. 

One of the reasons I like sites like Khan Academy, MIT OpenCourseware, Academic Earth, and others is the fact that if I don't understand a concept I can just rewind it a bit and watch it again.  I think the future of the University will almost require tapping into some of those same benefits of technology. I know most SIUE professors will abhor the concept of recording their lectures, but it would be beneficial to the education process.  This would be especially true in courses that you know will not be offered again anytime soon, such as your client/server course or the Unix Programming course. I would be very interested in the information that is shared in both of these courses, but schedule issues prevented it. 

As far as reading the books goes, at least in my case, I read the text from books that seem less like reference material and more like a teaching aide.  Just like I don't sit down and read an encyclopedia, I won't sit down an read a listing of what each individual bit in the header of an ATM packet signifies.  When it seems like a majority of the material in a course textbook is written this way, I tend to stop reading the book altogether pretty quickly.  Books that are written with an attempt at being interesting as opposed to purely informational have far more educational value for me at least.  Unfortunately, I think these are looked down upon in academia because they're not as objective.

I'm taking the appropriate (imnsho) from the this forum. I'll look at the Pragmatic Programmer. BTW, I like getting suggestions for improvement from people (even you). I may not accept your suggestion, but it invariably causes me to think about what we are doing.

Python? There are many factors to consider when selecting a language for a course. Just one of those factors is the available resources. I can't help but wonder, if an instructor (department, ... whatever) simply took an freely-available source and re-presented it to students, would the students feel cheated? I've thought I could teach that iPhone programming class by turning on a projector and getting the right iTunesU video to show on the right day.

Easy for me.
Value for students?

One could argue that is what we do with textbooks, but since students don't read textbooks, it probably isn't obvious to the average student.


Which takes this thread further afield than butterflies (maybe) ... what is the role of the University in a information-is-free society (not that we are there, yet)?

(I do like butterflies. Especially in a far field.)