Computer science students can't be taught to install anything more obscure than the most popular app, I guess.

  • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
    ·
    3 months ago

    10 years ago when I started college, I watched 100s of freshman lug their g*mer laptops into the lab for tutoring the night the intro CS class homework was due. They were too busy the rest of the week gaming to do the homework, so they began 4 hours before it was due and begged for help.

    Most of them didn't make it to their sophomore year. I don't feel that bad, the work load was not that heavy, the tutors were there every day of the week. I had a really hard time grasping programming at first, so I was there daily. The homeworks were given a week ahead of time, the lecture notes spelled out 80% of the solution, and the tutors loved to help. The students just didn't want the help.

    This conjures a similar feeling. idk maybe I'm being a dick.

    • Inui [comrade/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      I don't think you're being a dick. I've worked with college students extensively and the reality is that many of them don't actually want to be there or think they can skate by without really putting work in. Some of those people probably had legitimate excuses, but many people just prioritize other things or don't quite yet have the habits or emotional discipline they need. And that's fine but they're not the ones to be catered to or else professors lose all compassion and refuse to give any leniency because they've been played by the late submission gamers too many times.

    • keepcarrot [she/her]
      ·
      3 months ago

      I remember being this. I was hideously depressed and experiencing my first vaguely supportive community. It was what it was

      • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
        ·
        3 months ago

        I knew a few folks who were on the depressed side and I didn't mean to lump them in. I saw a lot of it first hand and the behavior was different ime. Like the lazy kids were very "give me the answer" while the people having a seriously hard time were not pushy and sorta silently fell behind.

        A lot of my friends didn't make it to graduation. It was really hard seeing it happen but they weren't in a headspace to accept help. A couple times a month there'd be a classmate who would just stop showing up.