Where we fail at teaching programming @ WebCamp Ljubljana

My take on the problems we have in computer science education and a few results of a research we've done while building Zamphyr, a digital-first school for computer science. #webcampsi @webcampsi

Transcript

1. Where we fail at teaching
   programming
   Marko Kažić
   

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3. Digital-first CS school
   zamphyr.com
   

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4. State of CS education
   • Traditional education is industrial
   • Traditional education is trumped by self education
   • Self education is not necessarily better
   • It prevails due to inadequacy of colleges to educate for work
   • It prevails due to the need to specialize
   • It prevails because it’s easier to personalize
   • Regurgitation (Remember & repeat)
   

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5. Another day gone by, and I didn't need cos and sin.
   

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6. Value and evaluation
   • What do we teach – is valuable?
   • Courses give data but not knowledge
   • House !== Heap of bricks, planks, wires and a welcome mat
   • Repeating what you heard doesn’t make you an academic
   • It makes you a parrot
   

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7. CSS
   IS
   AWESOME?
   

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9. Instead – this
   

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10. “To see the future of education,
    we must look to future of work.”
    

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11. Test me not
     Learn how to glue stuff together
     Project-based learning
     Competency and real value
     Good for the industry
    

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12. “If we can fix education,
    we can eventually do everything else.”
    YCombinator, Request for Startups
    

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13. Computer Science NOW
    1. Algebra I
    2. Programming I
    3. Intro to Electronics
    4. Physics
    5. English (beginner)
    6. Sociology
    7. Data structures and algorithms
    8. Fundamentals of computer technics
    9. Programming II
    10.Intro to business communication
    11.Management
    12.Probability and statistics
    

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14. Computer Science 3000
    1. Fundamentals of web
    2. Fundamentals of programming
    3. Data structures and algorithms
    4. HTML/CSS
    5. JavaScript
    6. Design patterns
    7. Code management and versioning
    8. Environment and workflow augmentation
    

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15. The new, bold & digital education
    1. Digital as the natural habitat
    2. Beat the cult of the average
    3. No bureaucracy to trample innovation
    4. Better access to learning resources
    5. Fragmentation no more
    6. Institutional perpetual learning
    

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16. Change.
    

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