How Teaching Computer Science Has Changed (Forbes)

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Forbes features Professor Thomas Cormen’s response to a question originally posed on the website Quora: How has teaching computer science changed over the last 30 years?

In the 1970s, says Cormen, a professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science, “Every run of a program was precious. … when my program did not work correctly, I had to take my output and go over it methodically, simulating the program line by line, until I figured out where the error lay. It made me really understand my programs.”

He continues, “Then there’s today. Students have their own computers, which is a good thing, but the computer helps them maybe too much. … No need to understand your program; just randomly morph it until it works. And then, once it works, you don’t know why it worked. You’re just happy that it did, and you go on to the next thing.“

Read the full story, published 12/8/14 by Forbes via Quora.

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