4 ms·

I have a theory where the bimodal distributions comes from two sets of people: one set focused only passing the course/assignment/test, the other set focused on

by meric 10y ago

I have a theory where the bimodal distributions comes from two sets of people: one set focused only passing the course/assignment/test, the other set focused on actually knowing the content. Appearance and substance.

mafribe 10y ago
Interesting theory. I have a different one, derived from teaching 1000s of students over 2 decades. the bimodal distributions comes from two sets of people: one set working hard and putting the hours in until the master the subject, the other set being lazy, cheating, and don't put the hours in, so they never achieve mastery. Appearance and substance.
- kgwgk 10y ago
  How is it different?
  - meric 10y ago
    "The ten-thousand thing-kinds are ultimately alike and ultimately different. This is called the great similarity-difference." - Zhuangzi
  - Bartweiss 10y ago
    In meric's model, the student who get good grades aren't the same ones achieving mastery. In mafribe's, they are.
    - meric 10y ago
      I must insist although "achieving mastery" is clearer than "knowing the content", I meant the same. It would probably help if I wrap "knowing" in asterisks like "knowing the content".
splatcollision 10y ago
FYI, you have an untested hypothesis, not a theory. Unless you have done some research somewhere. Sorry for the pedantics!
- hueving 10y ago
  Poster was using the dictionary definition[1], the the scientific one. 1. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theory http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theory
bonoboTP 10y ago
That's my experience too. There are those who want to get a degree with the least amount of work and don't really find the topic interesting. And then there are those who will discuss it and debate it before/after class, etc. Good test to tell them apart: if the lecturer mistakenly starts to talk about stuff that he already said in the last lecture (i.e. mistakenly doing the last one again), the first group will be happy and silent because there will be less stuff to learn for the test. The second group will tell the lecturer because they want to learn. This is then often mistaken by the first kind of people as trying to please the professor or "siding" with the prof instead of the fellow students. Because they think in a school-mindset.
walshemj 10y ago
I suspect that some do cs because they are interested and some because its a hot field or because of family/social pressures
collyw 10y ago
I did a batchelors in Molecular Biology years ago, and I noticed that some of my friends seemed to just learn the material, whereas I tended to understand the material.

by meric 10y ago

mafribe 10y ago

Interesting theory. I have a different one, derived from teaching 1000s of students over 2 decades. the bimodal distributions comes from two sets of people: one set working hard and putting the hours in until the master the subject, the other set being lazy, cheating, and don't put the hours in, so they never achieve mastery. Appearance and substance.

kgwgk 10y ago
How is it different?
- meric 10y ago
  "The ten-thousand thing-kinds are ultimately alike and ultimately different. This is called the great similarity-difference." - Zhuangzi
- Bartweiss 10y ago
  In meric's model, the student who get good grades aren't the same ones achieving mastery. In mafribe's, they are.
  - meric 10y ago
    I must insist although "achieving mastery" is clearer than "knowing the content", I meant the same. It would probably help if I wrap "knowing" in asterisks like "knowing the content".

splatcollision 10y ago

FYI, you have an untested hypothesis, not a theory. Unless you have done some research somewhere. Sorry for the pedantics!

hueving 10y ago
Poster was using the dictionary definition[1], the the scientific one. 1. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theory http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theory

bonoboTP 10y ago

That's my experience too. There are those who want to get a degree with the least amount of work and don't really find the topic interesting. And then there are those who will discuss it and debate it before/after class, etc. Good test to tell them apart: if the lecturer mistakenly starts to talk about stuff that he already said in the last lecture (i.e. mistakenly doing the last one again), the first group will be happy and silent because there will be less stuff to learn for the test. The second group will tell the lecturer because they want to learn. This is then often mistaken by the first kind of people as trying to please the professor or "siding" with the prof instead of the fellow students. Because they think in a school-mindset.

walshemj 10y ago

I suspect that some do cs because they are interested and some because its a hot field or because of family/social pressures

collyw 10y ago

I did a batchelors in Molecular Biology years ago, and I noticed that some of my friends seemed to just learn the material, whereas I tended to understand the material.