I majored in Chemistry, and we had a similar course on how to use library resources and tools to research. Since it was not directly Chemistry, the advisor said

I majored in Chemistry, and we had a similar course on how to use library resources and tools to research. Since it was not directly Chemistry, the advisor said you could wait until your senior year to take it as an easy final semester credit, and that is when I took it. I should have taken it first semester, freshman year. It was full of invaluable meta information which would have made my four years not only easier, but more productive. I may have even stayed in Chemistry if I had the correct tools from the start. I am largely self taught when it comes to CS, and so I learned these tools first from a practical application. I didn't have anyone to set up a dev environment for me; I had to do it myself. I am always shocked when I work with new grads from top CS schools who have almost no knowledge of basic tools like grep or how to use an interactive debugger. Theories and academia are nice, but are a fair stretch from the real world in any field. If we really want to require an advanced degree to enter the work force, then we should abandon the idea that most students attend college for a liberal education and accept they reality that students attend college for workforce preparation.