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> Some would use laptops, others would opt for tablets or mobile phones. Not all of them could even use the programming language that was the subject of the tes

> Some would use laptops, others would opt for tablets or mobile phones. Not all of them could even use the programming language that was the subject of the test: the statistical language R. “We had no control, really, over what devices those students were using,” says Stagg. Surely the problem here is much bigger than WebAssembly vs native code. What does it even mean to give students a test on using a software package if they aren't even willing to buy a computer? How are you supposed to do professional stats work after university on a mobile phone? They don't even expose a file system. Learning how to use a full workstation-class computer is a basic pre-requisite of doing science and many other types of professional work; these universities are just hopelessly lost if they're not making that clear to students up front and requiring or provisioning the equipment they need. Degrees awarded on the back of tests like these are worse than useless, they're outright deceptive to future employers. If someone claims they studied scientific computing and then turned out to not understand files, folders, packages, multiple windows and other basics then they'd be completely unable to do the job.

fsflover 3y ago
> How are you supposed to do professional stats work after university on a mobile phone? They don't even expose a file system. Mine does.
tomgp 3y ago
>How are you supposed to do professional stats work after university on a mobile phone? Generally your employer or institution will supply you with a computer (or access to one in the case of students)? The test described was devised during the lockdown because people didn't have had access to the university's facilities.
- kiicia 3y ago
  Doom can run on anything...
- duped 3y ago
  At my university we were able to use an RDP client to log into windows machines with all the engineering software installed on them. Performance sucked, which is why people only did it if they had too. But it was manageable. R was one of the software packages.
Grimblewald 3y ago
While I mostly agree on the computer comment, I largely disagree on phones (not apple, iphones are pretty IoT paperweights without a lot of hoop jumping and prostrating to apple). You can absolutely do some amazing things on a phone. I've been living in terminal (via termux) on my phone (android) for a while now as a little personal challenge, using micro to write python TUI apps as I need them. I have file system, etc. and since I have access to sensor data I can make some pretty nifty things happen fast. Need an app to remind me to set parking app so I don't get another fine? Easy done, can do it on my walk to the office. I think we're all ignoring phones a bit due to the learning curve and inconvenience when compared to traditional computing. Now I couldn't imagine doing some serious analysis via phone but also with things such as jupyter notebook or similar for R, it isn't a stretch to believe you could get some rudimentary step by step kinda stuff going. Hands down, I would choose a proper keyboard and multi-monitor setup any day of the week, but the difference expressed through metaphor in terms of working cars puts phones more in line with a hatchback than a scooter as most people seem to think. A hatchback is often perfectly sufficient and at times, preferable.
- mike_hearn 3y ago
  Right, but that's really using Linux not Android. You can also run Linux on Chromebooks or just SSH to a Linux server using iOS, but someone has to teach students those skills. Just knowing how to use a smartphone in general won't work.

fsflover 3y ago

> How are you supposed to do professional stats work after university on a mobile phone? They don't even expose a file system. Mine does.

tomgp 3y ago

>How are you supposed to do professional stats work after university on a mobile phone? Generally your employer or institution will supply you with a computer (or access to one in the case of students)? The test described was devised during the lockdown because people didn't have had access to the university's facilities.

kiicia 3y ago
Doom can run on anything...
duped 3y ago
At my university we were able to use an RDP client to log into windows machines with all the engineering software installed on them. Performance sucked, which is why people only did it if they had too. But it was manageable. R was one of the software packages.

Grimblewald 3y ago

While I mostly agree on the computer comment, I largely disagree on phones (not apple, iphones are pretty IoT paperweights without a lot of hoop jumping and prostrating to apple). You can absolutely do some amazing things on a phone. I've been living in terminal (via termux) on my phone (android) for a while now as a little personal challenge, using micro to write python TUI apps as I need them. I have file system, etc. and since I have access to sensor data I can make some pretty nifty things happen fast. Need an app to remind me to set parking app so I don't get another fine? Easy done, can do it on my walk to the office. I think we're all ignoring phones a bit due to the learning curve and inconvenience when compared to traditional computing. Now I couldn't imagine doing some serious analysis via phone but also with things such as jupyter notebook or similar for R, it isn't a stretch to believe you could get some rudimentary step by step kinda stuff going. Hands down, I would choose a proper keyboard and multi-monitor setup any day of the week, but the difference expressed through metaphor in terms of working cars puts phones more in line with a hatchback than a scooter as most people seem to think. A hatchback is often perfectly sufficient and at times, preferable.

mike_hearn 3y ago
Right, but that's really using Linux not Android. You can also run Linux on Chromebooks or just SSH to a Linux server using iOS, but someone has to teach students those skills. Just knowing how to use a smartphone in general won't work.