5 ms·

Teachers don't want extra work. My first 360 assembler class our first assignment: add two numbers, fault, print the crashdump and circle the answer to the ADD

Teachers don't want extra work. My first 360 assembler class our first assignment: add two numbers, fault, print the crashdump and circle the answer to the ADD in the printout. I wrote an RPN calculator, had it do a series of calculations and print the result. Turned that in. The teacher wrote on it "You have 24 hours to turn in the required assignment"

MortyWaves 2y ago
“Don’t let education get in the way of your learning” seems appropriate here. Never underestimate how few fucks teachers give about anything beyond their small bubble.
- fuzztester 2y ago
  I never let schooling get in the way of my education. - Mark Twain.
kubb 2y ago
Sounds like you needed to learn to follow basic instructions.
- JoeAltmaier 2y ago
  Said like a true teacher.
aleph_minus_one 2y ago
> My first 360 assembler class our first assignment: add two numbers, fault, print the crashdump and circle the answer to the ADD in the printout. > I wrote an RPN calculator, had it do a series of calculations and print the result. Turned that in. The teacher wanted you to learn: 1. how to write a (very simple) assembly program for 360 to add to numbers 2. how to create a fault 3. how to print a crashdump 4. how to read a crashdump By using a RPN calculator, you learned none of these objectives.
- JoeAltmaier 2y ago
  Not 'using'. Writing. In assembler. A full RPN calculator. Which, by the way, required accomplishing those bullet points many times over. Obvious to anybody who's ever written anything in assembler.
coreyp_1 2y ago
I was a professor. I would have given you a zero. From the instructor's perspective, it sounds like you didn't even try to do the intentional assignment (which the fault/crashdump/find info in the crashdump was the most important part), and either did your own thing or sent in someone else's assignment because you didn't look closely enough at what it was. Yes, this is a big accusation, but it happens every semester. The professor just wanted you to learn what you were supposed to from the assignment, so that you could build off it. Your cynical take on it now shows that you still don't understand how to teach or the importance of that fundamental skill. Is there a place for fun, exploratory projects? Of course, and I always incorporated them into my syllabus. But there's also a place for structure. If you want to explore along the way, then that is even better! But you still have to meet the incremental checkpoints along the way, otherwise you have not demonstrated that you have met the core competencies of the subject, as reflected by your grade. There's a lot of shortcomings in modern university education, but I loved teaching, and would still be doing it today if it paid reasonably. My biggest headaches were the cheaters and the know-it-alls, mostly because neither of them knew enough to respect the subject matter and its importance. The students that made me the most proud, though, were those that trusted the roadmap, and in the end were able to do bigger and better things than they thought that they were capable of. It's not about extra work. We did plenty of it, btw. We just didn't always tell you about it. The University system referrs to it as "service", and you, the student, are the beneficiary of it, either directly or indirectly. "Teachers don't want extra work." I'm sorry, but this sounds like a toddler stomping their foot and saying "Mommy and Daddy don't love me because they went to work today instead of staying home to play with me." I'm glad that you wrote the RPN calculator. That's cool! I'm disappointed that you use this as an opportunity to bash the educator who agreed to take a low salary so that they could help you learn important things that are fundamental to your craft and chosen field of study.
- JoeAltmaier 2y ago
  I didn't bash anybody - that's words in my mouth. I understand that it's a sensitive subject, students that stray from the boundaries of the lesson plan, so often to no good effect. Making work for an overworked teacher, I have complete sympathy. But understand that there's also room for the teacher that doesn't stomp their own foot and petulantly demand every student stay in the herd like good little scholars. Maybe even encourage exceptional students, maybe suggest something more appropriate for them, another class perhaps. But no, that certainly didn't happen, just the deliberate ignoring of the effort spent, because it didn't serve their tiny objective. Just that one weary, autocratic bland statement, telegraphing as sure as a digital signal "I am the teacher, and you will not do anything I don't sanction, like learning way more than I demand for today's lesson"

MortyWaves 2y ago

“Don’t let education get in the way of your learning” seems appropriate here. Never underestimate how few fucks teachers give about anything beyond their small bubble.

fuzztester 2y ago
I never let schooling get in the way of my education. - Mark Twain.

kubb 2y ago

Sounds like you needed to learn to follow basic instructions.

JoeAltmaier 2y ago
Said like a true teacher.

aleph_minus_one 2y ago

> My first 360 assembler class our first assignment: add two numbers, fault, print the crashdump and circle the answer to the ADD in the printout. > I wrote an RPN calculator, had it do a series of calculations and print the result. Turned that in. The teacher wanted you to learn: 1. how to write a (very simple) assembly program for 360 to add to numbers 2. how to create a fault 3. how to print a crashdump 4. how to read a crashdump By using a RPN calculator, you learned none of these objectives.

JoeAltmaier 2y ago
Not 'using'. Writing. In assembler. A full RPN calculator. Which, by the way, required accomplishing those bullet points many times over. Obvious to anybody who's ever written anything in assembler.

coreyp_1 2y ago

I was a professor. I would have given you a zero. From the instructor's perspective, it sounds like you didn't even try to do the intentional assignment (which the fault/crashdump/find info in the crashdump was the most important part), and either did your own thing or sent in someone else's assignment because you didn't look closely enough at what it was. Yes, this is a big accusation, but it happens every semester. The professor just wanted you to learn what you were supposed to from the assignment, so that you could build off it. Your cynical take on it now shows that you still don't understand how to teach or the importance of that fundamental skill. Is there a place for fun, exploratory projects? Of course, and I always incorporated them into my syllabus. But there's also a place for structure. If you want to explore along the way, then that is even better! But you still have to meet the incremental checkpoints along the way, otherwise you have not demonstrated that you have met the core competencies of the subject, as reflected by your grade. There's a lot of shortcomings in modern university education, but I loved teaching, and would still be doing it today if it paid reasonably. My biggest headaches were the cheaters and the know-it-alls, mostly because neither of them knew enough to respect the subject matter and its importance. The students that made me the most proud, though, were those that trusted the roadmap, and in the end were able to do bigger and better things than they thought that they were capable of. It's not about extra work. We did plenty of it, btw. We just didn't always tell you about it. The University system referrs to it as "service", and you, the student, are the beneficiary of it, either directly or indirectly. "Teachers don't want extra work." I'm sorry, but this sounds like a toddler stomping their foot and saying "Mommy and Daddy don't love me because they went to work today instead of staying home to play with me." I'm glad that you wrote the RPN calculator. That's cool! I'm disappointed that you use this as an opportunity to bash the educator who agreed to take a low salary so that they could help you learn important things that are fundamental to your craft and chosen field of study.

JoeAltmaier 2y ago
I didn't bash anybody - that's words in my mouth. I understand that it's a sensitive subject, students that stray from the boundaries of the lesson plan, so often to no good effect. Making work for an overworked teacher, I have complete sympathy. But understand that there's also room for the teacher that doesn't stomp their own foot and petulantly demand every student stay in the herd like good little scholars. Maybe even encourage exceptional students, maybe suggest something more appropriate for them, another class perhaps. But no, that certainly didn't happen, just the deliberate ignoring of the effort spent, because it didn't serve their tiny objective. Just that one weary, autocratic bland statement, telegraphing as sure as a digital signal "I am the teacher, and you will not do anything I don't sanction, like learning way more than I demand for today's lesson"