3 ms·

Try being a TA to freshmen CS majors; a good 1/3 change majors because they can't handle the syntax strictness coupled with their generally untrained logical mi

Try being a TA to freshmen CS majors; a good 1/3 change majors because they can't handle the syntax strictness coupled with their generally untrained logical mind. They convince themselves it is "too hard" and their buddies over in the business school are having a heck of a lot of fun throwing parties...

cesaref 2y ago
Sounds like CS is not for them, and they find something else to do which is more applicable to their skills and interest. This is good. I don't think you should see a high drop out rate from a course as necessarily indicating a problem.
- Philpax 2y ago
  Losing potentially good talent because they don't know how or where to look for mistakes yet is foolhardy. I'm happy for them to throw in the towel if the field is truly not for them, but I would wager that a not-insignificant portion of that crowd would be able to meaningfully progress once they get past the immediate hurdles in front of them.
jprete 2y ago
Giving them an LLM to help with syntax errors, at this stage of the tech, is deeply unhelpful to their development. The foundation of a computer science education is a rigorous understanding of what the steps of an algorithm mean. If the students don't develop that, then I don't think they're doing computer science anymore.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- Philpax 2y ago
  The use of a LLM in this case is to show them where the problem is so that they can continue on. They can't develop an understanding of the algorithm they're studying if they can't get their program to compile at all.
- Alex3917 2y ago
  > Giving them an LLM to help with syntax errors, at this stage of the tech, is deeply unhelpful to their development. I mean if the alternative is quitting entirely because they can't see that they've mixed tabs with spaces, then yes, it's very very helpful to their development.

3 ms·

Try being a TA to freshmen CS majors; a good 1/3 change majors because they can't handle the syntax strictness coupled with their generally untrained logical mi

by bsenftner 2y ago

cesaref 2y ago
Sounds like CS is not for them, and they find something else to do which is more applicable to their skills and interest. This is good. I don't think you should see a high drop out rate from a course as necessarily indicating a problem.
- Philpax 2y ago
  Losing potentially good talent because they don't know how or where to look for mistakes yet is foolhardy. I'm happy for them to throw in the towel if the field is truly not for them, but I would wager that a not-insignificant portion of that crowd would be able to meaningfully progress once they get past the immediate hurdles in front of them.
jprete 2y ago
Giving them an LLM to help with syntax errors, at this stage of the tech, is deeply unhelpful to their development. The foundation of a computer science education is a rigorous understanding of what the steps of an algorithm mean. If the students don't develop that, then I don't think they're doing computer science anymore.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- Philpax 2y ago
  The use of a LLM in this case is to show them where the problem is so that they can continue on. They can't develop an understanding of the algorithm they're studying if they can't get their program to compile at all.
- Alex3917 2y ago
  > Giving them an LLM to help with syntax errors, at this stage of the tech, is deeply unhelpful to their development. I mean if the alternative is quitting entirely because they can't see that they've mixed tabs with spaces, then yes, it's very very helpful to their development.