14 Apr
2011
14 Apr
'11
6:34 p.m.
On 13/04/11 14:45, Dave McGuire wrote:
If someone tried to feed me that garbage in a school,
I'd demand my
money back. Bravo for trimming the fat from your stuff.
Universities are great at this sort of crap... or at least mine was (not
named for obvious reasons, namely I don't feel like poking the huge
fire-breathing dragon that is their in-house legal team)
This year (for the second year in a row) the MSc. Computing and
Information Systems course was merged with the MEng. Software Engineering.
Problem: CIS is intended as a fairly easy course for non-UK students who
have no formal qualifications in comp-sci or any related subject. About
80% of the students on the course have backgrounds in business (mainly
MBAs from various sketchy "universities" - quote-unquote, insert sarcasm
here, et cetera).
The MEng is -- or at least was -- a completely different course. To get
on it in the first place you needed to do the BSc Software Development
course first (four years) and hit an average of 60% over the final three
years of the course AND the industry placement. No ifs, buts, arguments,
or "2% grace". You get 60% or you leave with a BSc. Fail a single
module, tough, you leave with the BSc.
As a result of the merger, the course has been dumbed down
significantly. The assignment for the Advanced Software Development
module, for example, is a basic Java maintenance task: refactor some
code (change function names, move some functions into separate classes,
and so on). Basic stuff any second-year BSc Software Dev student should
be able to do.
One of the Infosec lecturers heard about this and tried to run a few
extra modules (non-credit) while the networking/security lab wasn't in
use. Reverse engineering, data analysis, pattern matching, all sorts of
neat stuff. The Head of Department put the brakes on this pretty damn
quickly: "Misuse of university resources."
The icing on the cake is that the British Computer Society caught wind
of the dumbing-down and promptly revoked accreditation for the MEng
course track. So it's basically worthless if you're aiming for BCS
membership.
Bitter? Wouldn't you be?
As for demanding money back, I bet I know how well that would go:
"Oh, you want your money back? Well here's our Legal team, you can
talk to them. By the way, they don't talk to Peons, only other lawyers,
solicitors or attorneys-at-law at an equal or higher pay grade. Y'all
have fun, now!"
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/