IT skills (The pros of double degrees?)

[Frank O'Connor]

Agree big time. I've earned a couple of degrees in my time and found that
the information dates extremely fast. Typically (especially in a science or
technically oriented degree course) the information is two to three years
dated at the time you absorb it to pass the exams, and even more dated by
the time you've finished your degree course.

In a field such as ours (with a typical turnover in standards,
applications, technologies and the like ranging between three and six
months) that makes it well nigh impossible to establish formal degree
courses which will 'stand the test of time' even to the date that the
student graduates.

Personally I think instilling a desire to learn in students, as well as the
techniques to assess information critically is what's important ... rather
than the current concentration on syllabus and content. Otherwise we are
just educating for obsolescence.

			Regards,

At 11:48 AM +1100 27/11/98, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
>Tony Barry wrote:
>
>> Tony
>> (Card carrying librarian)
>
>Shouldn't that be "book carrying librarian"?
>
>A degree (single, double, advanced, etc) is neither a necessary nor
>sufficient condition for excellence or success.
>
>It's like a ladder. If the ladder is in the wrong place, or not long
>enough it won't do you any good.
>
>Conversely, you don't need a ladder to get to the top floor of a
>building.
>
>Most of what I have learned in life I learned after I left
>University. On the other hand, because I went to university and did
>lots of concentrated, structured learning, what I now know is more
>useful. The day I stop learning is the day I get Alzheimer's
>disease.
>
>BTW, compared with my first degree, today's unit-based courses lack
>structure and coherence.
>
></pontificate>
>
>--
>What [he] is apparently objecting to is that not everyone takes
>his beliefs seriously.
>
>Indeed, some don't seem to respect his beliefs at all, and
>actually poke fun at them.
>
>Well, I have news for [him]: that's the nature of a free
>society. Opinions don't necessarily merit respect;
>they must earn respect in the marketplace of ideas.
>-- Jeffrey Shallit
>
>Regards
>brd
>
>Bernard Robertson-Dunn
>Canberra Australia
>brd@dynamite.com.au