Computer Science Course in "Actually Useful Shock Horror"

James came to see us today, which was rather nice. We got to talking and the subject turned to the gulf between studies and real life, and how to narrow it.

One of the things that we try to do in Hull is to tell people useful stuff that will they can use to get by in life as a developer. A problem that we have is that people think that the only use for the stuff that we are telling them is in exams and assignments to get a good mark.  This is a good thing as far as it goes. And of course you should do this. We have to do the grading thing to ensure that the learning outcomes for our courses have been met.

But we really, really want people to carry those skills into the next (and indeed every) thing that they do going forwards. We're trying to start you building skills that will carry you through your professional career. I don't think you can ever say you've learnt something like programming because, if you do it properly, you are continuously learning. And you should never stop. 

The good news for me is that we do get a few folks who go out into the big wide world, and come back and say "You know, that stuff you taught us turned out to be quite useful".

Who'd have thought?

Anyhoo, James is very keen to come back and do some Rather Useful Seminars on what you can do as a student to build on what you're taught, which is great.  Stay tuned.