Several of the students in this class, perhaps a third, have made
it obvious in their quizzes Thursday night that they are still altogether clueless about
programming and that their thoughts about it are an unstructured jumble. They can't
make a clear diagram or pseudocode for a program, which has been studied for three weeks,
which has less than 100 lines and contains one or two loops and a few alternative
selections so I surely can't vouch for their ability to work in 'real' systems. The
JVs I'm seeing come to the ledger engine confirm confusion about basic accounting,
too. As at Tuesday afternoon I think it is
revealing to note that of the dozen or so students who have visited
since last Thursday most of them are not at all clueless and
impress me with their effort. A couple have showed up at
the door, described themselves as clueless and appear resolved
to make this thing work.
If you are one of the clueless students, or just want to get some more
direction as you add functions and polish your prototype, then please take advantage of
this offer: I will spend as much time as possible in the remaining few classes going
over these processes, looking at 'seat work', and trying to remedy this lack of structure
& jumbled thought about programming and accounting.
This class sold out within 15 minutes and chatter that gets back to me
is that's because some think I'm a 'nice guy' and won't flunk anybody. Others relate
that they sign up for my courses because I've got practical experience and present stuff
that is required in the field -- which has been my goal in anything I've taught
professionally since 1968 (flying, psychology, statistics, music, &
computing). I'm working for this latter group and for
students who want to be prepared for a career in systems.
I'll do everything I can to help students achieve a good result, but let
me assure you that unless I've seen good results I won't pass a computing student any more
than I would get out of the cockpit and solo a flying student who pushes the wrong
buttons, can't recognize & recover from a stall, or goes gaga when I shut off the fuel
valve. If a Senior in our program can't program, can't document a project, can't
read & follow instructions, can't ask questions, and can't make a JV of five lines
that nets zero then I can't pass this student out of this course.
If you are feeling clueless, there are nearly two weeks left where we can work
together to get you up to speed with your fellows in class who have developed these
accounting and computing skills in our other courses and get you out with a passing
grade. I'll do everything I can do to help, but when it comes to the due date I've
got to grade what I see -- there are no incompletes for this course.
If this doesn't apply to you, then please polish your projects so that
you've got a good demo for me and in your portfolio as you go out and interview.
Employers will be pleased to see that your work reflects a good understanding of the basic
skills of computing, ecommerce, and accounting.
