Read next_ghost's reply before this one. Do you know how hard it is to drill into a freshman's head that unresolving loops are bad, recursion is a beautiful thing, and "write once, use often"? These are what my professor is doing, along with some coding examples and theory. What I am doing is forcing them to apply that, and teaching the spots my professor misses. The fact that this is a freshman class means that it is that much more important that someone with a lot of time, a lot of desire, and a lot of patience teach them. My professor misses only the first point - I can give them as much as 6 times the amount of time they'd have for labs ~ actually, it will be two times, and then the rest in available tutoring if they "just don't get it" or want to learn extra ~ because I don't have three majors to oversee, a mountain of paperwork to file and grade and file, and messes to sort out left and right due to political nonsense inside of the system. All I have to do is teach what I have been told I will teach - and that's what makes me a bit better than many teachers and such. And you can add a lifetime studying the field and material to my merits. Why would you send any child to an institution if you didn't believe you could trust the institution? And if you want your child to learn, why would you complain if they were learning from the most experienced person available? Or would you rather they learn from somebody that hasn't got enough time to help them when they need it?

When you learn to challenge the norm even as you fight for survival, you learn what the true face of innovation is. Under your statements, so many things - including the United States of America - wouldn't exist. There's others; I'll leave you to search on your own.

Frankly... If we use that metric, of the some 40 or so Computing majors that I'm aware of, only about five really belong in the courses. I've taken Junior level classes since my first semester of freshman year - apparently to both my advisor and the professors over my major, it didn't occur to them that I was suit for the lower end classes. The class I'm helping with is an exception - I didn't need the theory or much of the history, but I did need the education in C++, and I personally asked to be put into it for that reason. Many of the people here expressing sentiments that CS students should tinker - yes I agree, but there's a point you reach where Linux isn't that far spread and can be scary to be faced with on your own. I learned by breaking it many, many, many times to get to my beautiful and slim Xubuntu in front of me running fluxbox and being more stable than even my professor's machine most of the time. It breaks when I make it break - and I do that usually once a break (eg ~ a holiday from classes) to help me learn a bit more. But, still ~ I agree. A lot of the students want the paycheck - not the work associated with it. When they stop seeing dollar signs and start seeing their own passions, they'll be in better shape... but I'm sad to say that I know people who are fifty and still haven't done so.

Redaction: I am considered better at _what I've taken/studied_ than the students that generally graduate the program here. I was being egotistical the first time around; sincere apologies.

All three. I am considered better than the students that generally graduate the program here. I have studied computers and coding my whole life, although admittedly the language was new to me when I started college (C++), many of the underlying concepts are the same.

True, I am an overeager Linux enthusiast. My position relies on me not pushing that point, and I think perhaps it's a good time to stress that part of the reason I was given this task was to teach me more than the students I will be teaching. Different areas of focus - I will tell you that the Microsoft nuts in my class know more about Linux without touching it than I do about not being dramatic, not being forceful, being someone that they feel they can approach for what I do definitely know, and otherwise a few things that are personal and being given a chance as an opportunity for me to grow. That being said, the rest of my statement is: I am qualified, even without a degree, to do the part of this class I am doing. I am not the only one, but I am the only one interested enough to do so. We don't do much of anything overly complex because this class is mixed a bit and it's a first year class. Our entire campus's philosophy is that if you approach people with the reality of what they are signing themselves up for a lifetime of, they will either love it or leave it, and perhaps that's for everyone's better nature. Beyond that, we are not the sort to be abusive, forceful, or absurd ~ we teach a what a love of the field means with patience and understanding, and know that some students don't even want to be in our institution (IMHO, one of the worst mistakes parents make is to FORCE their kids into college). Of course, I am always open to my department head testing me on knowledge of the material on the syllabus. I can do it in my sleep - indeed, I already do so much more to pay for my tuition and bills outside of college. You made the mistake of assuming that sophomore means "not a clue what to do or what he's doing". I do have a good feel (granted, with always more to learn), but I needed different perspectives and advice that can't be naturally pooled into a single person - something the Internet (in general) is good at after you filter out the noise.

Oh, alright then. They can use Windows, pay for their own compilers (we have a budget, but not enough for a license for every student), struggle with IT to reconfigure each and every machine to be useful to their needs and productivity - even to the detriment of other students using the lab, and they can enjoy a system that dictates what they can and cannot do. Major ins and outs, yes. Whole OS, no. I learned long ago, when I took my first classes as a high school senior, that the people alongside me in class were of mixed interests and not all of them liked the prospect of hacking an MP3 player to run Linux or understood the ideas behind being allowed to modify - and break - their OS if they wanted to.

And indeed, as I'm sure the excess of flames will tell you ~ we title things with the major points of what's in them in technical writing. One could read just the title of this post and have fair odds of giving useful advice if they commented just on that (assuming that they know CS is "Computer Science" and that it's not expanded due to the title length limitation.) However, in your defense, we have a handful of students who are Mathematics majors taking this to satisfy course requirements. Non-majors, but required to learn it as if they are majors as part of their studies in allied fields. My initial comment back to everyone is a ways down, but this is a liberal arts college.

Thank you. Even though my inability to stop and think to realize that our intstitution's arrangements for classes isn't the same as everywhere, much of the advice is still sound, and I'm reading through the vast majority of the comments. For those who asked for clarification time and time again, the following snippets of information seem to be the ones most needed: The course actually has a split purpose that goes three ways - teaching Linux, teaching a lot of fundamental theory in programming (loops, data structures, etc), and teaching C++ to the students. It is taught in two halves (each being a semester long course), and I'm helping teach the first half. As to the teaching itself, in the labs, they learn the practical part - where they actually use the machinery and things they're lectured on. In lectures, they learn history (in Computing), theory, and the concepts behind a lot of what I will most likely be responsible for. My professor is teaching the largest chunk of everything, but our planned focus is for him to teach lectures and for me to teach labs. The college is liberal arts, 4 years for most programs of study. My personal experience... Well, let's say I get most modern versions of Windows for free through MSDNAA and still get frustrated if I even have to spend the school's bandwidth to download a copy. I love Linux! And indeed, that is part of why I was selected for a potential candidate for helping teach this course - my love of FOSS, my ability to use everything needed in the class, and my seemingly endless patience and reason with people. Beyond that, I'm going to be going through these over the next week or so and reading them. Everyone's input is appreciated, and I would like to thank everyone.

That's terrible. Of course we are, but turning it into a program of regurgitation causes them to learn what they have to. This is not engagement - this is why most people who would be worthwhile hackers drop out of high school.