Comment Re:What does being a girl have to do with it? (Score 1) 564
Hi, original author here. Please see my response to a similar comment above: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1918004&cid=34617266
Comment Re:How is this a gender issue? (Score 3, Interesting) 564
Hi, original author here. As someone above said, I guess I didn't introduce the context well enough to answer why it's a gender issue. The blog post is a snippet from a larger research paper I wrote examining the role of computer science classes in high school in getting more girls into computer science as a field. I don't mean to imply that females are dumb, and I didn't mean to imply that computer science classes treat boys differently than girls (although they frequently do).
The reason the lack of accurate class nomenclature affects girls more than boys is that boys have more interest in and experience with using computers than girls do by the time they enter high school. It's caused by a combination of factors, such as parents encouraging boys' computer use, boys' interest in video games, and the mysterious "magnetic attraction" to computers that more boys have than girls. (I pulled this info from the book Unlocking the Clubhouse which used 90's data, so this average may have changed since then, but I don't think by much.) So by the time they enter high school, boys tend to have more advanced computer skills than girls. This means that high school computer classes play a greater role in influencing girls' perceptions of computer science than boys'. That's why it's a gender issue.
You're right, I should have clarified that in the article.
The reason the lack of accurate class nomenclature affects girls more than boys is that boys have more interest in and experience with using computers than girls do by the time they enter high school. It's caused by a combination of factors, such as parents encouraging boys' computer use, boys' interest in video games, and the mysterious "magnetic attraction" to computers that more boys have than girls. (I pulled this info from the book Unlocking the Clubhouse which used 90's data, so this average may have changed since then, but I don't think by much.) So by the time they enter high school, boys tend to have more advanced computer skills than girls. This means that high school computer classes play a greater role in influencing girls' perceptions of computer science than boys'. That's why it's a gender issue.
You're right, I should have clarified that in the article.
Attack of the PowerPoint-Wielding Professors 467
theodp writes "A CS student blogger named Carolyn offers an interesting take on why learning from PowerPoint lectures is frustrating. Unlike an old-school chalk talk, professors who use PowerPoint tend to present topics very quickly, leaving little time to digest the visuals or to take learning-reinforcing notes. Also, profs who use the ready-made PowerPoint lectures that ship with many textbooks tend to come across as, shall we say, less than connected with their material. Then there are professors who just don't know how to use PowerPoint, a problem that is by no means limited to college classes."
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