Subj : Re: Academic grades should be USELESS
To   : comp.programming
From : gds
Date : Wed Jul 27 2005 10:05 pm

gswork@mailcity.com wrote:
>gds@best.cut.here.com wrote:
>> Here is an example.  Some people I know had trouble in school because
>> they weren't good test takers.  They did well on the take-home
>> assignments/homework (and didn't cheat), but not as well on the tests,
>> which were more heavily weighted, and as a result did poorer than
>> others.
>i have some sympathy for that - but then in some jobs people are
>expected to be able to keep going independantly, with few resources at
>hand and with a time constraint, so performance at tests is a kind
>blunt measure of this ability.  Not ideal, but a rough indicator for
>potential employees.  That's why a good course captures performance in
>both test and coursework

I've never heard of a job that was completely closed-book,
ie., everything you do must be completely and strictly performed from
your memory.  It's like those interviews people (such as myself)
complain about; we can't remember a specific programming language
or command detail, but if we had the reference manual or man page
handy we would be able to write the code.

Also, wrt academics, some people seem to do well in school but not so
well on the job.  I was very disappointed when working with someone
who had a really high GPA from a top CS school, but couldn't figure
out how to use sockets to open TCP connections.  Worse, the coworker
didn't understand how to use the man pages, reference books, or to
download examples of how it was done from open-source programs.

--gregbo
gds at best dot com

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