"The Perils of JavaSchools"

Joel Spolsky claims that Java-only CS curriculum make it too difficult to tell if a graduate can handle hard and abstract concepts such as pointers and recursion. Columbia CS uses C in Data Structures...

Colleges fail to improve teaching methods

Derek Bok writes in the Boston Globe that faculty are unwilling to change their teaching methods and uninterested in results that show that existing methods are not working well.

"In Computer Science, a Growing Gender Gap"

Boston Globe: "Introductory classes zeroed in on programming and other technical aspects of the field, rather than explaining big ideas or talking about how computing can impact society, many professors say. That approach led to a misconception among students that computer science is the same thing as computer programming. Computer scientists say that view shortchanges the field, which is far broader and more intellectually rich. It is applied math and design, they say; it is about modeling human behavior and thinking about the simplest way to accomplish a complex task."

Numbers of Chinese and Indian engineering students inflated

BusinessWeek reports on a report by Duke University researchers that finds that the numbers of Chinese and Indian engineering students commonly reported are hard to compare with United States numbers. They often include specialized or short-term degrees that are more comparable to associate's degrees than BS or higher degrees.