RANT ALERT: All the college / uni project questions

cut out the middle man...

Or woman, I hasten to add.....

I'm getting old and cynical but I do not believe for one nanosecond that the vast majority of these people are at "uni". There is simply no way that someone could get to their "final year project at uni" and be so clueless about electronics and/or programming unless they are majoring in stupidity and sloth.
Most of these so-called "final projects" (some even have the gall to call it a thesis) are also so fundamentally trivial that I cannot believe, for that same nanosecond, that any self-respecting "uni" would accept the project as worthwhile and worthy of what are presented as being degree granting institutions.
Occams' Razor strongly suggests to me that these threads are initiated by spotty 14-year olds who are just trolling and having "fun".

Pete

Wow... and I thought I was the cynical one!

I must say, I thought that this project in its apparent form of being able to read if 5 sensors are open or closed and deciding what that binary pattern means is way too trivial for a final year engineering project.

Many good points. But I might add it's not always helpful to let such posters get your dandruff up to the point that you have to share your displeasure with the posters and/or their University. It's easy to prejudge and make assumptions and end up responding like so many posters use to do on the avrfrecks site and end up with the site gaining a reputation of being unfriendly and not willing to help new comers.

I share many of the negative comments posted here on many of the request for help, but I really work at just reading such posts/requests and moving on to what I might prejudge as a more worthy question or posting. Life is too short to spend being frustrated unless you really have a solution to share.

One token 'Grumpy' is enough for any one site. :smiley:

"Goggle Engineering" I love that term. :wink: At the refinery I worked at before retirement we referred to '"Smoking post engineering", and it wasn't always a negative term. I knew one engineer that said any time he got stuck with a problem he would go sit on the toilet for awhile and a solution would always seem to pop up or out as the case may be. :wink:

Lefty

Once again, my rant isn't about not being willing to help. It's about the state of engineering education systems that don't teach a problem problem approach* and which are at a level where telling the pattern from 5 switches is final year stuff.

*Although I suppose asking others for the answer is in itself a problem solving approach?

JimboZA:
Once again, my rant isn't about not being willing to help. It's about the state of engineering education systems that don't teach a problem problem approach* and which are at a level where telling the pattern from 5 switches is final year stuff.

*Although I suppose asking others for the answer is in itself a problem solving approach?

So do have a solution to share to improve that state of the world in engineering education? That was my point. One can find no limit of things to complain about the world not being as good as it should be or as good as it once seemed to be.

Think happy thoughts, that's my solution. :smiley:

Lefty

So do have a solution to share to improve that state of the world in engineering education

Yes I do thanks, or at least I hope to become part of one at my current client if some things fall into place. I'm thinking happy thoughts about that...

Ah kids these days :wink: I have observed things that concern me with some of the local high-school kids. They seem to assume that they can do complex things, and easily, in areas where they've never even had their feet wet. Once they get into it, and find (gasp) learning curves, bodies of knowledge that they don't have, etc. etc. they get intimidated in a hurry and just back off. No concept of or interest in walking before you run, or investing time and effort. If it's tougher than learning to use a smart phone, then they really have to be motivated.

I blame it on a few things. One, not enough hands-on along the way. Two, our instant-gratification society where we aren't willing to wait for (or work at something for) more than ten minutes. Three, the sheer complexity of current every-day devices, they have become good enough that there is less hint of the complexity within. I wonder if today's engineering students have the time to really understand the foundations of computers and electronics they way we old-timers did because we had the distinct advantage of growing up with the technology. I told my daughter (CS degree) that she'll never understand computers the way I do because she's never toggled in a bootstrap loader on the front-panel switches. Of course that line got me a deer-in-the-headlights look :smiley:

Last, there are the two kinds of people: Those that know they don't know, and those that don't know they don't know. I'm always on the lookout for the latter!

Just anecdotal stuff from my undoubtedly lopsided point of view. Exceptions abound, and I have no reason to think I'm describing the majority. I certainly hope not.

Possibly another category: the ones who paid others to do their homework and take the occasional test and managed to drift along with a low C average that finally get up to where they have to do something real. If Daddy can't afford a big grant then they may never become President so quick, go cry for help!

One token 'Grumpy' is enough for any one site.

I'll be the token cynic :slight_smile:

Pete

Did you win some kind of competition for token cynic? ]:slight_smile: When was it held anyway? ]:smiley:

I'm cynical enough to know that a competition for token cynic would be rigged against me. Thus, the preemptive strike.

Pete

There's probably enough cynics here to form clubs and have a cynic's olympics.
IMO, years of dealing between machines and people should do it to anyone.

Thumbs up for the post, reply #2, 10, 14 and 18. :smiley: In particular "Instant gratification" - yes, please. :wink:

That's what's been pumped into their heads since before they could reason, from cartoons to movies. Smart kids "just know what to do" without actually studying and doing a thing. You just walk up and presto-a-priori pull off the next miracle.
To be fair, that's probably how language, art and acting majors see science and engineering majors.. and who makes the shows?

I was going to try to be more cynical, but I realized I would probably suck at it anyway and nobody would care even I could.

like the recent radio PSA's encouraging kids to go to college (in my area)?

Some are worse than others, the latest a kid is playing a "war game" of some sorts online and is excited to make "MVP of the round!"

well ok, grats kid .. then he goes on to say "its that kind of skill, determination and hard work thats going to make me succeed in college!"

wait what?

Would it be un-cynical to say at least they're better than climate change deniers? :slight_smile: :blush:

Osgeld:
like the recent radio PSA's encouraging kids to go to college (in my area)?

Some are worse than others, the latest a kid is playing a "war game" of some sorts online and is excited to make "MVP of the round!"

well ok, grats kid .. then he goes on to say "its that kind of skill, determination and hard work thats going to make me succeed in college!"

wait what?

Seriously? That's a PSA? Wow. Perhaps the Mayans were right. Some the things that people see as "accomplishments" are just incredible. That'll look just dandy on the CV, kid.

my bad they dont say anything about hard work (and the kid only says determination ... hey its a radio ad my bad)

http://www.knowhow2go.org/partners/assets_files/files/1300207075.mp3

who knew, video games and break dancing are college skills