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A comment on Software patent reform just died in the House. Parent comment

Re:Software patent reform just died in the House by fiblye on Wednesday November 20, 2013 @02:04PM (#6770262)
If everybody were required to take that one particular class, the content would be so diluted that it'd lose its original intention. I think it's better for some to seek it out than for half of the freshman class taking it, failing, then complaining that it was the most worthless course ever.

My university required everybody take a philosophy course, and I can't remember anything from it because there was essentially nothing taught. The professor assigned the absolute bare minimum and expected the absolute bare minimum since he knew people took it for only one reason: they needed to.

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Re:Software patent reform just died in the House by saidajigumi on Wednesday November 20, 2013 @07:26PM (#6772296)
Too bad no one learns a thing about arithmetic, because we're all required to take it.

Seriously, I don't actually give a flying fig about the feedback and evaluation mechanisms. I care about raising skill in this kind of thinking capability in as many people as possible. That is, taught with the cultural vigor we give to skills such as literacy. I also don't mean "some kind of random class with this label slapped on it". At the time, we very clearly meant the instruction quality that we had just experienced.

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Re:Software patent reform just died in the House by hvs on Wednesday November 20, 2013 @02:40PM (#6770578)
Or stop admitting students who can't pass a basic philosophy course.
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Re:Software patent reform just died in the House by kazagistar on Wednesday November 20, 2013 @04:26PM (#6771295)
1. You could say that about any course... Statistics comes to mind.

2. The original justification was "everyone should learn basic reasoning". You just turned it into "kick out people who can't learn it, cause screw those guys".

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Re:Software patent reform just died in the House by lelandbatey on Wednesday November 20, 2013 @06:28PM (#6772032)
Many people do take that opinion though. I've seen it reasoned, and felt it a little bit myself, that you should take any and every opportunity to say "kick people out who can't learn X" because that's what assures the value of the degree in the first place.

However, that gets into "what does a degree really mean" and plenty of other arguments, not something I'm interested in.

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Re:Software patent reform just died in the House by hvs on Thursday November 21, 2013 @01:10PM (#6776292)
1. I don't believe that everyone needs to go to college. 2. I don't believe college is a day care where students should be coddled. If they can't pass a basic philosophy course, they have no business being in college. That's not to say they are worthless, just that college isn't right for them.
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