re: Girls, women and Programming (- and Python)
My wife thinks we should develop love-oriented programming..
I would enjoy very much to hear your suggestions
My wife's attitude is "why would anyone want to be a programmer." She considers it ministerial kind of work. Though she knows to be glad that there are people who actually want to do it. My own take, probably because I come from a family of strong women, is that this is much ado about nothing. My elder sister was an academic superstar, including near world class math aptitude. Near world class was not good enough for her, so she became a world class attorney - with a strong interest in women's issues, its true - and now is someone considered to be, let's say, important. Uncomfortable being specific. To me programming is like math, in that it has (or should have) zero gender related content. Not sure if I were a woman I would want to feel catered to, in any sense. Just the facts, thank you. Art
Arthur wrote: [snip]
To me programming is like math, in that it has (or should have) zero gender related content. Not sure if I were a woman I would want to feel catered to, in any sense. Just the facts, thank you.
Art
My goal is not to have "gender unrelated" content in the courses I teach. That sounds a bit sterile, and possibly unrelated to what students are interested in. Rather, I would hope to have course content that is related to topics that cover a wide spectrum of interests. Whatever their background, race, gender, biases, etc., I would like to find stimulating assignments and methodologies that pique their interests. I find Python a good language to do this because it has very interesting connections to so many different levels. For example, one could explore the underlying C interface and issues closer to the machine, or one can explore 3D graphics via OpenGL. All in one consistent, simple, OO world. An interesting and productive thread for this conversation is: what kinds of assignments could one do with Python that you find interesting and stimulating? -Doug
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-- Douglas S. Blank, Assistant Professor dblank@brynmawr.edu, (610)526-6501 Bryn Mawr College, Computer Science Program 101 North Merion Ave, Park Science Bld. Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 dangermouse.brynmawr.edu
participants (2)
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Arthur -
Douglas S. Blank