ComputerWorld writes about efforts to study if [Will] Making computer science more fun attract college students?
To combat falling enrollment rates and shortage of CS talent in the industry, the researchers at Washington State University, Vancouver hope to increase enrollment by offering courses where the student make computer games. Under an NSF grant they came up with a Java game engine (labeled JIG, short for Java Instructional Gaming Project)
To quote the article, "... students create two-dimensional arcade-style games from the ground up, including graphics, networking and even some artificial intelligence features -- all in the name of learning about key computer science concepts ..." The article goes on to further postulate about why incoming students are not interested in Computer Science : "... many incoming students read news headlines about the effect of offshoring as IT jobs move to India, China or elsewhere, and they see an IT career as a bad move."
While the effort is admirable, it roughly equates to Teaching Computer Science with Flash.
It is a marketing problem, and there's really no need to 'dilute the brand' here. The IT industry problem isn't a shortage of people who wish to design 2D computer games. Refer to T. Friedman's book 'The World is Flat' for a further discussion of exactly why what proposed here is a bad idea. I hate to name drop, and I did not like the book very much, but I think that was one of his few valid and not outdated points. We don't have a shortage of C++/Java programmer, we need Masters and PhD students to fuel the Institutional Research machine with good ideas and new projects.
What is presented here is more of a standard pitch for a Digital Media program. CS is a long, hard, and treacherous path. The turn over rate is pretty high, and JIG Project isn't exactly targeted at the core audience. I don't think the promise of a class where you can build side-scrollers will really fool anybody into majoring in computer science. How would being able to write Java games prevent you from outsourcing. If so, this program sets it self up for a high turn over rate. Being promised computer games and getting 'stuck' in discrete math and algorithms will have applicants reconsidering and joining the Business Technology Management flock.
I'm not a marketing expert by any means (I took 1 summer class), but it seems that they need to find better things to market. Maybe graduate placement statistics ? Research opportunities ?
I think this is more of a PR issue that needs to be dealt with. 'Outsourcing to India' is freely thrown around to scare people. The ComputerWorld article mentions it as a deterrent for students enrolling into CS programs. My opinion is that most people (outside the industry), especially incoming college freshmen, are pretty ignorant about it. Most people I know graduting college with a CS degree had multiple job offers and were able to pick an employer on their own terms, or at least had the option to.
What's ironic is that it does not serve as a deterrent to students aiming to enter the Finance industry by majoring in economics, finance, accounting, etc. For some reason, there is no publicity about financial institutions off-shoring business functions. However, based on (my) conversation with friends in the industry, they claim that their jobs will be extinct in 2-3 years due to 1) machines that can do their jobs faster and better 2) para-bankers in India who can do their jobs faster and better. Why are there no articles on BusinessWeek citing fears of this in incoming freshmen at Pace, Baruch, NYU, Bing, and SUNYs ? Where are all the studies that report freshmen's fears of working in middle office?
