[D.Mulroy]

I have noticed that a large amount of schools in my area use VB6 to teach students how to "program". While VB6 is a fair language to begin programming with the way these schools are teaching it is not. The students are taught to program by only using controls and their properties. For instance, my Vb6 programming teacher didn't use integer variables to keep track of numbers, he taught us to use "hidden labels" which kept track of a numeric value. It did not take me long to realize that we were being taught to program incorrectly and started programming in my free time which soon became a major interest.

My point is that schools are either unaware that their curriculum is bad and outdated or they just don't care and are slowing down the progression of technology. If students in highschool were taught a more up to date language and practices of OO, they would be more prepared for college and possibly more students would be inclined to become programmers.

How does everyone else feel about this?

This post has been edited by D.Mulroy: 29 July 2010 - 08:04 AM

[PsychoCoder]

Since this isn't a VB6 issue or question I'm going to move it to the Corner Cubical for more discussion

[D.Mulroy]

Thanks Psycho :]

This post has been edited by D.Mulroy: 29 July 2010 - 08:02 AM

[macosxnerd101]

@PsychoCoder: Would you mind if I moved this to the Student Campus, as this is a discussion of programming in an academic and educational setting?

I'm guessing that you are referring to high school curricula. In all honesty, 99% of high school CS curricula are terrible. You get under and unqualified teachers who have written little to no code teaching these classes. I'm guessing that these teachers are familiar with VB6 and don't want to take the time to learn a more up to date language and better practices. Even moreso than the teachers, schools are highly oblivious to trends in the IT field. The IT Center I'm enrolled at in my school is a very rare exception.

[D.Mulroy]

I agree with you. The last update to my schools computer curriculum was Dreamweaver to the "HTML Programming" class. 'Dreamweaver is the future of web design along with use of tables for layout' is what it ended up teaching

Though I am trying to do all I can; I am teaching myself c# in my spare time, taking an independent study to further learning c#, and taking a Java course at a technical school.

[dorknexus]

Your school sounds like it is about 10 years behind the curve.

[D.Mulroy]

Tell me about it lol. The sad thing is that it is'nt just my school, it is all the public schools in the area.

This post has been edited by D.Mulroy: 29 July 2010 - 09:53 AM

[raziel_]

it sound to me that your teacher have no idea what he is doing. how ever i do think that VB6 is a good start at programing (maybe VB.NET but i think the frame work makes it a little harder for someone that never program before).

This post has been edited by NoBrain: 29 July 2010 - 10:02 AM

[dorknexus]

If you would like to get things changed up you could write up a proposal to change the curriculum to something more modern. Back it up with research from "industry experts" saying that Dreamweaver, table layout, VB6 and all that Jazz is the way of the past. Then make recommendations for new curriculum topics, also based on research. Present that shit to your school district. bring cookies.

[moopet]

I do seem to notice (citation needed) a lot of school-age coders who seem to have been taught that the web is run on tables. It's a great shame.

[D.Mulroy]

Yeah I agree, I have to get around to teaching myself CSS and PHP or JS.

[baavgai]

Some people are under the impression that computers are some magic bullet for education. "Kids need to learn computers" is a politician's mantra with no meaning. Most kids already know how use computers better than their parents, not to mention phones.

Putting computers in schools provides a digital baby sitter that doesn't draw a salary. Now you have to "teach students" computers. Programming languages can be challenging for many students. How much easier it is to just show them how to use a simple GUI designer, tweak some properties, and pretend it's programming. More students pass that way and the teacher can be the same guy who does health class.

The GUI you should be using is Visual Studio, but even then it sounds like the curriculum is paint by numbers. Tough it out, college is usually far more worth while than high school. Keep teaching yourself. The best programmers are those with a passion for learning on their own. Good luck.

[raziel_]

totally agree with you man. the GUI VB provide is entertainment and the similarity of the language syntax with English help the common computer user to get fast in the things. after all everything is logic

with the proper code style i find VB code easy to follow then C like languages but that`s just me

This post has been edited by NoBrain: 29 July 2010 - 11:59 AM

[Choscura]

I second the idea of bringing cookies. it sounds stupid but it's a strange thing, it does work wonders for moving paperwork along. best trick if you're going to bake them yourself: put in jello pudding of an appropriate flavor, eg, for chocolate chip cookies put in butterscotch pudding mix or similar. another stupid-sounding idea that increases good flavor, smell, and improves the texture. good cookies get remembered, and so do the people that bring them in. also it's possibly the easiest and most legal form of bribery.

[raziel_]

ask them to change your teacher with a delicious home made cookies

as far as i see if this guy is teaching you C# he may still show you to use hidden labels to store integers

This post has been edited by NoBrain: 29 July 2010 - 12:06 PM