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by duskwuff 2229 days ago
> The main issues, at least in my opinion, are "very very" bad teaching and very low incentives for someone to study well.

Another significant element I'd point to is outdated curricula. By way of example, many Indian CS course materials still require students to use Turbo C++ -- an IDE from the mid-1990s which runs under DOS. Needless to say, what ends up being taught is hardly representative of modern practices.
2 comments
mesaframe 2229 days ago
I don't think the curriculum is outdated. Those are tools you are talking about.
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duskwuff 2229 days ago
They go hand in hand. A C++ IDE from the mid-1990s implements C++ as it existed in the mid-1990s -- which is a rather different language from that which exists today. No STL, for instance. Without access to modern features of the language, it's inevitable that the course won't end up teaching those features.

Moreover -- the use of a 25-year-old IDE is symptomatic of a more general problem in Indian CS (and probably other) curricula. Many instructors are teaching to a syllabus which was set in stone many years ago. If you look at some of the links I posted in a sibling thread or explore other universities' posted materials, you'll probably see signs of this -- Java courses which still cover applet development is another common one, for instance.

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kshacker 2229 days ago
Reference please...
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duskwuff 2229 days ago
One common citation is:

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Turbo-C++-still-being-used-in-I...

But I'll do one better -- here are a couple of syllabi and course materials that suggest that it's still being actively used in universities:

https://www.darshan.ac.in/DIET/CE/SubjectDetail/2140705 (note the "reference books")

http://cmscollege.ac.in/course-menu/syllabus-object-oriented... (similarly)

http://www.alagappauniversity.ac.in/modules/DDE/uploads/book... (published in 2018, references Turbo C++ throughout)

http://www.dbit.ac.in/cse/syllabus/compiler-design-lab.pdf (2017, references Turbo C++)

You can find more examples pretty easily. It does look as though some universities are starting to support the Code::Blocks IDE and/or Geany, but not consistently.

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