In culmination of another phase of my life, I write this blog post. Feedback had also been submitted to the guidance office of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), and the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science (DISCS). Comments on the presence of Theology and Philosophy classes in the core curriculum of the university has also been posted in the previous blog post.
While nearing the day on which I was to be released in the “real world”, I faced difficulties (which I talked about in a blog post that I later retracted). I reflected on a lot of things, among which is the BS Computer Science curriculum of ADMU that I personally find flawed in a number of ways. I am not aware of efforts by DISCS to address these issues, but in the tradition of evaluating events, I outline my comments:
- No required class on statistics. My mom, who incidentally is a mathematics professor at the University of the Philippines, Visayas campus, expressed alarm when she learned that there is no required class on statistics in our curriculum. It is understandable as, in my opinion, statistics is necessary for research in a lot disciplines, most especially in the physical sciences, engineering, management, and social sciences. Even just introduction to statistical analysis should be covered. Statistical analyses can be necessary in non-precise fields involving artificial intelligence, software evaluation and comparison, and computing research.
- Elective courses for exploration and not specialization.This is possibly an issue only in my batch. There has not been much introduction on specific careers such as game development, computing research, typography, front-end design, systems and network administration, et cetera. A number from my batch only learned what they want to get into almost by chance through the limited number of elective courses that we are required to take. By the time that most find out what they want to do, they are already about to graduate, and are only very slightly exposed to the career that they choose and are therefore almost not qualified to apply for a job in those areas yet. Students could, of course, learn on their own, but it would be great if there were required classes that could already expose them to a lot of fields early in college so that elective courses could be spent specializing and not just exploring.
- Lack of opportunity to specialize. Possibly because of the relatively small incoming flow of BS Computer Science students, there is a limited selection of computer science electives. A number from my batch have expressed having to settle for electives not directly related to the specific areas they want to get into because of the lack of choice.
Still, I am happy and content. Not a bit of regret.
