Slashdot Mirror


U.S. Students Have Achieved World Domination in Computer Science Skills -- For Now (ieee.org)

When it comes to computer science skills, U.S. students approaching graduation have a significant advantage over their peers in China, India, and Russia. Tekla Perry shares a report: That's the conclusion of a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The study was put together by a global team of researchers led by Prashant Loyalka, an assistant professor at Stanford University. The team constructed a careful sampling mechanism to select senior (typically fourth year) computer science or equivalent students in each of the four countries, making sure that both the educational institutions and students enrolled at those schools were statistically representative of schools and computer science students throughout the respective nations. The sampling also ensured that study participants represented both elite and non-elite universities.

The final selection included 6847 students from the U.S., 678 from China, 364 from India, and 551 from Russia. Once the students were selected, the researchers then administered the Major Field Test in Computer Science, an exam that was developed by the U.S. Educational Testing Service and is regularly updated. The exam was translated for the students in China and Russia. When the researchers tabulated the results, the U.S. students came out ahead in every category. U.S. seniors outperformed their peers overall; students from elite U.S. schools outclassed their counterparts at the other countries' elite institutions; and the same was true for students at non-elite universities. (The differences among the scores of students in China, India, and Russia were not statistically significant, the researchers indicated.)

8 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. World, but not job? by lionchild · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If US students have achieved world domination, why are there such a high demand for H1-B Visa's?

    --
    Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
    1. Re:World, but not job? by bob4u2c · · Score: 5, Insightful

      why are there such a high demand for H1-B Visa's?

      They cost less and are dependent on good standing with the company to stay in the US, next question.

    2. Re:World, but not job? by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In my experience, many of the H1B visa people are project managers and team leads that funnel work offshore where "professionals" are willing to work for a small fraction of what american professionals need to live.

      Short sighted corporate strategy seeks the lowest cost without a concern for total life-cycle cost.

      --
      Greed is the root of all evil.
    3. Re:World, but not job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Many laws are maintained not because they are fair, but because some rich lobby games the system to keep them in place.

      The H1-B visa situation is one such.

  2. So US students better at US tests... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Shouldn't they also test how everyone passes Russian, Indian and Chinese tests ?

    Because maybe US program is aligned with US tests.

  3. Practicality? by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Something tells me a study put together by academics may not match real-world effectiveness. Skills related to teamwork social dynamics, understanding the business domain, and communication often have at least as big an impact as raw academic prowess, especially early in one's career where one has to pretty much shuddup and do what the boss asks.

  4. Re: The big HR 'WHERE' clause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    After many years of experience I'm the tech industry, I'm of the sound theory that the "combo matching" you refer to is used more as a way to indirectly justify the other real reasons you mentioned: salary, culture, ageism, or politics.

    If I make a position nearly impossible to fill by never endingly increasing specificity of minimik requirements, I can explain away any candidate of my choosing. Now that I've established a way to exclude all candidates, I can look at the viable candidates who applied and discriminate however I choose: salary, age, sex, whatever. Should any sort of discrimination lawsuit arise itll be quite easy to justify why I hired the other person unless they match the specificity of the other candidate exactly (pretty impossible). I get to do all this while still advertising position openings through all the typical mediums without worry of legal discrimination liabilities.

    I know this because at least two positions I've worked have used this very practice and explained to me this is quite normal procedure to guarentee my spot for the opening. Often if its political (like those cases) they'll even have you send a copy of your resume where they tailor the specificity off your resume.

  5. Re:USA Number One! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Bill, you gotta tell me if this is a joke. If it's real, my math professor wife is going to get a kick out of it.

    I don't know if the photo is legitimate or not. My daughter (half Asian, and very mathematically capable) forwarded it to me.

    If a photo is funny enough, does it matter if it is true?

    instead of making Calculus a semester-long course, with Calc I, II, etc, they're teaching it more simply as a set of tool

    This is much better than the normal "theory first" method. When you start with limits and infinitesimals, the students get confused and lose interest, because they don't see where it is headed. It is also historically inaccurate, because that is NOT how calculus was developed. Both Newton and Leibniz developed calculus as a tool, and the rigorous theory didn't come until a century later.

    Most students in a calculus class are going to be scientists and engineers, not mathematicians. They have no need to learn the theory. If they are really interested, they can learn it in a more advanced course, or from self-study.

    Mathematicians often make poor math teachers.