Rambles around computer science

Diverting trains of thought, wasting precious time

Tue, 09 Jan 2018

Undergraduate admissions in “computer science”: a plea

Dear Bogdan,

Thank you for this update on our undergraduate admissions testing, and very well done on what must have been a mammoth effort. Seeing the CSAT happening at the CL, I could see it did succeed in creating a friendly environment, and I was impressed by the organisation effort which had clearly been necessary to put on such a smooth operation over a fairly long period.

However, let me also sound a note of alarm.

Reading the CSAT web pages, it is (still) not even mentioned that the test is about mathematics. Rather, it is left implicit—as if it didn't even occur that it might be necessary to mention or justify this. The Frequently Asked Questions page repeatedly use phrases like “at A-level”, “at school” without even seeing fit to mention that school mathematics is what you're talking about. Your starting assumption has apparently been that mathematics skills are 100% of what we are looking for.

I believe this is completely wrong, and it really worries me that you are apparently not thinking about it at all. Computing needs a diversity of skills and viewpoints. It is a horrible mistake to assume that it is simply a question of mathematics. I've personally known many computer scientists whose interest in (natural) languages, philosophy, history, biology and other sciences has been far stronger than their interest in mathematics. Meanwhile, “systems thinking” is a large part of many areas of computer science and requires analytical skills in human domains as well as mathematical ones. Why can't we admit people based on their excellence in those areas?

I am also incredibly worried about the withdrawal of the 50% option, which will further narrow the horizons of our students. As we admit a larger cohort of students, we should be acquiring the necessary support staff to scale up our offering's diversity. We should not be perversely restricting it on the grounds that this is the only way to cope without any extra staff. Our admissions and intake are booming; we should be coming out with a better offering than ever. You might counter that few students have chosen it the 50% option this year, but that only points again to the narrowness of our selection criteria. (I realise that this decision was not yours, but am raising it because I'm sure you have more oversight of this than I do.)

Cambridge will not suffer directly from these mistakes, because we will always admit smart individuals and turn them out even smarter. But our discipline will suffer, in practice and in research. Consequently, society will suffer. I need hardly remind you of the huge power that technologists have acquired in recent years, and the cluelessness with which many wield it. This is one of the huge social problems of our time, and Universities are far from blameless in it. Technology shapes our society. Study of the historical, human, psychological, biological and other topics all provide necessary and complementary viewpoints. It is a recipe for disaster to make computer science a discipline of mathematical thinking alone.

I hope (albeit without optimism) that this will make some sense to you. I should mention that I have also posted this e-mail on my blog. Yours in desperation,

Stephen.

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