[PLUG] [Event report] Introduction to Python: Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Pune, India

[Rohit Karajgi]

On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 3:43 PM, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay <
sankarshan.mukhopadhyay at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 3:38 PM, Parag Shah <adaptives at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > My theory is that, to be able to do anything over a sustained period of
> > time, the only way to get it to work is to tie it to tangible rewards.
> > Unfortunately, tangible rewards for students - are grades, and for
> employees
> > - are appraisals. Please do not take this as a negative remark for either
> > students or employed programmers. I am just stating what I have observed,
> > and perhaps things are such because of the way our system works.
>
> And, I often say that unless the students are motivated enough to
> apply their knowledge for mere pleasure of finding things out then we
> are missing out on the opportunity to build capable employees and
> entrepreneurs.
>
> Let's face it, in each life there is hardship and difficulty. And yet,
> if one doesn't take it upon oneself to rise above it all, then what's
> the point ?
>
> --
> sankarshan mukhopadhyay
> <http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/>
>
> From my own experiences, I must completely agree with Parag and Sankarshan.
Unfortunately, the only kind of motivation we see in the rare individual is
self-motivation. This is not enough in our society, with peer/family/socio
factors involving one's development, many students lose their own focus
towards a goal, and end up on a totally miscalculated path. Students should
be given much more freedom (and time) to think, explore and question, which
is what I have seen commonly in the West.
It's not difficult to realize how Python can vastly improve an engineer's
problem solving and coding skills. It also has the power to convert
non-programmers to programmers.
Clearly the problem is systemic. Our stress and math and science in school,
and college entrances can only take us so far. Engineering solutions to real
world problems is something that not many think about, and once we do start
thinking that way, then there would be more of Bill Gates, Larry Page,
 Steve Jobs (and Woz), Torvalds, and the likes from our country.

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