I think it was also a matter of expectations. Should students have expected that, to properly get through a university course, they should have gone through a set of lectures that were not part of any prerequisite course? It should have been a project that a complete beginner to ML could have learned how to do over the semester. I feel as though you were in the position of someone who already knew (some) Spanish taking a Spanish 101 class and being disappointed that the other people who were on a group project with you were beginners—of course they’re beginners, that’s why they’re taking the class in the first place!
It wasn’t a class at all, it was a capstone project.
A relevant point which wasn’t in the post: the project was in senior year, and all of them ended up going into data science after graduation, as did I. I knew years before that data science was hot and in high demand at the time and would likely suit me well; I explicitly optimized for it. I don’t think any of them planned that far ahead at all.
I see. Did the capstone project need to be related to machine learning, or was it just what the group wanted to do? (But yes, most college students will not be optimizing their learning for the specific career they actually do end up in after graduation.)
I think it was also a matter of expectations. Should students have expected that, to properly get through a university course, they should have gone through a set of lectures that were not part of any prerequisite course? It should have been a project that a complete beginner to ML could have learned how to do over the semester. I feel as though you were in the position of someone who already knew (some) Spanish taking a Spanish 101 class and being disappointed that the other people who were on a group project with you were beginners—of course they’re beginners, that’s why they’re taking the class in the first place!
It wasn’t a class at all, it was a capstone project.
A relevant point which wasn’t in the post: the project was in senior year, and all of them ended up going into data science after graduation, as did I. I knew years before that data science was hot and in high demand at the time and would likely suit me well; I explicitly optimized for it. I don’t think any of them planned that far ahead at all.
I see. Did the capstone project need to be related to machine learning, or was it just what the group wanted to do? (But yes, most college students will not be optimizing their learning for the specific career they actually do end up in after graduation.)