I am more on the side of jgt in this matter: you can teach almost everything except the "mental environment" to make the learning experience take place - which is why idiots are quite resistant to education. And i have to disagree with sea: diplomas tell something about a persons industriousness (there is no convincing translation for the german word "Fleiß", but this would describe it best) but nothing about the learning capability.

I have no diploma at all in computer sciences or any related area (i am actually a musician) but still can hold my own in front of a keyboard, more or less. ;-))

I think a requirement for a prospective electronics engineer is a good command of some basic and intermediate math and the ability to quickly estimate orders of magnitude. I have often seen people using calculators for even the simplest calculation and not even flinch when results were way off because of typing errors. i.e. i would need some time to calculate "10 / 7" but i can immediately estimate it to be "1.5 or thereabouts". I simply know "15" to be wrong and ".15" to be wrong either. This is not a matter of relying on technology or not (i'd use a calculator too if i want a precise result), it is a matter of being willing to exert some mental effort for getting an (even limited) result.

Here is a test question, no tricks involved and the answer can easily be calculated once you know what to calculate. Take your time in solving it:

Suppose you have a melon, which weighs 100kg. 99% of it is water. Now, this melon lies in the sun for some time and some water evaporates, so now it is is down to a water content of 98%. How much does it weigh now?

Most will, without thinking, say "99 kg" or something near this value. But "99%" and "98%" are not from the same base, yes? Here is a hint: What would be 100% when 1kg is 2%, hmmm?


/PS: on second thoughts: knowing the limitations of ones knowledge is an even more critical skill. Suppose the following situation: places A and B are roughly 100km apart. You go with your car from A to B maintaining an average speed of 71.047 km/h. Question: how long will the drive take? One usually gets an answer "exact" down to the nanosecond, completely ignoring that "roughly 100km" hardly justifies anything more precise than quarter-hours.

bakunin