No I am not arguing for a trade school approach. My impression from 4 years of undergrad and 4 years of graduate studies is the material in my classes could be much better focused around the key questions that created the topic in the first place and why it is important. And this would significantly reduce the content in the classes, while making it more accessible to a larger audience.
Also, while not reducing academia to a trade school, there are non faddish stable practical skills that should also be taught in an academic setting much more.
My ideal curriculum would maintain fundamental results that are not directly practical, like proofs of the halting problem, no free lunch, and np completeness, to delimit the realm of the possible. It would also teach practical skills around systems programming and software development, and well established widely used protocols.
Also, while not reducing academia to a trade school, there are non faddish stable practical skills that should also be taught in an academic setting much more.
My ideal curriculum would maintain fundamental results that are not directly practical, like proofs of the halting problem, no free lunch, and np completeness, to delimit the realm of the possible. It would also teach practical skills around systems programming and software development, and well established widely used protocols.