The Biggest Mistake Students Make When Studying for Programming Courses

As a Computer Science undergraduate student, I made a lot of mistakes when preparing for my exams. Many times failing and getting frustrated when I received the final grade. I felt that no matter how hard I studied I couldn’t get excellent grades. Until, after many times of making adjustments to my study strategy, I found the reason that kept me from getting the grades I wanted. Now, as a Computer Science tutor and educator, I see that many students made the same mistake I made. Nonetheless, when I share with them this reason, show them how this mistake impacts their performance in their exams, they change their approach, and their grades improve dramatically.

So, today I am going to share with you the number one mistake I made as a Computer Science student, and many of my students I have seen make as well that prevents them from achieving academic success in their programming courses in college. This way, you can stop making it on your next course and help improve your grades.

Let’s get started.

Problem: Not following the syllabus

The syllabus is like a map for a college course, not only for Computer Science and programming courses. This document very important, as it contains all the information that the course is going to cover through the semester. It’s like a contract between the university and the student, certifying that specific topics are going to be covered during the length of the course. Furthermore, this document may contain assigned practice exercises located in your textbook that are tailored to assess the topics that are going to be evaluated in the exam.

When I see a student is failing in their programming course, I always ask him (or her) show me the course syllabus. Nine times out of ten they tell me, I don’t have the syllabus, or it’s online on the course website. This is a BIG MISTAKE. My recommendation is to have a copy of the syllabus always with you. Moreover, you should use the syllabus to study consistently. The syllabus is the blueprint for success in the course. If you don’t follow it, It’s like driving a car without knowing the directions. If you keep driving you are eventually going to run out of gas, get frustrated and fail to get to your destination.

So, to prevent this from happening, read the syllabus and follow it from day one. Read the chapters that are indicated in the syllabus and do all the assigned practice exercises. By doing this, you are setting up your grades for success.

Solution: Use the syllabus as your guide for academic success

Now that we discussed the importance of the syllabus in your programming course let’s talk about how it can guide you and make a difference in the grade you obtain in your next test. Another mistake I made is that I used to do a lot of practice exercises from other sources outside the resources stated in the syllabus. Like the websites on the Internet. When I took the test, I knew the concepts, but I did not do as well as I thought.

This happens to a lot of the students I work with. What I noticed is that the practice problems I did were not like the style of the ones in the exam. So, I may know, the concept, but did not understand how the question was framed. What I have seen through the years is that Computer Science is a broad field full of knowledge. Furthermore, there are a lot of ways to assess the understanding of a topic. That is, by asking the same questions in many ways. This can be, define the concept in your own words or even write a program from scratch.

Why is this important? Because the way you answer these types of questions is very different from one another. For example, I can ask you, what are decision structures? You can give me a straight answer. On the other hand, I can ask you to write a program that evaluates the user’s input. These type of questions can assess the same concept but differently.

To make sure you are preparing with the right resources according to your course, study from the resources stated in the syllabus. If you have extra time, then do some outside the scope of the syllabus. By doing this, you are staying in your lane and training your brain to answer the questions that are going to be on the test according to the style of your course textbook. Also, you are making the most out of your study time by making sure that you are studying what is going to be asked on the day of the exam.

So, remember, when starting the next semester, grab that syllabus and use it as your roadmap to success. I know I started doing this as a student and my grades improved dramatically. Also, I have recommended this tip to other students, and they have benefited as well. I want you to do better too.

Hope this helps!

If you liked this article, go ahead and share it with a friend that may be stressing out with grades as a Computer Science student. It might change his/her life.

Also, be sure to join the LinkedIn group, “Computer Science College Students.” A community I designed to help upcoming Computer Science students succeed in their careers. It’s free to join.

Disclaimer: This my opinion. It is based on what has worked and not for me as a student. Also, this article is based on my experience as an educator. Everybody is different; it may not work for you. But, still, I want to share this information because I know it can help someone.

Originally published at yadielcabrera.com on July 23, 2018.