The Reasons Why You Are Failing Computer Science

Before you drop out of your Computer Science program, read this …

Through the years as a Computer Science tutor, I have had the opportunity to work with students. Also, help them in their journey completing their bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

When I completed my bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, I went through the entire process of completing the degree. Thanks to these experiences, I have seen patterns that don’t serve students when completing their bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. I have done some of these things as well, nonetheless, recognized them and worked on them so I could finish the degree.

Today I am going to share some of the reasons or habits that are preventing you from making progress in your Computer Science degree.

Thus, helping you become aware of these habits, fix them, and help you get out of your way so you can achieve success in your college journey.

Lack of Consistency

When I work with students, and I see that they are not reaching the goals, the first thing I ask them, what is your study plan? How many times are you studying per week for your Computer Science course? The answers I may receive are one time per week or the other extreme when the exam is coming up.

That is the first red flag, a lack of consistency. What I have learned through the years is that Computer Science is a very theoretical and practical discipline. So, when you are taking a course like “Introduction to Programming,” practicing the concepts consistently you learn is essential to get excellent grades.

What worked for me and helped me improve my grades was to establish a study plan and follow it every week. Now, here’s where a lot of students, even myself, fail. The key to success is following the plan even though when there is barely work to do in your classes, and the exam is months (or weeks) away. I know I fell into this trap, I would procrastinate and leave studying for weeks (or even days) before the exam.

Reason #1: Not studying and practicing consistenly may hold you back from success

Then, when the exam date was approaching, I had other assignments and academic commitments to fulfill, so I was stressed out and had a lot on my plate. Consequently, I would study stressed and did not retain all the information that was going to be evaluated in the exam, which lead me to a lower grade than I expected.

However, by having a plan, I would make sure I was following it and had a structure that helped me prepare for my exams even when life got hectic.

Not Practicing The Right Material

Now that we discussed consistency, the other mistake I see students make is not practicing the right material. I even made this mistake myself. In courses like “Introduction to Programming,” there is a lot of content that can be covered. Sometimes, in my experience, due to time constraints, there is material that may be in the textbook but not evaluated in the test.

Reason #2: Not practicing the right class material can lead you through the wrong path

Hence, if you aren’t aware of the material that is going to be evaluated in the exam, you might study concepts in the textbook that are not going to be asked on test day. These concepts may be discussed in another course. To prevent this from happening, what I did was to follow the course syllabus and study the concepts established in the course outline. Also, I completed all the practice exercises from the syllabus that were in the syllabus.

Another thing I did that helped me was to ask my professor for any changes during the semester (if there were any) and this saved me a lot of time which I could use to study for my other courses.

A Shaky Foundation

Another thing I have learned through the years about Computer Science is that some of the courses are a sequence of each other. Furthermore, there may be concepts that are required and vital for your success in the Computer Science course you are taking are from the previous course. Hence, if you don’t understand these concepts properly, you may have trouble understanding the concepts you are currently taking.

This is what I like to call a “shaky foundation.” For instance, let’s say that you are taking Data Structures and you are having trouble understanding the concepts discussed in this course like “Stacks,” “Queues,” and implementing them in Java. Maybe you do not dominate the concepts necessary to implement these data structures such as “Arrays.” So, when you are discussing the array implementation of a stack in class, you are struggling to understand how to implement the stack operations such as push and pop elements to and from the stack.

What I would do in this situation is to go back and review the concept of arrays and other concepts that you discussed on the prerequisite course you took. I would use supplemental material such as YouTube videos, or even read the textbook from the previous class. Moreover, I would do all the practice exercises in the arrays section of your book.

Reason #3: Having a shaky foundation of previous concepts and ideas can hold you back from succeeding on your current course

I understand this approach may be a lot of work, nonetheless, think about all the money you can save by not having to re-take Data Structures (in this example) if you are failing it. Furthermore, the permanent W on your transcript (or any letter to describe that you dropped the class). Trust me, doing this work will be well worth it. One thing I learned is that the earlier you identify the concepts you have trouble grasping, the better it is and the easier it will be.

There you have it, the reasons I have seen through the years that may hold you back making progress as a Computer Science student completing your bachelor’s degree in college. Also, some lessons I have learned that helped me move forward; thus, I wanted to share them because they may serve you.

If you happy and you know it, clap your hands :)

As always, don’t forget to follow me and click on the applause button, so you don’t miss content that can help you in some way in your journey as a Computer Science major.

Also, I know if you like this kind of content so I can keep writing more of these types of articles to help you on your journey as a Computer Science student or someone learning how to code.

If you obtained any value from this article, feel free to share it with a friend, this way we can help other people who are learning how to code.

I hope this helps!

If you liked this article, I think you might be interested in these articles as well:

Credits and thank you to:

Photo by Inzmam Khan from Pexels

Disclaimer: Results may vary. These tips and advice are based on my experience and opinion as a former undergraduate Computer Science student, tutor, teacher, and software developer. Everyone is different, so, the advice shared in this article may or may not work for you.

Originally published at https://yadielcabrera.com.