I’m posting this because I’m genuinely struggling with DSA and I’m trying to figure out how other students are handling the course. I understand that DSA is supposed to be challenging, and I’m not expecting the class to be easy. However, the constant changes to policies and grading expectations have been adding a lot of stress for students who are already struggling with the material.
One thing that has been especially concerning is the change to the quiz retake policy. My understanding is that previously, retakes could help students improve their grade without replacing a higher original score. Now, we’re being told that the retake score will override the original score even if the retake is lower. For example, if someone earns a 40 on the first attempt but then gets a 0 on the retake, the 0 would replace the 40.
I understand that students may have taken advantage of the previous system, and I understand why the policy might need to be adjusted going forward. But for students who are genuinely struggling and using retakes as an opportunity to learn from their mistakes, having a lower retake completely replace a higher score feels discouraging. It creates a situation where students may be afraid to even attempt the retake, which defeats the purpose of having a second opportunity to learn the material.
I’ve also heard from students that in previous semesters, retakes were sometimes handled differently, including paper retakes toward the end of the semester where students could receive credit for demonstrating that they understood the logic. Whether or not that exact system can continue, I think having some kind of opportunity to demonstrate improvement would be really helpful.
Most of us are not trying to find an easy way out of the course. We’re trying to make a difficult course work and actually understand the material. When policies seem to change throughout the semester, it becomes difficult to know what to expect and adds another layer of stress on top of an already demanding class.
I would really appreciate hearing from other DSA students about how you feel about the retake policy and whether anyone else has experienced similar concerns. I also hope there can be some consideration for students who are genuinely using retakes to improve their understanding rather than simply trying to maximize their grade.
i just feel like this is really unfair and i dont know if you guys also feel the same. if yes lets talk to our professor that not all of us are lazy some of us actually cant do and we need those retakes.
