Word: malans
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...Science 50 is a rare, acknowledged standard of excellence. We witness our peers slaving for days over problem sets in the dining hall, and marvel at their commitment to one introductory class. However, in coming semesters, finishing CS 50 may become slightly less of an achievement. Lecturer David J. Malan ’99 recently proposed grading the course on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis as a default for non-concentrators and students not receiving General Education credit. We view this as a marketing strategy and believe that it will have negative repercussions on those who enroll...
...grading policy change could discourage individuals from devoting energy to it—to their detriment. No matter how good their intentions, students pressed for time unavoidably prioritize work for classes in which they will be receiving a grade. Although we have no doubt that many of the students Malan hopes to attract with the policy would be intellectually motivated to learn the material, we question whether they would do so at the cost of success in their other classes. Those enrolled would undoubtedly conduct such an analysis as the term went on. CS 50’s value comes...
...previous programming background. This is largely a testament to Malan’s approach: His lecture style is engaging, and he draws teaching fellows from the pool of undergraduates who have already taken the class. Instructors offer a tremendous number of office hours, the sections are tracked, and Malan himself continually emphasizes that students of all levels can succeed in this environment...
Because the course currently seems eminently comfortable for students, it is unclear what fear or uncertainty Malan seeks to address through this change. A course’s policies alone can never assuage all students' fears—for instance, some refuse to take big lecture classes—but presumably Malan does not plan to cap the size or split CS 50 up in order to accommodate them...
Aydede said she had spoken to Malan about the plan before it was announced last Friday, and that she believes it will ultimately create a more accessible class with a broader appeal for Harvard students...