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Sure, but 12 people got an F in CS10 in Spring 2026, which is higher than any prior spring. The second-highest number of Spring F grades was 9, in Spring 2022, when four times as many students were graded (133 vs 34).

Separately, there's a clear downward trend in the number of grades being awarded in the fall semester. Perhaps students have the option to take the course pass/fail?

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12 Fs across 34 students is not statistically significant. Comparing the spring 2022 vs spring 2026 rates only works if the composition of the groups is similar (e.g. same % of students that previously failed the course), which seems dubious given the dramatically different sample sizes.

That doesn't mean there isn't a problem worth investigating. If I was a dean I'd certainly have some questions if I found out that 35% of students failed a class. But without knowing the specifics it's irresponsible to draw any conclusions about these 34 students with the limited data we have available.

Agreed.

That's why I raised the low N.

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