Recently a number of students have been asking about switching classes in the middle of third term. The requests are usually because the student is struggling in their current course. They hope that by switching to a less intensive course, they will improve their success and raise their grade. Unfortunately, switching at this point (more than half way through the academic year), poses significant challenges and difficulties.
Science classes do not follow the same order and pace. While every discipline has a set of core learning goals that are the same. The specifics and depth of these goals vary between levels. In addition, the order in which the learning goals are taught varies significantly between classes. Because of limited equipment and supplies, teacher rotate the use of things such as microscopes, mineral collections and spectrophotometers. Pacing and emphasis also vary depending on the needs of the class.
Because of this, students who switch at this point in the year often find that they repeat topics, and completely miss entire units. Because all students are expected to take the final exam for the course in which they are registered, these students need to not only follow the material being taught currently, but they must also learn the material that they missed. Often the material being covered at this point in the year is based on material learned previously. So students just joining a class may be at a significant disadvantage since they will be expected to be able to build on what was learned previously.
For a student who is struggling in their current class, switching to a different class at this point is not likely to help them find success. Instead, it will create a different set of challenges, which may be greater than what they currently face.
