Failing grades soar with AI usage, dwindling math skills in Berkeley CS classes
Failing grades soar with AI usage, dwindling math skills in Berkeley CS classes
加州大学伯克利分校计算机科学课程：AI 使用导致不及格率飙升，数学基础日益薄弱
According to Berkeleytime, 35.3% of CS 10 students and 10.6% of CS 61A students received F’s in spring 2026. The percentage of failing grades in multiple UC Berkeley computer science classes in spring 2026 is significantly higher than past semesters and marks a departure from the department’s grading guidelines. 根据 Berkeleytime 的数据，2026 年春季学期，CS 10 课程有 35.3% 的学生不及格，CS 61A 课程的不及格率则为 10.6%。2026 年春季，加州大学伯克利分校多门计算机科学课程的不及格率显著高于往年，这标志着该系偏离了既定的评分准则。
Instructors point to students’ increased reliance on AI, lack of mathematical preparedness and understaffing as potential contributing factors. 授课教师指出，学生对人工智能的过度依赖、数学准备不足以及教职人员短缺是导致这一现象的潜在因素。
According to Berkeleytime, 35.3% of CS 10 students and 10.6% of CS 61A students received F’s in spring 2026. In spring 2025 and spring 2024, the percentage of F’s did not exceed 10% for either class. The electrical engineering and computer sciences department’s grading guidelines state that 7% of students in lower division courses, including CS 10 and CS 61A, should receive D’s and F’s. In addition, the guidelines state that “a typical GPA for a lower division course will fall in the range 2.8 – 3.3.” In spring 2026, both classes’ average grades were C-pluses, according to Berkeleytime, corresponding to a 2.3 GPA. 根据 Berkeleytime 的数据，2026 年春季学期，CS 10 课程有 35.3% 的学生不及格，CS 61A 课程的不及格率则为 10.6%。而在 2025 年春季和 2024 年春季，这两门课的不及格率均未超过 10%。电气工程与计算机科学系（EECS）的评分准则规定，包括 CS 10 和 CS 61A 在内的低年级课程中，应有 7% 的学生获得 D 或 F。此外，准则还指出“低年级课程的典型 GPA 应在 2.8 至 3.3 之间”。据 Berkeleytime 统计，2026 年春季这两门课的平均成绩均为 C+，对应 GPA 为 2.3。
UC Berkeley teaching professor Dan Garcia taught both CS 10, “The Beauty and Joy of Computing,” and CS 61A, “The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs,” in spring 2026. Garcia believes the “primary driver” of these abnormally high failing rates is due to a “vast increase in academic dishonesty” due to students’ usage of large language models, such as Claude, ChatGPT and Google Gemini. 加州大学伯克利分校教学教授 Dan Garcia 在 2026 年春季同时教授了 CS 10（“计算之美与乐”）和 CS 61A（“计算机程序的构造与解释”）。Garcia 认为，这些异常高的不及格率的“主要驱动因素”是由于学生使用 Claude、ChatGPT 和 Google Gemini 等大语言模型，导致“学术不端行为大幅增加”。
“Some of the numbers that you saw from the number of students who receive failing grades were because we caught them (cheating) and prosecuted them and are sending their cases to the center for student conduct,” Garcia said. “But in other cases, it’s students who are leaning a little too hard on LLMs to do their work for them, and then at exam time just really aren’t ready.” “你所看到的一些不及格学生数据，是因为我们抓到了他们（作弊）并进行了处理，目前正将他们的案件移交给学生行为中心，”Garcia 说，“但在其他情况下，是因为学生过于依赖大语言模型来替他们完成作业，导致在考试时根本没有准备好。”
According to Garcia, nearly 30 students in CS 10 were caught cheating on take-home exams in spring 2026. Neither of Garcia’s classes this semester was graded on curves; instead, each letter grade has a point threshold. This means that students’ grades do not depend on their peers’ performances. 据 Garcia 称，2026 年春季学期，CS 10 课程中有近 30 名学生在居家考试中被发现作弊。Garcia 本学期的两门课程均未采用曲线评分（Curve）；相反，每个字母等级都有对应的分数门槛。这意味着学生的成绩不取决于同伴的表现。
Garcia believes that instructors “should not be curving” but should instead make thresholds for each letter grade publicly available and give students many chances to reach them. He added that he loves the idea of “having no limit” to the number of A’s he gives students. Garcia 认为，教师“不应该使用曲线评分”，而应该公开每个字母等级的分数门槛，并给学生多次达到这些门槛的机会。他补充说，他非常喜欢“不限制”给予学生 A 等级数量的想法。
“I’m a strong, strong opponent of what Harvard is doing to say that only a fraction of students can earn A’s,” Garcia said. “I think you should have clear standards for what an A means, and then give tons of opportunity for people … to get to that A bar without lowering the standard. So everybody who’s curving is hiding that effect. It’s completely hiding that effect, and it’s pretending as if nothing’s wrong, and something is definitely wrong.” “我非常、非常反对哈佛大学的做法，即规定只有一小部分学生能获得 A，”Garcia 说，“我认为你应该为 A 的定义设定明确的标准，然后给人们提供大量的机会……去达到那个 A 的门槛，而不是降低标准。所以，每一个使用曲线评分的人都在掩盖这种影响。这完全是在掩盖问题，假装一切正常，但实际上肯定出了问题。”
In addition to overreliance on AI, Garcia also pointed out that many students are underprepared mathematically, a concern echoed by campus associate teaching professor Gireeja Ranade. 除了对人工智能的过度依赖外，Garcia 还指出许多学生的数学准备不足，这一担忧也得到了该校副教学教授 Gireeja Ranade 的共鸣。
Ranade noticed a similar lack of prerequisite mathematical skills in her spring 2026 EECS 127 class, “Optimization Models in Engineering,” which she described as “differently challenging” to teach this semester. The class saw a 16.8% F rate, far higher than the 5% of D’s and F’s that the EECS department describes as “typical” for an upper division course. Ranade 在她 2026 年春季的 EECS 127 课程“工程优化模型”中也注意到了学生缺乏必要的数学技能，她形容这门课本学期的教学“面临着不同的挑战”。该课程的不及格率为 16.8%，远高于 EECS 系所描述的高年级课程“典型”的 5% 的 D 和 F 比例。
Ranade said students are expected to enter the course having taken classes on linear algebra, vector calculus and mathematical proofs. However, she found out in office hours that many students struggled with linear algebra, and was even more shocked when one student told her the linear algebra class they took at UC Berkeley had an “open-internet, open-AI policy” for homework and exams. Ranade 表示，学生在选修这门课之前，应已修过线性代数、向量微积分和数学证明等课程。然而，她在答疑时间发现许多学生在线性代数方面感到吃力，更令她震惊的是，一名学生告诉她，他们在加州大学伯克利分校修读的线性代数课，在作业和考试中竟然实行“开放互联网、开放 AI 政策”。
Both Garcia and Ranade have joined more than 1,300 UC faculty in signing a petition calling for the reinstatement of ACT and SAT standardized testing scores for STEM admissions in the UC system. The petition and its accompanying open letter detail similar concerns with students’ mathematical preparation. Garcia 和 Ranade 已与 1300 多名加州大学教职员工共同签署了一份请愿书，呼吁在加州大学系统的 STEM 专业招生中恢复 ACT 和 SAT 标准化考试成绩。请愿书及其随附的公开信详细阐述了对学生数学准备情况的类似担忧。
Ranade also changed the structure of the course this year. Previously, EECS 127 included a final project completed with the guidance of the professor and a team of TAs. Due to a lack of staff, Ranade had to remove this portion of the class, on which she said most students get high scores. Ranade 今年还改变了课程结构。此前，EECS 127 包含一个在教授和助教团队指导下完成的期末项目。由于人手不足，Ranade 不得不取消了这部分课程，她表示大多数学生通常能在该项目中获得高分。
According to a post on X by EECS department chair Jelani Nelson, the campus has had to reduce both undergraduate CS enrollment and the number of undergraduate TAs due to the high hourly wages that EECS TAs are paid. 根据 EECS 系主任 Jelani Nelson 在 X 上发布的消息，由于 EECS 助教的时薪较高，学校不得不减少了本科生计算机科学专业的招生人数以及本科助教的数量。
Ranade and Garcia have both noticed the decline of student engagement in classes as well. Ranade said office hours used to be “overflowing,” but this semester, she and her TAs noticed “very low engagement” in office hours, despite frequently encouraging students to attend. Ranade 和 Garcia 都注意到学生的课堂参与度也在下降。Ranade 说，以前答疑时间总是“人满为患”，但本学期，尽管她经常鼓励学生参加，她和助教们还是注意到答疑时间的“参与度非常低”。
Garcia found a similar lack of attendance in his office hours over the past two semesters. “I used to have full office hours, and for the first time, I was having nobody come to my office hours,” Garcia said. “It was just so surprising to sit in my office alone.” Garcia 在过去两个学期也发现他的答疑时间出席率同样不足。“我以前的答疑时间总是坐满学生，但这是我第一次遇到没人来答疑的情况，”Garcia 说，“独自坐在办公室里真是太令人惊讶了。”
Looking forward, both professors are rethinking their classes. Garcia plans to “advertise” what happened in spring 2026 to his future classes on day one, while also trying to find a way to identify students who need extra remedial support. 展望未来，两位教授都在重新思考他们的课程。Garcia 计划在未来课程的第一天就向学生“通报”2026 年春季发生的情况，同时努力寻找方法来识别需要额外补习支持的学生。
Ranade emphasized that professors should be teaching students “more, not less,” in the age of AI, adding that she wants students to acquire critical thinking and analytical thinking skills necessary to become leaders to be “in a very competitive world.” Ranade 强调，在人工智能时代，教授们应该教给学生“更多，而不是更少”。她补充说，她希望学生能够获得在“竞争激烈的世界”中成为领导者所必需的批判性思维和分析性思维能力。