Student Perspectives on Assignment Deadline Policies in Computer Science Courses

While the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged higher education to be more flexible, there is now growing uncertainty regarding the usefulness of flexibility as students return to in-person classes, particularly in fast-paced, rigorous fields such as Computer Science (CS). A big part of providing flexibility in education is through assignment deadlines. On one hand, flexible deadline policies may reduce student stress, help students face unexpected circumstances, and improve student learning; on the other, too much flexibility may lead to procrastination and poor time management.