Student-Designed Exam Question with High-Quality Solution
In the course Distributed Computing, the nearly 250 enrolled students have the opportunity to improve their final grade by designing one exam question. The requirements are that the question addresses an interesting problem related to the course material, is accompanied by a high-quality solution and designed to take approximately 20 minutes to answer.
Throughout the semester, there are 12 opportunities to submit one question, focusing on a topic of the previous lecture. The student chooses whether to create a question and on which topic. All questions are reviewed and corrected by doctoral teaching assistants and then made available to the entire course as practice material.
Throughout the semester, there are 12 opportunities to submit one question, focusing on a topic of the previous lecture. The student chooses whether to create a question and on which topic. All questions are reviewed and corrected by doctoral teaching assistants and then made available to the entire course as practice material.
All Course Assessments
Overview of the Course
What is the subject context of the course?
The course introduces students to distributed algorithms and fundamental results in the field of distributed computing.
Main objective of this course: What should students learn and be able to do at the end of the course?
At the end of the course, students should be able to understand and devise distributed algorithms and prove their correctness.
Why was the specific assessment format chosen?
The format encourages students to engage actively with the course content by formulating their own exam questions. This promotes a deeper understanding of the subject, as it requires them to reflect on what aspects of the topic are essential.
These questions are not used in the paper-based examinations. This would be unfair, as the students who designed the questions would have an advantage.
How are students prepared for the assessment?
There is no explicit preparation for this specific assessment format. However, students participate in lectures and exercises throughout the semester, where they regularly work on tasks of comparable complexity and scope.
In addition, students can take style inspiration from past exam questions and their solutions.
Course Fact Sheet
Doctoral Students
Master Students
D-INFK: Computer Science Master, Elective Courses / Minor in Data Management / Minor in Networking / Minor in Systems Software, Eligible for credits
D-BSSE: Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Master, Theory, Eligible for credits
D-GESS: Science, Technology, and Policy Master, Data and Computer Science, Eligible for credits
D-MATH: Computational Science and Engineering Bachelor, Electives, Eligible for credits
D-MATH: Computational Science and Engineering Master, Electives, Eligible for credits
D-INFK: Cyber Security Master, Elective Courses, Eligible for credits
D-INFK: Data Science Master, Core Electives, Eligible for credits
D-ITET: Doctorate Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Subject Specialisation, Eligible for credits
Competencies Fact Sheet
Concepts and Theories (assessed)
Techniques and Technologies (assessed)
Analytical Competencies (assessed)
Decision-making (assessed)
Problem-solving (assessed)
Assessment Fact Sheet
(Feasible for 1 - 1000)
The reason for the feasibility of 1 – 1000 candidates:
- The feasibility of this assessment format does not primarily depend on the number of students, but rather on the availability of qualified doctoral teaching assistants for grading.
Submission once during the semester
During the semester, the students have 12 opportunities to submit one exam question that addresses an interesting problem related to the topic of the previous lecture, accompanied by a high-quality solution. A further requirement is that the problem must be sufficiently complex to take approximately 20 minutes to solve.
Resources
- Provision of corrected exam questions to all students
Students submit their exam questions as PDF files by email to the doctoral teaching assistant who organized the exercise session for the topic.
Grading and Feedback
Bonus
An accepted question is rewarded with a grade bonus of 0.25.
Grading and Feedback
Doctoral teaching assistants provide timely, one-time feedback. If a revision is necessary, students must resubmit the corrected version of their question.
Since evaluating the submitted exam questions requires subject-specific expertise at the PhD level, a sufficient number of doctoral teaching assistants is essential. To ensure a manageable workload, the recommended ratio is one doctoral teaching assistant per 20 to 30 students.
Staff Workload (244 Candidates)
| Time | Staff | |
|---|---|---|
| Correction of the Exam Question | 1 - 2 h per Question | Doctoral Teaching Assistants (1 per 20 - 30 Students) |
Correction of the Exam Question
Extra Information
- Correction of the Exam Question
In cases where clarification is needed, lecturers may be consulted. However, such cases have not occurred to date.
Shared Experience
How many times has the assessment been conducted in this format?
The bonus system involving exam question design has been offered for over 10 years. Over time, it was replaced by other bonus formats, such as reading assignments that were later included in the examination.
We have since returned to the original format of designing exam questions. However, the number of exam questions submitted varies greatly, from less than 10 to more than 100 per semester.
What contributed to the success?
Formulating an exam question is a highly demanding task that stimulates deep engagement and promotes understanding.
From the lecturers’ perspective:
The main advantage is that lecturers get to see lots of interesting ideas submitted by students.
From the students’ perspective:
Bonus tasks are popular because they offer an opportunity to improve final grades.
What were the challenges and how were they overcome?
Initially, there were only two submission deadlines, which led to a very high workload within a short time frame.
Today, students can submit their exam question on 12 different dates throughout the semester. This distributes the workload more evenly among the doctoral teaching assistants and offers students a more structured process.
While individual doctoral teaching assistants may still face high workloads, the risk has been significantly reduced.
Are there any further developments planned?
In the future, if the number of submitted questions increases, we may consider introducing peer feedback — although this is not currently necessary.
What tips would you give lecturers who are planning a similar assessment?
Start by considering whether the subject is suitable for question design — not every topic lends itself to this format.
Also, make sure that enough doctoral teaching assistants are available to assess the submissions. Student teaching assistants are not suitable for this task due to the required level of expertise.
Downloads & Links
The process of formulating one’s own exam question leads to a meaningful learning effect, as it fosters deeper understanding, reflection, and active engagement with the subject.
Examiners
-
-
Dr. Manuela Fischer
