Student-oriented examination in a computer architecture course

Abstract

Learning is a highly individual process.Some prefer learning by reading the course material, others learn best by listening to a lecture, while some like to learn in a trial-and-error way by themselves in a laboratory assignment. A good learning scheme is individual. A scheme that is good for some persons might not at all be good scheme for someone else. It is important to understand your own personal way to learn, but also when organizing a course individual learning alternatives should be acknowledged.Examination in a course can be seen as a test occasion or as a learning occasion. Traditionally, examination has been an occasion where knowledge is tested. Written exams can be used to test the theory and laboratory work to test practical aspects of the course material. For laboratory work the distinction between learning and test of learning is somewhat unclear.The learning and the test of learning are mixed. However, in general,examination can be seen as an occasion to learn and/or to test knowledge.We have, in a Computer Architecture course, taken the view that (1) learning is an individual process, and (2) that examination is a learning occasion. The consequence of our view (1) + (2) is basically that examination should be individual, or student-oriented. Alternatives to traditional examination is also supported when taking gender, cultural, and age perspectives. We therefore developed two examination tracks where the students in the beginning of the course decided what track to follow. Common for both tracks is that credits are given that can be counted for in the written exam. The students, individually or in pair, define their own laboratory task related to a course topic such as cache-memories or pipelines, solve the task and present the results in front of the class. Each student designs individually a multiple-choice pre-exam question (specifying what it tests, the question and correct answer). A student friend corrects the question and might improve it if needed. The teaching assistant selects questions for the multiple-choice pre-exam. Each student also creates individually one exam question, which a student friend corrects and if needed improves. Each part (lab presentation, creation and evaluation of pre-exam questions, pre-exam, and creation and evaluation of exam question) is given credits that are included in the written exam.