OSTIA: A Low Cost Alternative for Short Summative Assessments in Massive Programming Courses

Abstract

Nowadays, programming courses are based on the Learning by Doing, where students interactively code, and programming judges automatically assess their codes against testcases. Although the use of students computers is common for both formative and long summative assessments, many short summative assessments (e.g., exams) still rely on institution computers to avoid plagiarism. The number of computers and access to internet necessary for massive courses makes this an inapplicable option for lots of institutions. This works presents OSTIA (Offline System for Testcase Interactive Assessments), a low cost alternative based on the students computers, without requiring internet, but guaranteeing that the assessment is done individually. The system involves a pendrive-based operating system, containing an offline programming judge and testcases. It allows the student to program interactively and assess their codes locally, restricting the access to other resources. The grades are collected using QR codes and an offline mobile app.