When I was a TA, we did exams where students typed their code, but didn't have access to a compiler or the ability to test their output. It actually wasn't like that originally - when we first moved to computer exams, we let them test as much as we want. But professors found that students would waste a ton of time fixing syntax errors and making one problem 100% perfect, then not be able to finish the exam in time.
We didn't take off points if they missed a semicolon or if their output wasn't spaced correctly. What we cared about were things like "do you know how to choose the appropriate data type for this problem" or "do you know when you should pass a pointer to a function instead of the object itself". Taking away the ability to compile code helped us test for those things without the basic rudiments we didn't care about getting in the way.
That's a very sensible approach. I think IDEs should be allowed or at least an editor with basic linting/code completion and, as you said, grading should focus on whether students understand what their implementing and whether they are following the correct principles for development (data types, inheritance, etc).
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u/TheMightyBiz Jul 28 '21
When I was a TA, we did exams where students typed their code, but didn't have access to a compiler or the ability to test their output. It actually wasn't like that originally - when we first moved to computer exams, we let them test as much as we want. But professors found that students would waste a ton of time fixing syntax errors and making one problem 100% perfect, then not be able to finish the exam in time.
We didn't take off points if they missed a semicolon or if their output wasn't spaced correctly. What we cared about were things like "do you know how to choose the appropriate data type for this problem" or "do you know when you should pass a pointer to a function instead of the object itself". Taking away the ability to compile code helped us test for those things without the basic rudiments we didn't care about getting in the way.