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I'm currently getting my Bachelor's in Computer Science, while in-person is absolutely necessary, it doesn't necessarily need to be hand-written. We now have th

I'm currently getting my Bachelor's in Computer Science, while in-person is absolutely necessary, it doesn't necessarily need to be hand-written. We now have the exam questions printed out, and we respond on the online exam platform, just like we would before. It is explicitly stated that no aids, including AI, are permitted. There's usually the prof and at least one more TA walking around the room, if anyone is seen with something other than the exam platform open they fail the exam. Some profs also started requiring special software for doing the exams, which works fine but is pretty annoying to use since it requires Windows, but that application basically hijacks the OS, making it impossible to navigate to any different webpage/ application. In 2024, we had some coding exams, and AI was explicitly NOT forbidden, which lead to them making the exam more difficult (because with AI, you can solve it so much more quickly, so gotta make it harder), which was really annoying, because it made it practically impossible to solve it yourself because of the time crunch. I hope they realized how wrong that was.

dmitrygr 3mo ago
How would that software stop you from Just googling things on your phone at the same time?
- nextaccountic 3mo ago
  You are supposed to not use your phone during an exam
- pixlmint 3mo ago
  all our exams are in-person.
  - dmitrygr 3mo ago
    Ah. Nice! Which university is this? (I keep a list of how seriously to take grades from various places, and this is notable info)
    - pixlmint 3mo ago
      ZHAW, a swiss institute. The locked-down browser we use is developed by ETH, a pretty highly regarded swiss university.
bradleyjg 3mo ago
In 2024, we had some coding exams, and AI was explicitly NOT forbidden, which lead to them making the exam more difficult (because with AI, you can solve it so much more quickly, so gotta make it harder), which was really annoying, because it made it practically impossible to solve it yourself because of the time crunch. I hope they realized how wrong that was. There should be at least one class, probably more, that work exactly like that. That’s where the industry is moving. Yes, get the fundamentals too, but don’t omit teaching what graduates will actually be doing out of some misplaced sense of purity.
- Loic 3mo ago
  Of course, but the same way, you need to learn to use your head before using a pocket calculator.
  - yehoshuapw 3mo ago
    I think this isn't quite the right example - a pocket calculator does not need you to verify its output. It is better to be able to calculate, but if you can't seems much less a issue then using a AI without being able to do whatever you asked of it (So I fully agree with your point, but I think your example is not strong enough)
    - ulrikrasmussen 3mo ago
      I think a better example is that we also don't allow people to pass their driving test in a Tesla with FSD.
      - bradleyjg 3mo ago
        Yes, that’s where we are today. Colleges definitely can’t avoid fundamentals right now. But at the same time, they should be skating ahead of the puck. Once the calculator has been invented—-even when it’s rare and awkward—-they begin easing off the slide rule reps.
- pixlmint 3mo ago

dmitrygr 3mo ago

How would that software stop you from Just googling things on your phone at the same time?

nextaccountic 3mo ago
You are supposed to not use your phone during an exam
pixlmint 3mo ago
all our exams are in-person.
- dmitrygr 3mo ago
  Ah. Nice! Which university is this? (I keep a list of how seriously to take grades from various places, and this is notable info)
  - pixlmint 3mo ago
    ZHAW, a swiss institute. The locked-down browser we use is developed by ETH, a pretty highly regarded swiss university.

bradleyjg 3mo ago

In 2024, we had some coding exams, and AI was explicitly NOT forbidden, which lead to them making the exam more difficult (because with AI, you can solve it so much more quickly, so gotta make it harder), which was really annoying, because it made it practically impossible to solve it yourself because of the time crunch. I hope they realized how wrong that was. There should be at least one class, probably more, that work exactly like that. That’s where the industry is moving. Yes, get the fundamentals too, but don’t omit teaching what graduates will actually be doing out of some misplaced sense of purity.

Loic 3mo ago
Of course, but the same way, you need to learn to use your head before using a pocket calculator.
- yehoshuapw 3mo ago
  I think this isn't quite the right example - a pocket calculator does not need you to verify its output. It is better to be able to calculate, but if you can't seems much less a issue then using a AI without being able to do whatever you asked of it (So I fully agree with your point, but I think your example is not strong enough)
  - ulrikrasmussen 3mo ago
    I think a better example is that we also don't allow people to pass their driving test in a Tesla with FSD.
    - bradleyjg 3mo ago
      Yes, that’s where we are today. Colleges definitely can’t avoid fundamentals right now. But at the same time, they should be skating ahead of the puck. Once the calculator has been invented—-even when it’s rare and awkward—-they begin easing off the slide rule reps.
pixlmint 3mo ago