Use git+github in the classroom
github.com
github.com
I'll definitely use it again, the students learned a lot about project management and distributed version control systems, which is something that isn't being taught as it should, at least not where I went to college.
At my school, we were given programming problems a week in advance, told to solve them and memorize the solutions, and then had to show up at a computer lab for an "exam" where we basically typed the programs in and made sure they compiled, etc. I believe this process was put in place after rampant cheating was happening in more traditional "turn in your source code" types of projects. However, this was a pretty horrid experience, and for some students who treated them like regular exams (ie didn't actually memorize working solutions beforehand) these exams were crushing to their grades.
I can imagine some sort of automated checker for this, examining repos for unusual activity (one giant commit right at due date) after a project was submitted. Of course, I've also heard that in some academic CS depts, any version control at all is a huge deal (we were taught how to use the integrated CVS tools in Eclipse in one afternoon by some TAs, and that was the extent of my exposure to vc in the classroom, and this was in 2006-7), so maybe I'm dreaming too much.
I know several professors that attempt this. The work-around is pretty trivial though: just cheat as usual, then claim you forgot to commit until you were already done. The best the professor can really do in those cases is dock the kids a letter-grade or so (oh noes, a B!), since forgetting to commit is at least somewhat plausible for students unused to version control, and certainly isn't strong evidence of cheating.
Of course the really bad cheaters are still caught, but through the tried and true method of comparing code and looking for students that don't understand their own code.
The Workaround for this is likewise trivial: make "failure to show work" grounds for a failing assignment grade.
It's also not impossible to fake a revision history (in fact, it's pretty damned easy), so if you start flat out failing kids only the honest students will get "caught".
If a prof/TA can't be bothered to police their students then they forfeit any right to complain about cheating.
If students can't follow directions (give grace on the first offence, maybe) then letting them slide does a disservice to their future.
As for cheaters: I don't mind whether or not really determined cheaters can sneak through. They are only cheating themselves in the long run. A system that only catches the 'honest' kids is still a good system because only the 'honest' students will generally make any attempt to mend their ways.
just my $.02
Instantly failing anybody who isn't comfortable with version control is the type of scorched earth tactic that you'd expect the TSA to dream up if they were in charge of catching cheaters.
For the purposes of this discussion (which was about having students use version control for assignments) using version control is as central to the requirements as implementing the algorithm and using the assigned language and failure to follow instructions can, at the instructor's discretion, result in grading penalties. As a bonus, this adds another hurdle for cheaters to clear and provides another opportunity for profs/TAs to notice anything suspicious.
Hope that clears some things up...
In my case, students were being failed (actually, given 0 credit) because the solutions to the exams wouldn't compile. That's pretty tough, I think. Especially for CS 101.
Nevertheless, it is feasible to set up stuff like post-commit hooks (I actually used 'em to monitor the turn ins to an exam) to maybe submit the code to an automated plagiarism detector like [moss](http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss/), that would be cool, maybe I'll try that out next semester.
> one ends up evaluating secondary things and overseeing essential things like the ability to rationally defend the code and explain one's approach.
This seems to describe exactly the problem with the exams I had, which tested more the ability to memorize a solution and regurgitate it in a test setting. This is of course anecdotal, but I've heard of similar exams in other schools. So I think there's a lot of room for improvement there.
I'd be curious to hear arguments to the contrary.
Then again, that only works for a select audience.
If you are worried about overloading them with technical info, I find it really easy to introduce people to version control with a "Contributing to a Book" metaphor. Where you have multiple authors and editors all working on a book at the same time, and it's important to know who changed what, and when.
Then, have them start using Git/SVN/Whatever to control any papers, notes, or assignments. I've taught multiple non-developer types how to use version control using this method.
I didn't realize that they have a student plan and I have applied with hope of getting this free micro plan.
In the past about 2 months, I have started using GIT and its simply brilliant for all types of version control whether development with other programmers or development on my own.