At the Australian War College, my courses ZEIT8213 Military Telecommunications and ZEIT8205 Fundamentals of Surveillance Technologies are built around a take-away assessment structure that allows mid-career military officers to study at their own pace outside of contact hours. The assessed components - weekly homework assignments (10 out of 13 weeks), discussion forum contributions (2 out of 13 weeks), and a final research presentation (week 13) - are all prepared and completed outside the classroom. The presentation requires students to select an operational scenario or a technology that either interests them, that they have worked with, or will work with in their future postings. Only the final exam is conducted in person, and students are permitted a cheat sheet to shift the emphasis from memorisation to understanding and application.

This structure is deliberate for this cohort. These are mid-career officers who have stepped away from operational roles for a year to complete their postgraduate degree. A take-away model gives them the flexibility to engage deeply with the material at their own pace, while the progressive weekly homework sequence ensures they stay on track throughout the course. The presentation grounded in their own operational experience ensures the learning is directly relevant to their careers.

The in-person final exam with a cheat sheet tests whether students have genuinely internalised the concepts rather than simply completed the take-away tasks. If a student can construct a useful cheat sheet, they have already done significant revision; the exam then tests their ability to apply that knowledge under time pressure.

Although challenging for the students, the courses resulted in above average scores:

Year  | Course     |             Course Mark  | Lecturer Mark
2024 | ZEIT8213 |             5.22  +/- 0.44 | 5.22 +/- 0.44
2025 | ZEIT8213 |             4.60  +/- 0.89 | 4.60 +/-  0.89
2024 | ZEIT8205 |             4.92  +/- 1.12 | 5.15 +/- 0.90
2025 | ZEIT8205 |             5.80  +/- 0.40 | 6.00 +/- 0.00

In ZEIT1307 Computational Problem Solving (200+ first-year students), I apply the same open-book cheat sheet philosophy - students prepare a single A4 double-sided sheet, which itself becomes a learning exercise as they must review, prioritise, and summarise the material. Before each test, I run a dedicated information session walking students through what to expect, how to prepare, and how to approach each section. The test is designed so that students at all levels can demonstrate competence - multi-choice and flowchart conversion are accessible to everyone, while coding from scratch challenges stronger students. I encourage students to use LLMs as a learning tool during preparation, while making clear that the in-person test assesses their own understanding, and direct struggling students to Peer-Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) for additional support that is provided by the school.