War Games: the Role of Role-Playing in Assessment

The assessment of large classes of students is generally timeconsuming for the lecturer as well as somewhat impersonal for the students. The limits of the lecturer's time available for feedback is the main constraint with larger classes, inevitably leading to less time per student and a concomitant lower level of feedback. Engaging the students' interest can also be challenging in a larger class, with many students feeling disenfranchised by the lack of individual attention. This paper discusses the use of a "War Games" scenario in assessing students of Computer and Network Security with groupbased and problem-based learning exercises. The students contribute directly to creating the environment of the exercise, assessing their peers at two levels and creating part of the examinable materials as well as exchanging mutual feedback in a post-mortem session. This sharing of the assessment duties amongst the student body supplements and augments the lecturer's own grading. The students gain in many ways, including more detailed, comprehensive and timely feedback from their peers. The War Games assessed exercise is a popular and highly instructive exercise, but requires caution in its setting up, since it is essential that the activities of the exercise be contained within the controlled environment.