jakobNov 18, 2022

I'm doing a course on security and the grading is done via CTF. the students get "fame" points for quickly submitting flags, but are graded on the writeups they provide. The chals are of varying difficulty, from "set up the tools" to "dig through disassembly for a day".

This semester we got a couple people who seem aggressively not into it, asking for each challange "How are we supposed to start?", "is this the correct approach? and this? and this?" before trying out things. My patience is running thin and I'm not sure how to deal with them beyond trying to be understanding, asking questions in return ("what did you try so far?", "just checking: have you read the description, hints, and recommended tools list?"). Any advice?

Show threadblergNov 19, 2022
@themoep I think that depends on a couple of additional factors...
I guess you teach that course in the TU; so independent exploration is expected?
Is the course mandatory?
Have you exercised a similar example before, ideally in smaller training courses?
Show threadjakob
@blerg yep TU, not mandatory and yes, it is the continuation of a prior course with the same mode of examination. Tho I try not to depend on the latter too much since not all our students did the previous course (e.g. exchange students or folks who switched unis)
I guess I am just venting a bit because we can only *aim* to make it engaging for everyone, some students just like other topics more  and that's ok
Nov 19, 2022 at 8:46amWeb
Show threadblergNov 19, 2022
@themoep well yeah, but it's still nice to watch the moment when the last gear falls into place (*^‿^*)
But in this case I guess you can expect that most of them do have a genuine interest. You could offer one optional hour "demo run" with strong student participation for those that don't get the format yet.
They might be missing the first step and can't "just start and try out stuff". So maybe let them analyze one challenge and get them to brainstorm where the hints are and what else they could try.
Show threadjakobNov 21, 2022
@blerg that is a nice idea, we didn't have practical sessions because of resource constraint, but I'll try to find a way around that. Having a session 0, maybe in the spirit of wizardzines.com could help folks get started.
and oh yeah, that "aha!" moment is great to see! (and to have! :D )