MBT: Model-Based Testing

Study period 4, 2015
Mon 23 March - Wed 27 May, 2015
Course codes: DIT848/GU and DAT260/Chalmers, 7.5 hp

Given by Computer Science and Engineering at
Chalmers Technical University and The University of Gothenburg

REMARK (Added on 21 May 2015): As explained at the beginning of the course, from 2015 there have been some changes concerning the examination:

"The course has now two 'moments': (1) presentation of a mini-project (done in groups), and (2) a final written exam (performed individually). In order to pass the course, the student needs to pass both the mini-project and the final written exam."

The above change is, however, not applicable to all students. Please see the section "ADDITIONAL UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT THE MODALITY AND FORMAT OF THE EXAM" at the end of this document to see additional clarifying information about the changes.

Grading

GU students are graded following the scale: passed with honour (VG), passed (G) or failed (U).

Chalmers students are graded following the scale: passed with honour (5), passed (3-4) or failed (1-2).

Assessment Criteria

The mini-project corresponds to 3 HEC and it is graded with PASS / NOT PASS. In order to pass the mini-project each group should deliver all the mandatory reports in due time, the implementation of the model and the definition of the test suites should be correct, the test suites and the corresponding analysis should be reproducible and run, and the group should make a well-structured and understandable final presentation. Besides, each member of the group should be able to show evidence of having made a substantial contribution to the group work, and answer in a satisfactory manner about the results of their work when questioned during the mandatory meetings and the final presentation. See the Assignments for more details about mini-projects.

The written exam corresponds to 4.5 HEC; see below a more detailed explanation on the format of the written exam.

In order to pass the written exam (achieve a 3-4/G) the student should correctly answer a certain number of questions of the final written exam, covering those topics considered to be the minimal knowledge expected from the students according to the Intended Learning Outcomes. The written exam will thus consist of a given number of questions/situations each of one containing a certain number of sub-questions presented in increasing level of complexity. Answering correctly a certain number of the less complex sub-questions of each one of the questions will correspond to a G (3 or 4 for Chalmers students) while answering with a given level of accuracy most of the remaining sub-questions will entitle the student to a 5/VG.

Note that there is no mentioning of concrete numbers in the description above as this may vary from exam to exam. In particular, how many sub-questions of each question you should answer correctly in order to get a G (3-4), and how "accurate" the answers for 5/VG will vary depending on how complex the questions are. However, for the sake of presentation I give below an example with more concrete numbers. Let us assume that the exam consists of 5 questions (numbered from 1. till 5.) consisting of 10 sub-questions each. In order to achieve a 3 the student should score at least 50 points, and to get a 4 the score should be at least 65 (for GU students both would correspond to a G). In addition to that, the student should have at least 8 points per task (it is not specified from which sub-questions those points should be). A VG (5) will be achieved if most of the remaining sub-questions are answered with certain level of accuracy showing a clear understanding of the topics, getting for instance 80 points of the total and at least 12 points per task.

The concrete criteria for G (3-4) and VG (5) will be given as part of the description of each exam and given to the students in advance. For the first 2 exams, please refer to the document 00-presentation_DIT848-DAT260_2015.pdf.

Final remark: The rationale behind the above is being able to increase the confidence that a student passing the course achieve the Intended Learning Outcomes.

Dates written exam:

Sample of Previous Exams

You can find below the exams of the MBT course in 2012 and 2013:


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ADDITIONAL UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT THE MODALITY AND FORMAT OF THE EXAM (Added on 21 May 2015)

There are two modalities of the written exam: a "short" exam (corresponding to 4.5 HEC), and a "long" exam (corresponding to 7.5 HEC). Please note that the tasks you are supposed to solve depend on whether you are taking the "short" exam modality, or the "long" one. See more information below.

EXAM 4.5 HEC

Who is entitled to take the short (4.5 HEC) exam?

Content of the short (4.5 HEC) exam: The exam consists of 3 tasks.

Information on grading scale for the short (4.5 HEC) exam: Each task is worth 20 points. In order to reach the level to pass with 3 (G) you need at least 30 points out of the total, and at least 5 points per task. To pass with 4 you need at least 40 points out of the total, and at least 7 points per task. In order to pass with distinction 5 (VG) you need to reach at least 50 points out of the total, and you must score at least 12 points per task.

IMPORTANT: Note that you should have a minimum number of points in each of the 3 tasks in order to pass the exam, so avoid letting unanswered tasks.

EXAM 7.5 HEC

Who should take the long (7.5 HEC) exam?

Content of the long (7.5 HEC) exam: The exam consists of 5 tasks.

Information on grading scale for the long (7.5 HEC) exam: Each task is worth 20 points. In order to reach the level to pass with 3 (G) you need at least 50 points out of the total, and at least 6 points per task. To pass with 4 you need at least 65 points out of the total, and at least 8 points per task. In order to pass with distinction 5 (VG) you need to reach at least 80 points out of the total, and you must score at least 14 points per task.

IMPORTANT: Note that you should have a minimum number of points in each of the 5 tasks in order to pass the exam, so avoid letting unanswered tasks.

This page was updated May 25 2015, 14:58 .