Improving Assignment Submission in Higher Education through a Git-Enabled System: An Iterative Case Study

TL;DR

The paper addresses the challenge of traditional assignment submission in higher education by deploying a custom Git-based submission system within a real university setting. It employs an iterative, case-study methodology to design, implement, and evaluate a lightweight DVCS tailored for education, including authentication, assignment management, and student-friendly DVCS operations. Key contributions include a three-layer Go architecture, Git-like data structures (blobs, trees, commits) with deduplication, and robust evaluation showing improved submission tracking, collaboration, grading efficiency, and storage savings, while also identifying onboarding and learning-curve challenges. The work demonstrates that Git-enabled submissions can modernize assignment workflows, increase instructor transparency, and scale to large classes, with practical implications for software engineering education and potentially other disciplines, given targeted onboarding and tooling enhancements.

Abstract

This study addresses challenges in traditional assignment submission methods used in higher education by introducing and evaluating a customized Git-based submission system. Employing iterative software development and user-centered design methodologies, the system was integrated within a real-world university environment. Empirical evaluation, including usability testing and student feedback, indicated significant improvements in assignment tracking, collaboration, and submission efficiency. Students reported positive experiences using distributed version control workflows, highlighting improved learning outcomes and reduced administrative burden. Challenges related to initial adoption and student learning curves were identified and mitigated through iterative improvements. The proposed system contributes practical insights for integrating distributed version control into educational settings, enhancing both instructor oversight and student engagement in software engineering and related disciplines. Based on our results, the research showed that 85% of instructors found the git based system easier to use, with 84% of students preferring it over traditional methods, as it provides a 38% reduction in time taken for submission and review, while also leading to a 48% reduction in storage requirements.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: High-level architecture of the mini-Git system.
• Figure 2: Content-addressable storage model used in the system.
• Figure 3: Staging and index management process.
• Figure 4: Tree construction algorithm for directory structures.
• Figure 5: Commit creation process and data flow.