Coursera: Programming assignments
Programming assignments ask students to actively use their knowledge to create code or analyze data by implementing or applying material learned in lecture. These assignments are automatically graded to generate both a score and feedback for students.
These assessments are typically programming exercises where Coursera servers send over test data to the students, the students run their code on the test data (on their own computer), and return the output of their program to Coursera servers, where it is checked for correctness.
Different uses
Other examples of classes where programming might make a lot of sense could include a Statistics class having students implement something in R which could be auto-graded, or an engineering class asking students to write a Matlab or Octave program to calculate facts about flows/turbulence/stresses/etc. Coursera can also consider this approach for numerical calculations in an excel spreadsheet, e.g., in a finance class. This is an option worthy of consideration for any class that can utilize software that produces a formatted output.
Pros
Students apply knowledge. Programming assignments challenge students to apply knowledge and work through complex problems, while still providing the immediate feedback only possible from a computer.
Students can try again. If allowed by the instructor, students can take multiple attempts to answer questions, which allows for mastery of the material.
Cons
Limited applicability. Due to the nature of this assessment it is not usually conducive for assessments in the humanities.
Overview of programming assignments (need to be logged into Coursera to view)