Work in Progress: Enhancing Students' Learning Experience in Formal Methods through Practical Assignments

Formal methods are crucial for ensuring higher integrity levels for safety-critical systems. However, teaching these methods can be quite challenging. Students often show low motivation and are primarily focused on passing formal methods courses with minimal effort. Performance in compulsory formal methods courses is usually below average, with students perceiving the subject as overly mathematical and lacking practical relevance. To address these challenges and enrich the learning experience, we have integrated mandatory group homework assignments into our teaching framework. Students are required to work collaboratively on case studies and present their solutions during class. This work-in-progress paper provides an experience report on enhancing the learning possibilities of master’s students in a model checking course at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (FRA-UAS).