Self-Study#

Reading the book and completing the end-of-chapter exercises is yet another effective way to study and master the course material. As such, we reward students that prefer to learn using this method using the course’s self-study component.

The self-study component consists of solving exercises from the course book in teams of up to 6 students. You work on these assignments with your team and produce a report¹ with your calculations and answers for the end-of-chapter exercises for one or several chapters from the book.

The self-study consists of two parts, and the overall approach for participating looks as follows:

Start with Part 1:

1. Sign up for Part 1 on Canvas by forming a team of (up to) 6 people.
2. Submit your Plan for Part 1 on Canvas in which you list your team members and division of work.
3. Do Self-Study Part 1 by completing the end-of-chapter exercises from book chapters 3 and 4. Submit your work on Canvas.
4. Explain your work during the Part 1 Interview. If you can explain your work and discuss about the material at a sufficient level, you gain access to Part 2. You may access the Self-Study Interview time slots and room allocations through this Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15zcvFNyWtMA2-6g8uy8lho0UnpVBDwBL/edit?gid=964062819#gid=964062819

If you pass Part 1, you can participate in Part 2:

1. Sign up for Part 2 on Canvas in a new team. You can sign up with the same people you worked with in Part 1, or team up with others.
2. Submit your Plan for Part 2 on Canvas in which you list your team members and division of work.
3. Do Self-Study Part 2 by completing the end-of-chapter exercises from the chapters discussed in the second half of the course. Submit your work on Canvas. We grade Part 2 asynchronously, without an interview.

Read on for more detailed descriptions of each step.

Part 1#

Participating in part 1 of the self-study? Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Sign Up with Your Team#

We suggest you work in teams of 6 students. You are allowed to participate in the Self-Study with a team of fewer than 6 students, but we do not reduce the workload for smaller teams.

Sign up for a team on Canvas via the team page.

Step 2: Submit Your Work Plan#

Download, fill-in, and submit a self-study plan on Canvas via the assignment page before April 10, 2026.

After submitting the plan, keep an eye on your team’s progress. If things are not going to plan (e.g., someone leaves your team, does not help enough [free-riding], or becomes unresponsive), let us (the teaching team) know right away. Based on the issue at hand, we can help find a solution. Reporting only at the end of the course is less effective.

Step 3: Do Self-Study Part 1#

Complete the exercises from Chapters 3 and 4 as a team.

There are several 6th editions of the book. If you want to participate in the self-study, you must use the following version:

Andrew Tanenbaum, David Wetherall, Nick Feamster, Computer Networks, Global Edition, 6th Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2021, ISBN-13: 978-1292374062.

Check the ISBN to make sure you are using the correct version.

The table below shows a comprehensive overview of the exercises you need to complete for self-study part 1. Use the dropdown menu to select the correct number of students in your team to see the exercises for each team member.

Combine your completed exercises in a single report that adheres to the self-study report guidelines. Submit your report on Canvas via the assignment page before April 24, 2026.

Step 4: Join the Part 1 Interview#

You will be invited to join an interview with your team to discuss your submission.

Part 2#

You can only participate in Part 2 if you pass the interview in Part 1.

Participating in part 2 of the self-study? Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Sign Up with Your Team#

We suggest you work in teams of 6 students. You are allowed to participate in the Self-Study with a team of fewer than 6 students, but we do not reduce the workload for smaller teams.

Sign up for a team on Canvas via the team page.

Step 2: Submit Your Work Plan#

Download, fill in, and submit a self-study plan on Canvas via the assignment page before May 15, 2026.

After submitting the plan, keep an eye on your team’s progress. If things are not going to plan (e.g., someone leaves your team, does not help enough [free-riding], or becomes unresponsive), let us (the teaching team) know right away. Based on the issue at hand, we can help find a solution. Reporting only at the end of the course is less effective.

Step 3: Do Self-Study Part 2#

Complete the exercises from as a team.

There are several 6th editions of the book. If you want to participate in the self-study, you must use the following version:

Andrew Tanenbaum, David Wetherall, Nick Feamster, Computer Networks, Global Edition, 6th Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2021, ISBN-13: 978-1292374062.

Check the ISBN to make sure you are using the correct version.

There are no predefined exercise sets for Self-Study Part 2. Instead, you and your team decide how to distribute the exercises, but make sure that all students complete the same number of exercises, and that you indicate in your submission who completed each exercise. The exercises for Self-Study Part 2 are available through the Self-Study Part 2 template.

Combine your completed exercises in a single report that adheres to the self-study report guidelines. Submit your report through the Self-Study Submmission form before May 22, 2026.

Self-Study Report#

Before submitting your solutions to the self-study, make sure you follow these rules and guidelines:

1. Your solutions must be typed and your diagrams must be digitally drawn.
   1. We encourage using draw.io for creating diagrams.
   2. Scans of hand-drawn figures or exercises solved on paper are not allowed.
2. Your solutions must be complete. Do not omit exercises or leave exercises blank. Instead, you should discuss exercises with your team to try to come up with a solution. If you cannot solve an exercise, write down what you think the approach should be and where you got stuck. You can still get full credit for a chapter if you fail to solve a few exercises but show what you tried. You can also get full credit if some of your solutions are incorrect but you made a good attempt.
3. Your submission must be one PDF file and must include the following components:
   1. Front page(s) containing: your self-study Canvas team number, a list of all team members that have contributed to the submission with their NetIDs.
   2. A copy of your self-study plan, allowing us to quickly find out who solved which exercise.
   3. Your solutions to all exercises, presented in the same order as in the book. Do not copy the questions in your submission. Just indicate the question number and chapter (e.g.: Chapter 3 Exercise 22).

To help you along, we highly recommend using the self-study report template available on the respective Canvas assignment pages for Part 1 and Part 2.

Grading#

You can earn up to 1500 points with the self-study.

You can earn up to 300 points per completed chapter. We award points based on the number of correctly solved exercises (calculation steps and final answer) and the structure and overall quality of your report. Poor quality submissions or exercises without calculation steps are unlikely to receive any points. See Self-Study Report and Practices for Good Document Quality for more information.

FAQ#

When is the Self-Study?#

The Self-Study is a team activity that takes place outside the classroom. There are no scheduled sessions for the Self-Study, so please organize these with your team. We expect you to work on the self-study on campus or from home, and that you meet periodically with your team. You can try, for example, to meet just before or just after the lectures or tutorials.

How do I know my team for the Self-Study?#

You are not assigned to a team for the Self-Study. Teams are self-formed, so you should contact fellow classmates by yourself, either by attending the physical sessions or via the Canvas Discussions page. Teams can consist of up to 6 students. Please show initiative in trying to find a team.

I am a resit student. Can I resubmit my solutions from last year?#

Yes, this is possible, with certain conditions:

1. Note that you should pair up only with other resit students.
2. Note that you cannot submit answers from your teammates, as this counts as plagiarism. The checks will be performed based on the Self-Study plan included in the final submission of the previous year.
3. The Self-Study submission must mention the exercise numbers which were taken from the previous year submission (e.g., Chapter 3 Exercises 22 - 25).

What are the zero-tolerance policies?#

We have two zero-tolerance policies:

1. We are anti-fraud, so we want to prevent all academic fraud that may happen in this course, see Regels en Richtlijnen (Rules and Guidelines), Art 19 & 20
2. We are anti-discrimination, so we want to prevent all situations when a student or a staff member, or groups thereof, are discriminated against or are subjected to inappropriate conduct.

We do not like having zero-tolerance policies. However, history teaches us we have to agree that some situations require clear, automated actions to either prevent or correct. In plain English, we will take action if you break these rules.