The students appear to be treating the class as work, instead of a learning experience.

"The problem, of course, is that some students just grab the final-result file and rename it and turn it in."
Well, those students will not do well on a test designed in the same manner using a set of teacher supplied images.

Personally, I think the teacher is trying to do too much, if she is comparing images looking for small differences. Let the test tell you who LEARNED and who didn't.

Choose your own adventure !! With a childs limited attention span, the ability to go back and pick another storyline is great, plus the stories are shorter.

I bet the clearance interviews are interesting and probably resemble a job interview. Have fun with the EQIP form!