-> The prof states that the question was way harder than a normal exam to start with.
-> (as someone else stated) there were 27 students in all.
You are missing the point here. The process of generating ideas from 27 brains, then using 27 brains to filter them down to a manageable number, then dividing up chores for reference-gathering, writing up, and copying is a far more productive process than 27 people trying to do this separately - they answered a much more open and advanced question, and the ones at the back will have understood much more, than if they had all just sat an exam.
They got better grades because groups of humans outperform individual humans by a huge margin, and that is the lesson of game theory. This exam was an elegant way to demonstrate that.
You are missing the point here. The process of generating ideas from 27 brains, then using 27 brains to filter them down to a manageable number, then dividing up chores for reference-gathering, writing up, and copying is a far more productive process than 27 people trying to do this separately - they answered a much more open and advanced question, and the ones at the back will have understood much more, than if they had all just sat an exam.
They got better grades because groups of humans outperform individual humans by a huge margin, and that is the lesson of game theory. This exam was an elegant way to demonstrate that.