Can I make an exam question for graduate & undergraduate students to find an idea in making a breakthrough in my research? This question comes in two parts.


If I am a lecturer in a field (say, Data Mining) and quite stuck in my research, am I allowed to make exam questions (for undergraduate &amp; graduate students) related to my research hoping that some answers may give me ideas?
If I am allowed to do that and supposing that I did, what could I do if a student actually answers my question with a method (s)he is currently working on in his/her own research but has not published yet (which I don't have the means to know of)?


Should I give an announcement or some kind of encouragement to the students who actually give such an answer to finish their research as fast as they can so that I can cite their papers to avoid potential copyright infringements and plagiarism?
I find the whole idea as proposed in the first point quite underhanded. Just announce that you are looking for ideas on how to solve a specific problem and that you'd be happy to provide support for developing it to a thesis and/or publication to any students who got a promising idea. That way you create a win-win situation and avoid all potential ethical issues.