Monthly Archives: March 2012

UIL Academics / UIL Computer Science

UIL Contests in Texas are underway.  Schools will compete in numerous Academic Events over the next 2 weeks to qualify for the UIL Regional meet.  Then, they can qualify for the UIL State meet which is held at the University of Texas at Austin campus.  State Champions will be crowned on May 21st and 22nd.

Students and teachers all over the state prepare for and look forward to this time of year.  The contests are great and they provide a chance for students to test their skills against students from all over the state.

Computer Science is a component of the UIL Academic Program.  You can find out more about the Computer Science contest by clicking here – UIL Computer Science.  Check out my site to download sample UIL Computer Science tests and programming problems.

I would encourage those in Texas to get involved!  If you are in another state that has no contests, you should start a Computer Science contest of your own!  It is great way to build your program and get more kids involved.

Mario and P vs NP

Mario has been analyzed and deemed to be an NP-hard problem by a research group at MIT – read the entire article.   This is quite humorous and something that my students will find very interesting.  We have discussed the P vs NP Problem in class several times and many find it intriguing.   This article and the research behind it will give me a reason to discuss P vs NP again.

UT Austin CS – First Bytes Summer Camp for Girls

The University of Texas at Austin Computer Science Department is again holding a Computer Science camp for girls this summer.
The First Bytes Summer Camp for Girls will accept applications through the 23rd of March.
Many of my students have attended past instances of this camp and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Almost all of my students that attended the camp in the past have gone on to either minor or major in Computer Science.
Check it out!