{"id":742,"date":"2011-10-10T11:41:10","date_gmt":"2011-10-10T16:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/?p=742"},"modified":"2011-10-10T11:44:22","modified_gmt":"2011-10-10T16:44:22","slug":"2011-texas-cs-contest-season-kicks-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/2011-texas-cs-contest-season-kicks-off\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 Texas CS Contest Season Kicks Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

What are Computer Science Contests?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, this is a rewrite \/ update of a prior post related to contests. \u00a0I needed to include some of this again and update quite a bit as the new CS Contest season is underway here in Texas. \u00a0Texas has tons of contests and I feel the contests are great ways to recruit more students.<\/p>\n

Computer Science contests are huge in Texas and they should be huge everywhere.\u00a0 Basically, you have a contest every two weeks if you live in Houston or the surrounding area.<\/p>\n

The 7 Lakes Kick-off Classic took place this past Saturday, October 8th. \u00a0This contest starts off the statewide contest circuit each year.\u00a0 The season wraps up each year in May with the UIL State Academic Meet Computer Science Contest.\u00a0 This state contest is the culmination of all of the local contests.<\/p>\n

Each contest typically has a programming component and a written test component.\u00a0 The programming component consists of a packet of problems that each team must attempt to solve.\u00a0 A\u00a0standard packet<\/a> will have 12 problems.\u00a0 A more expanded packet may have 18.\u00a0 Each local contest has the option to create their own packet and set the number of problems.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0UIL Computer Science Contest<\/a>, a statewide contest in Texas, has 12 problems so that is the number most local contests go with.\u00a0 The written component consists of a\u00a040 question multiple-choice test<\/a>.\u00a0 Test questions focus on logic, algorithms, data-structures, and language features.\u00a0 All tests used in Texas use Java as the testing language.<\/p>\n

Why take teams to contests?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contests force students into a real team environment with the added pressure of finite time.\u00a0 Most programming contests only last two hours and only allow teams to use one computer. \u00a0Teams must learn how to work together in a timed environment to solve problems. \u00a0Students learn valuable teamwork and problem-solving skills in these settings each and every time they compete.<\/p>\n

Teamwork is key! <\/em><\/strong>Each team of 3 students is allowed to use 1 computer. \u00a0All 3 students must share time and learn to work together to get things done. \u00a0This is hard for all students, but especially for Computer Science students which typically try to avoid working with other people at all cost. \u00a0My students experience tremendous positive growth learning to work in these situations.<\/p>\n

Another benefit is that many large software companies use similar problems for interviewing purposes as those often seen in contest packets.\u00a0 A common programming problem often involves determining if an exit from a maze exists.\u00a0\u00a0 A former student of mine was asked to explain solving this exact problem when interviewing for a Google position.<\/p>\n

Winning is contagious!\u00a0 Get a few students to go compete and actually win and your enrollment will spike upwards.\u00a0 All students want to be a part of a winner.<\/p>\n

How do I get involved and help my students prepare?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are in Texas, check my\u00a0contest dates page<\/a>. \u00a0If you are in another state, find out who hosts contests or host your own.\u00a0\u00a0 Check out my site for information on\u00a0hosting your own contest<\/a>. \u00a0Send me an email if you have questions or want to get started.<\/p>\n

Encourage your students to solve lots and lots of problems. \u00a0I maintain a contest practice site loaded with tons of live problems<\/a>. \u00a0USACO and CodingBat are also great resources for live practice. \u00a0 Get your students to “crank code” as much as possible.<\/p>\n

Looking forward to a great year<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2011-2012 season is underway and it looks like we will have an awesome year! \u00a0Good luck to all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are Computer Science Contests? First, this is a rewrite \/ update of a prior post related to contests. \u00a0I needed to include some of this again and update quite a bit as the new CS Contest season is underway here in Texas. \u00a0Texas has tons of contests and I feel the contests are great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15,40,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":748,"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions\/748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apluscompsci.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}