The BCS Student Contest Infrastructure - British Computer Society Lecture at Surrey
Wednesday 25 November 2009
James Heather, University of Surrey
"I think one of the reasons students struggle with programming is that the tasks that we set them are generally quite tedious and artificial and they don't get much satisfaction out of completing them. What I've tried to do with this system is to create an environment where students can compete against each other at something that is intrinsically fun - games that they like to play anyway."
Dr James Heather, from the University of Surrey, will describe the competition platform that he has designed, which formed the basis of the BCS Student Contest 2009. Between March and June of 2009, students from around the country were invited to compete to win two prizes of Asus Eee PCs, by programming their best Four-in-a-Row strategy in Java. Every submission was run against every other many times, and the final contest standings were presented in a league table.
In this lecture, Dr Heather will provide insights into the design and development of this platform, the techniques used to prevent players from subverting the competition technology, and he will demonstrate some of the contest-winning algorithms. He will conclude by showing how the competition platform enhances the learning experience for students studying computer science.
Attendance Certificates will be available at this event for inclusion in your Professional Development Portfolio.
Please see our website for further details http://guildford.bcs.org
Please come to Lecture Theatre F at 19:45 for 20:00. No need to register in advance. No charge.