Monday, May 16, 2022

BINGO Inspired Projects

My son’s school, he’s principal of an elementary school, had a Bingo themed fundraiser yesterday. I can’t help but think about how things are done with any event like this. My first thought was about the Bingo cards themselves.

Typical Bingo cards consists of a five by five grid. The letters B I N G O label the columns and each column has a random number. The center square of the grid is a “free” square and doesn’t have a number. Obviously, generating Bingo grids is a logical project. The numbers in each column must be without a specific range and duplicates are not permitted.

The next obvious project is one to “call” the numbers. The numbers must be identified by number and column where the column is identified by the letter above the column. Drawing duplicate numbers is not permitted so keeping track of numbers drown is important. Keeping track of numbers drawn is also important for verifying Bingos. A program should have a way to do that . This becomes a user interface problem as well as a data storage problem. That may be the most interesting part of the project. At least it is for me.

Now if you really wanted to get complicated, one could design a system where Bingo cards are numbered and their contents stored. One might then be able to use that data with the data of numbers drawn to verify if a Bingo was on the card using only the number of the card. I see this as a group project where individual students would write parts of the program and have them work together. A lot of planning would have to go into this of course.

The Bingo at my son’s school used a traditional ball cag. That seems more fun somehow than drawing the numbers on a computer. That doesn’t mean that software would be a bad way to keep track of numbers drawn and used to verify a Bingo. Another project idea perhaps?

On the other hand, the whole idea opens a discussion of “just because something and be computerized does that mean is should be?” The human factor is an important one. I’d love to have student discuss the pros and cons of computerized Bingo and old fashioned ball cages and physical tracking of drawn balls. Which is more authentic? What does authentic even mean?  That discussion might be just as useful as discussion of what data structures should be used to track Bingo numbers.

Friday, May 13, 2022

Teach CS in K-12? Please Help Gather Data

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and the Kapor Center are conducting a survey of K-12 computer science teachers in the United States. The CS education landscape continues to evolve, and we want to hear directly from teachers about your experiences, challenges, and what resources would be most useful to you at this time. Having detailed and current information allows policymakers, curriculum & PD providers, State Departments of Education, membership associations, and other organizations to better understand and meet the needs of teachers. Results will be used to make specific recommendations to improve support for CS teachers.

If you teach K-12 computer science, we need your voice!

We invite you to participate in this national survey, which will take approximately 20 minutes of your time. Responses are confidential and optional.

As thanks for your time, the first 3,000 teachers who complete the survey will receive their choice of a $10 Tremendous gift card. All participants will be entered in a raffle for one of five $200 gift cards.

Please encourage other CS teachers to also complete the survey, and if you have any questions, please contact membership@csteachers.org or research@kaporcenter.org. Many thanks again for contributing vital insights to improving K-12 computer science education!

With appreciation,

CSTA and Kapor Center

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Learn more about the Computer Science Teacher Association here.

Learn more about the Kapor Center here.