Freshman Students Organize a Programing Code-A-Thon
Like most freshmen students, Eric Dilmore and Michael Aldridge, were eager to learn when they went to college. But, unlike most freshmen, they decided to speed up the process by having a code-a-thon. Pictured above, are the event organizers (left to right) Eric Dilmore, Dr. Janell Straach, and Michael Aldridge.
Eric and Michael wanted to learn how to write their own cell phone apps that could be shared with their friends. Most computer science students at UT Dallas learn how to do this during their sophomore or junior year. But Eric and Michael didn’t want to wait!
All Computer Science (CS) freshmen may request a dorm room in the Living Learning Community (LLC) wing of Residence Hall West if they want to reside near other CS freshmen. Since Eric and Michael resided in the LLC neighborhood, they discussed the possibility of participating in a code-a-thon with their friends in the dorm. Eric and Michael found many CS freshmen were interested in learning more about how to write useful phone apps and interactive computer games. But, since they were just freshmen, they did not have all the authority to organize the event.
The rest of this story demonstrates what is so great about CS students, CS faculty, and the CS department. They approached Dr. Janell Straach, one of their CS professors. It would have been easier for Dr. Straach to simply point out that freshmen have never organized a code-a-thon before and that undergraduate freshmen really haven’t learned much about programming yet. But, Dr. Straach is not an ordinary professor. She encouraged and helped Eric and Michael to hold a code-a-thon for freshmen CS students. She obtained approval and support from Dr. Gopal Gupta, Head of the CS Department.
A large room, next to the LLC wing in Residence Hall West was reserved for a 33-hour code-a-thon. It started on Saturday morning (2/20/2014) and ended 33 hours later on Sunday evening (2/21/2014). The CS Department reserved the room and provided snacks throughout the weekend. T-shirts were given to the participants.
The CS Department made sure the students had plenty of technical support. John Cole, a CS professor with expertise in writing apps, volunteered to help. He worked one-on-one with the freshmen to help them write apps and computer games. Also, several CS graduate students were available throughout the weekend to help. The guidance from Dr. Cole and the graduate students helped the freshmen coders accomplish a great deal in just 33 hours. Dr. Straach and Dr. Gupta stopped by to congratulate the freshmen for their hard work and accomplishments.
All of the freshmen participants had fun and learned a lot. They learned by trial and error, from helping each other, and with expert guidance that was so readily available. It was a great way to spend the weekend! By Sunday night, several students created an interactive computer game and, another group created a working prototype for an interactive cell phone app.