Hackathon

Hack Your Class

What is a Hackathon?

“Hackathon” a portmanteau

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• Hack
• used in the sense of playful, exploratory programming, not its alternate meaning as a reference to computer crime.

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• Marathon
• Typically one day to one week

What is a Hackathon?

• Working intensely for an extended amount of time on a problems or creative project

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• Groups

• Usually overnight: 24-48 hours

• Common goal

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What did we do?

• Held 3 Hackathons over 3 semesters

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Pilot Classes

• Initially targeted:
• CSC 160: Computer Science I

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• Additional class possibilities
• Other CSC classes
• Hackathon concepts could be expanded to other disciplines: Business, Multimedia Graphic Design, and others

Pilot Classes

In addition to Classroom Curriculum, we would offer a live event for our students and faculty to participate in.

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3 events over 3 semesters:

• First event: 24 hrs
• 2nd event: 12 hrs
• 3rd Event: 8 hrs

First Event – 24 hour

Used C++ to manipulate XML output

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Intro to Programming

Computer Science 1

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Snacks, Sleep, Coding, Collaborating

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Second Event – 12 hour

• Intense 12 hour Saturday Session

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• Game Focus based on feedback

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• Student’s Designed a wire framework of their game

3^rd Event – 8 hours

• Intense 8 hour Saturday Session

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• Minecraft Mod focus

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• Students explored Minecraft developers kit (Java) and began working on several mods while also exploring a new language

MineCraft Hackathon

Will you survive the night?

How did we incorporate it?

We added pieces to our existing curriculum

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We offered the Hackathon Event as an alternative to a class project

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Events occurred in the last half of the semester

Planning your Hackathon

Should have Goals

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Need to consider

• Time
• Space
• Food
• Building Access (security?)
• Computer/Internet Access
• Programming Language / Compiler

Goals

• Primary
• Better retention from Comp Sci 1 to 2

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• Higher student persistence and success in Comp Sci

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• Improved Student performance

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Goals

• Secondary
• Are students more excited about pursuing a degree/ career in computer science?

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• Did students develop a big picture understanding of programming in relation to the professional/ open source world?

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• Did CSC enrollment increase during the pilot project?

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Space

Campus / School space is much less expensive than going off campus

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Students liked being in a familiar place

• Scout out rooms ahead of time
• Find plugs, most comfortable seat, etc.

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Need a quiet space for rest if doing 24 hours+

Food

We catered our events because we had funding and also had donations from local energy drink company

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When asked, students said they would have been fine with potluck or bring/ run and get your own food

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Very time dependent! Typically look for a meal break every 4 hours

Big Difference in Food between 24 hrs and rest

24 hour

4 snacks, 3 meals

(Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch)

12 and 8 hour

1 meal, 2 snacks,

Building Access

Had to pay for an overnight Security Guard for 24 hours session

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12 and 8 hr events did not cost anything, due to normal coverage.

Computer / Internet Access

Access to computers may be an issue

• We used computer labs because not all students had access to a reliable laptop

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Many students brought their own laptops for the final hackathon event due to already having minecraft on it

BYOD?

Programming Language / Compiler

Pick a language and compiler that is appropriate to your students

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We used the language (C++) and the compiler they used in class (eclipse)

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3^rd Event was a deviation from this, still used eclipse but language was Java

Eclipse compiler

What to expect?

24 hour Hackathon

Sleep has been Cancelled

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Student Led

Celebrate Successes

Schedule time for problem solving

The Huddle

3. What did we learned?

Observations

• The 24 hour session generated more networking / relationship building opportunities

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• The 12 and 8 hour sessions generated more focus/ intensity on coding but less relationship building/ networking

Observations

• Students were more enthusiastic when they were able to choose the topic

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• Students loved working on a complete project instead of a module

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• More students showed up for required events than voluntary events

Observations

• High Student Retention in Traditional Course

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• Increased socialization of attending students

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• Increased engagement in class materials following each event

Observations

• Students seemed to prefer the shorter session

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• Campus space is much more affordable ☺

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• Food costs could be offset by either potluck or scheduling in a food break

Observations

• Events increased student interest in other areas of computer science beyond coding

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• Students really enjoyed being able to move and reorganize / regroup

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• Need strong student or faculty mentors to maintain focus and be guide on the side

Assessment Considerations

Your Thoughts