STEM Out! 2013, Feb 9 from 9:30am-3:00pm

PSCSTA is hosting the 4th annual STEM Out! Girl's Event on Saturday, February 9, 2013 from 9:30am-3:00pm, sponsored and led by Amazon.com's Women in Engineering.

This event is to encourage girls from grades 7-12 to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math careers! It's a FREE event and more information/registration can be found here:

pscsta.org/p/stem-out.html

Please help us spread the word and encourage your girls to participate!!

Download a PDF flyer by clicking: Stem Out 2013 Flyer.

January Meeting: Physical Computing, Sat 1/12 at 11am

(Edit: notes posted)

Our next meeting on physical computing is this Saturday, January 12th.  Please note our updated time!  We will meet 11am - 1pm to accommodate our speakers.

Also note our location change: we will be meeting in SIEG 425, the Human-Centered Design & Engineering Design Lab (SIEG is just a short walk from CSE).  Andy Davidson will be showing us how he has used physical computing using Arduino and related tools to engage students.  The session will be hands-on and highly interactive including demonstrations of student projects.

We are also working on confirming other presenters.

Physical computing is about creating hardware and software systems that interact with the physical world.  Examples might include art pieces that react to the amount of noise around them or sensor systems that monitor soil moisture and send out a text message when a plant needs to be watered.  It's a great way to motivate students to consider STEM!

December Programming Contest Report

We had over 200 students in 74 teams representing 26 schools join us today for a programming competition hosted in conjunction with UW CSE's DawgBytes program!  The event was generously sponsored by Microsoft TEALS.

Dozens of teachers and industry volunteers made this possible by hauling furniture, herding students, creating huge stacks of empty pizza boxes, judging problems, hunting for speaker cables and more!  All of your contributions were invaluable to making this event a success.  Thank you.

Congratulations to all of our participants!  Our winners:

• Novice 1st: Olivia I., Emma L., Cillian M. from Roosevelt High School
• Novice 2nd: Mike L., Nate O., Aaron V. from Ingraham High School
• Novice 3rd: Connor H., Ryan V., Kevin B. from Kamiak High School

• Advanced 1st: Angela R., Matt W., Colin W. from Tahoma High School
• Advanced 2nd: Edward S., Colin W., Alex H. from Garfield High School
• Advanced 3rd: Alex B., Mohammad A. from Interlake High School and Newport High School

Top represented schools were Kamiak (7 teams) and Cleveland, Garfield, Holy Names, Issaquah, and Tahoma (6 teams each).

Please share results and pictures with your students!

November Meeting: Mobile Device Programming, Sat 11/17 at 10am

(Edit: notes posted)

Our next meeting is this Saturday, Nov 17th, 10am to noon featuring the topic of Mobile Device Programming.  Cell phone and tablet App's have taken the world by storm and provide an excellent way to interest students in programming.  On Saturday we will be hear from several teachers using this inspiring technology including:
- Michael Braun from Rainier Beach presenting his experience using Windows Tablets & Phones to teach his Intro to CS class teaming with TEALS volunteers, direct from the recent NY Times Article.
- Lauren Bricker will talk about her unit on mobile development also using App Inventor.
- Earl Bergquist will share the apps he learned this summer using MIT Android App Inventor that is part of a University of Oregon "Intro to Apps" class taught by Steve Fickas.

We will also discuss how these programs can fit into a variety of school's CS programs, the current challenges getting these into the classroom (there are still answers to be found), and share additional thoughts on the rise of the app.  I hope you can join us.

MIT App Inventor requires an online connection, a Google account and takes several steps to get installed & running.  If you would like to try it out with us during the meeting, you can start with these install instructions http://appinventor.mit.edu/teach/curriculum/setup-instructions.html .

Note: our December 15th Meeting will be our PSCSTA Programming Contest.  Have your students sign up today!

2012 December Programming Contest

Registration is now open for the December 15th programming contest!  See the programming contests page for the registration form and more details.

The event, generously sponsored by Microsoft, will take place at the University of Washington Paul Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering.  Check-in starts at 8:30am and the award ceremony should finish around 2:15pm.  Students will solve programming problems in teams of 2 or 3 using the programming language of their choice.  They will also hear a brief talk by UW professor Magda Balazinska.

The registration cost is $24 for teams whose payments are postmarked by November 23rd.  Teams may then register until December 10th for $30.  Lunch and snacks will be provided.

It's bound to be a fantastic event and we look forward to seeing your students there!

October Processing Workshop, Sat 10/20 at 10am

Workshop resources.

Our next meeting is Saturday, October 20th. Join us 10-noon to participate in a Processing workshop led by Susan Evans and Hélène Martin. Edward Jiang will come by for the last 5-10 minutes to discuss StudentRND.  We will informally swap ideas noon-1pm.

Processing is a programming language and environment that builds on Java to simplify the creation of visual and interactive programs. Its simple environment, trimed-down syntax and rich graphics libraries make it an ideal prototyping tool and have led to its use in a broad range of educational contexts.

Susan Evans from Cleveland high school has been using Processing as the context for exposing her students to programming concepts in her CS Principles course. She has been adapting curriculum she developed with Larry Snyder in the context of UW's Computer Science Principles pilot course.

Hélène Martin from UW Computer Science & Engineering used Processing during week-long summer camps for middle and high school students. Participants particularly enjoyed how easily their applications could be put on Android mobile phones.

We will discuss contexts in which Processing is an appropriate teaching tool, present tried-and-true projects and give participants a chance to try it out for themselves. Please bring a laptop with Processing installed.

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We have arranged for free parking in the C12 parking areas (just across the street from UW CSE).

When checking in with one of the gatehouse attendants, please state that you have arranged parking under “CSTA MEETING”

Please see this map to review the locations of the different C12 areas and the gatehouses (blue pins).

Fostering Tech Talent in Schools

Here is a link to an article in the New York Times about Microsoft's activities in the Seattle area, promoting Computer Science education in the high schools.  Kevin Wang is in the news again.