Increasing Programming Contest Participation for Fun and Profit (Abstract Only)

Programming contests have a number of pedagogical benefits: they reinforce many concepts and skills that students see in computer science courses, build cross-cutting skills such as teamwork, and can improve job prospects by better preparing students for technical job interviews. The largest and oldest inter-collegiate programming contest in the world is the ACM's International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). Participating in this contest can be fun and instructive for students, but some schools are discouraged from participation because of the large hurdles involved in forming an effective programming contest team, or in making an existing team more effective. A key to success for coaches and teams is to connect with existing individuals who are involved in the process and learn from them, as it is very hard to initiate effective involvement with no external help. This birds-of-a-feather will bring together existing ICPC coaches with other faculty who want to start such a programming contest team, or who want to improve their existing teams. Discussions will include issues that prevent greater participation in the North American super-region, as well as the overall international ICPC climate. Extensive links to existing resources -- both online and published -- will be provided, as well as a means for coaches to foster networking and communication. Strategy guides, including an article in this year's SIGCSE conference, will be discussed and distributed.