Another year and another great performance by my programming students. They have already solved two problems and still have an hour left to go. Come on “Team Red C”! Hard work and dedication (we had to leave Samford at 5:30AM this morning and won’t get back until 10:30PM - 17 hours!)
This morning we went live with Mesa Online, a website for students taking Spanish courses in the World Languages department. The idea behind the Mesa program is that students sign-up for a time to have lunch or dinner with a small group of students and one faculty member. During the lunch or dinner, all conversation must be in Spanish. The previous sign-up system involved a large list of timeslots posted on the wall. My Fall 2008 software engineering class took upon themselves the task of converting the paper-based system to an online system. I helped the students bring the project to a conclusion just in time for it to go live today for the Spring 2009 semester. As of 3:00PM, exactly 100 students have created their Mesa accounts. There is still work left to be done on the administrative part of the website, but I will post updates as the semester progresses and as we see whether the system effectively meets the needs of the World Languages Department here at Samford.
Update! 6:30pm 1st place! We won the “1st timers” categories because Southern Miss went on to place in the top 3 overall, which made them ineligible for our category. Way to go team!
Update! 4:30pm The live scoreboard has been frozen to increase the drama surrounding the last hour of the competition. Can UAB stay on top (at our tournament)? Can anyone unseat the current overall leader UCF? Can Samford come from behind and win the “1st timers” competition. We will know the answer to all these questions in 1 hour!
Update! 3:59pm The Southern Miss “Golden Eagles” just pulled ahead in the “1st timers” category by solving a third problem. There’s still time left for us to come back.
Update! 3:25pm Our team has solved a second problem which puts them in the lead in the “1st timers” category. Come on “Red C”!
My programming team, “The Red C” (think Moses), is competing right now as the first team ever from Samford in the ACM Southeast Regional programming competition. Check out the live scoreboard. There are six first time teams here, and the Samford team was the first of those six teams to solve a problem! Way to go Greg, Jonathan, and Bradley!!!
The competition is being held at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. Here is a topocreator map of the school with the building where the competition is being held. I am upstairs sequestered in the coaches room with a nice wireless connection. The students are right below working diligently.
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I am coaching a team of students preparing to put their programming skills to the test in the 2008 ACM Southeast USA Regional competition and then hopefully onto the world finals in Stockholm, Sweeden. Today we solved a practice problem from the 2006 regional competition. Check out the ACM programming page for details, the problem, and the solution.
