hi kevork,<br><br>Only an introductory level, unfortunately - used as an extension for kids who chew up everything else quickly<br><br>I had a couple of students participate last year (one year 10, one year 11). This year I am planning to run some introductory lunchtime sessions before the event<br>
<br>One fear I have is that students have become so used to "user friendly" and "drag and drop" then when they encounter a text based language they find it alien. I try to talk them through this and stagger the introductory problems that I set to make the learning gradual but the resistance or reluctance is there for sure, in my experience. I'm sad about that but what the heck. I can still learn python myself and rant to my students about how important it is.<br>
<br>I have entered the competition myself in the past couple of years - here is my write up from <br><a href="http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/08/thoughts-on-python-programming.html">http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/08/thoughts-on-python-programming.html</a><br>
<br>Note that the competition changed last year with a beginners and advanced section<br><br>cheers<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 9:02 AM, Kevork Krozian <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:K.Krozian@fhc.vic.edu.au">K.Krozian@fhc.vic.edu.au</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Hi Peter and Bill,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> At what year level and level of difficulty are you using Python
? </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Kind Regards</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Kevork Krozian</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Digital Learning Manager</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Forest Hill College</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"><a href="mailto:k.krozian@fhc.vic.edu.au" target="_blank">k.krozian@fhc.vic.edu.au</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Mobile: 0419 356 034</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></p>
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<p><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">yr7-10it-bounces@edulists.com.au</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Peter Ruwoldt<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, 25 June 2009 7:32 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Information Technology teachers group<br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:yr7-10it@edulists.com.au" target="_blank">yr7-10it@edulists.com.au</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Yr7-10it] Re: [it-teachers] python programming competition</span></p>
</div><div><div></div><div class="h5">
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">This is really worth
doing. The students I had do it last year learnt lots and really enjoyed
the challenge.<br>
Peter</p>
<div>
<p>2009/6/24 Bill Kerr <<a href="mailto:billkerr@gmail.com" target="_blank">billkerr@gmail.com</a>></p>
<p>The School of IT at the University of Sydney is running a programming
challenge for high school students over 5 weeks in term 3, 2009 - starting on
Monday 10 August.</p>
<p>Unlike existing competitions, the NCSS Challenge is designed to cater for
both beginners and advanced students. Each week, a set of Python teaching
resources for either in-class or self-directed learning will be distributed to
participants via email and online. A set of challenge questions testing this
material will also be distributed. Each week's challenge set will range from
relatively easy to extremely challenging allowing beginners to progress at
their own rate whilst extending gifted students. The challenges will increase
in complexity as more and more programming concepts are covered over the 5
weeks.</p>
<p>Teachers can enter too</p>
<p><a href="http://challenge.ncss.edu.au/" target="_blank">http://challenge.ncss.edu.au/</a></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">-- <br>
Bill Kerr<br>
<a href="http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/</a><br>
</span><br>
<br>
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</div></div><p></p><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
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<br>
-- <br>
Free and Open education for all<br>
<br>
Peter Ruwoldt<br>
Grant High School<br>
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MOUNT GAMBIER SA 5290<br>
<br>
P. 08 87263128<br>
F. 08 87250173<br>
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