Run a pair programming contest in Python to motivate, challenge, and boost students’ self-confidence.
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- Students should form teams of 2 and need at least one computer per team.
- Offer prizes, such as $5 gift cards to a coffee shop, to incentivize students to try their best.
- Ties for the highest score are broken in favour of the team with the faster solutions.
- Students will be interested in the solutions to the programming challenges, which should increase engagement in subsequent lectures.
- This competition provides a great lead-in for discussing Big-O runtime and algorithm complexity.
- Read Arnold Rosenbloom’s article for more info on how Rosenbloom set up a contest in his classroom.