Competitiveness
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ABOUT PC4G
Programming Challenge 4 Girls (PC4G) is a yearly program for girls aged between 14–15 years, introducing them to computer programming.
We offer learning resources for educators and teachers interested in delivering their own PC4G events, anywhere in the world.If you are interested in participating in the PC4G events held at the University of Melbourne, visit the Melbourne School of Engineering PC4G webpage.
PC4G is comprised of three two-hour workshops and one full-day finale, and is run across multiple locations internationally. It is designed to encourage junior high school girls to take up computer programming.
Leading up to an annual finale, each host location can use a progression of activities designed to teach students about the programming language we use, Alice. No coding experience is necessary, and students learn to create animations, build interactive narratives and program simple simulations and algorithms in 3D. At the end of the year, students are invited to enter the “challenge” as teams of two, and put their coding skills to the test in the PC4G finale.
PC4G wants girls to experience the fun of programming, and engage them before they make their senior high school subject choices. The Challenge encourages learning through creative exploration. It is designed to be:
Approachable
Fun
Challenging
Educational
Historically PC4G has been run as a one-off event.
ALICE
We use the Alice programming language because it is:
Freely available three-dimensional object-oriented environment
Easy to learn. Alice can be learnt in 90 minutes, with no prior programming experience.
Engaging. The Alice environment is fun to work with. There are many degrees of challenge; girls are given a framework to code, and can extend or enhance it to any level.
Educational.
Students practise:
Basic object-oriented programming
Sequential and parallel processing
Computational, design and system thinking
Computer simulations
Algorithm design and development
Find out more about the Alice programming language, and download the latest version:
ALICE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
REQUIREMENTS
Participants need to be:
In year 10 (in New Zealand), or grade 9.
Able to attend the nearest challenge location.
No prior programming knowledge or experience is needed.
ORGANISATION
The Challenge is coordinated by the School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne.
The problem is that we’re just not doing enough to get more women into the IT industry. One solution might be getting more young girls taking computer science at the secondary school level … Google VP, Marissa Mayer, 2012
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Workshops and Finals