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Creating An Engaged Student Community Through Hackathons - Birmingham City University Learning Lab - 21 April 2016
The document discusses how Dr. Thomas Lancaster and Liam Sorta aim to engage students in computing through hackathons to enhance employability and community. It highlights various events including the BCU hack and details the challenges and outcomes of implementing such initiatives. Recommendations for future success include continued university support and collaboration with student committees.
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Creating An Engaged Student Community Through Hackathons - Birmingham City University Learning Lab - 21 April 2016
- 1. 1@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Creating AnEngaged Student Community Through Hackathons Dr. Thomas Lancaster and Liam Sorta Learning Lab Thursday, 21 April 2016
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- 3. 3@DrLancaster @LiamSorta The PresentationTeam Dr. Thomas Lancaster Senior Lecturer in Computing Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Student employability enthusiast (Until April 2016) Programme Leader for BSc Computer Science Liam Sorta Game Developer and second year student on BSc Computer Games Technology Spent summer 2015 on a scholarship in Seoul Microsoft Imagine Cup 2015 finalist Hackathon and Game Jam enthusiast
- 4. 4@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Computing SupportAreas To Address Student course satisfaction mixed Up-to-date technical skills limited Lack of student exposure to industry Faculty wish for courses to offer a “defining event”
- 5. 5@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Some Inspiration Examplesof current/former student involvement with Hackathons and entrepreneurship
- 6. 6@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Hackathons A collaborativecomputer programming event Often competitive Often takes place over a constrained and concentrated time period (for instance, 24 hours)
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- 8. 8@DrLancaster @LiamSorta The Aims Establisha community of students interested in developing their employability skills through hackathons Improve student engagement and employability opportunities for participants Leverage experienced/interested students to provide mentoring
- 9. 9@DrLancaster @LiamSorta The Funding STaMPproject Hackathon Mentoring Support of a placement student to arrange events and activities Additional funding through faculty student experience budget once the success of the approach had been proven Later – external sponsors
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- 12. 12@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Activities FacilitatedThrough A Society Aimed At The Computer Science Course Internal Speakers https://storify.com/DrLancaster/why-you-won-t- get-a-job-at-kamazoy-daniel-dainty Attendance at External Hackathons Internal Hackathon Training Through Mentorships
- 13. 13@DrLancaster @LiamSorta MicroHack “Practice” 6hour internal Hackathon, held 16 December 2015 Pizza and prizes provided through Liam’s Microsoft contacts
- 14. 14@DrLancaster @LiamSorta BCU Hack MajorComputing event for Employability Week (held 29 February 2016 – 1 March 2016) 24 hour internal Hackathon Students challenged to “Take A Leap” External sponsorship and support from Urban Hax, Majestic, Codio, Deliveroo, HackerEarth, Microsoft, Boston Tea Party and Clevercherry
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- 16. 16@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Results Small butactive community of engaged students Memorable experience for students who participated in BCU Hack Useful external contacts Some further Hackathon mentorship planned through videos and online tutorials
- 17. 17@DrLancaster @LiamSorta What We’veDiscovered
- 18. 18@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Arrangements Large teamof supporters needed to make events happen Timings, arrangements and plans need to be exact and made available to all of the team Getting the catering correct is a particular issue A full marketing process needs to be in place throughout events
- 19. 19@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Engagement Just becauseevents are offered and valuable, no amount of publicity is enough to get many students to participate Need to ensure that student mentors/other staff share the same vision of the event
- 20. 20@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Other Partnerships Sponsorsare valuable, but hard to find and expect a lot from the university in return Internal approval processes can be challenging Working with the Student Union needs careful consideration and may be counter-productive to long-term goals
- 21. 21@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Recommendations Course definingevents are as huge value to students Recommend working with a committee of students to ensure that they are successful Continued university support (financial and staff time release) is needed
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- 24. 24@DrLancaster @LiamSorta Our ContactDetails Thomas Lancaster Email: thomas.lancaster@bcu.ac.uk Website: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk Twitter: @DrLancaster Liam Sorta Email: liam.biddle@mail.bcu.ac.uk Website: http://liamsorta.co.uk Twitter: @LiamSorta Slides Available At: http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster Video Version Available At: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrThomasLancaster