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    American Computer Science League Club

    Information Session – 10/26/2020

     

    What is the American Computer Science League (ACSL)?

    · ACSL organizes computer science contests and computer programming contests for elementary, junior, and senior high school students

    · Program has been in operation for over 40 years

    · Over 300 teams in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia are participating in various divisions

    · ACSL is on the approved activities list of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). ACSL is also an institutional member of the Computer Science Teachers Association · Refer to www.acsl.org for additional details

     

    How it benefit students

    · Provides an avenue to further their problem-solving skills

    · Helps develop their understanding and comfort on computer related concepts

    · Introduces algorithmic thought process

    · Provides an avenue for collaboration and teamwork among them

     

    Structure of the ACSL

    · Offered in 5 divisions – Elementary, Classroom, Junior, Intermediate and Senior level

    · Topics covered include Computer number systems, Boolean Algebra, Pre/Post/Infix notation, Bit/String Flicking, Data Structures and Digital Electronics etc.,

    · 4 contests over 5 months (December through April); 5 short answer problems to solve in classroom over 30 minutes; A take home programming problem to be solved over 72 hours

    · 5 top scoring students will get to participate at an All-Star contest to be held on 5/29/2021

     

    Key Milestones

    · Student Registration Deadline – 11/2/2020.

    Registration link: https://forms.gle/wnjZtwEVKsk8CsvA8

    Note: Due to high demand in previous years and logistics, club will be capped at 30 members. Registrations are honored on a first come first serve basis.

    · Program starts – 2nd week of November (Tentative)

    · 12/18/20 – First Contest

    · 2/5/21 – Second Contest

    · 3/21/21 – Third Contest

    · 4/16/21 – Fourth Contest

    · 5/29/21 – All Star Contest

     

     

    How we approach

    · Participation at Junior Level division as one Team (Max 5 can go to All Star contest)

    · Team meets, Monday 7-8 PM, starting 11/9/20 (Tentative)

                         o 15 minute - Review homework

                         o 15 minutes – Concepts overview

                         o 30 minutes – Problem solving in class (On a contest day, test will be conducted in this slot)

                         o Hand off homework

    · Solve problems from prior contests

     

    Key Notes

    · Class materials, if any, will be uploaded to a google folder that will be given access to the registered students

    · Sessions introduce computer science concepts and give very basic introduction to the programming. Hence, student needs to catch up on the details and practice on their own

    · You are welcome to use a programming language of your choice. Java, Python, C/C++ are popular choices. Refer to www.acsl.org for additional information

    · There will not be any make up tests and extensions to program submission deadlines. Please pay closer attention to the test/program submission notifications and make every effort to participate. A zero score will be recorded on tests absent

    · ACSL club follows school calendar. If school is closed, session is cancelled

    · Students are expected to obey school rules/policies during the club hours. Any violations will result in an expulsion from the club

    · In case of any questions following the sessions, you are welcome to send email to eagleridgeacsl@gmail.com. We make our best effort to respond as early as we can. You can certainly follow up on these at the next session