CSC 216/s08/true heroism

Are You Smarter Than a Computer Science Major?

The Problem

This exercise will use the setting of a game show to help teach students multiple concepts by involving them in group-oriented question answering.

Several students will participate in answering questions related to different Java-related topics that have been covered previously in class. All students will be encouraged to answer the questions. The goal is that each individual's knowledge of these selected topics in Java will expand as the questions are answered.

In addition to the review aspect, this exercise will also illustrate the concept of Java exceptions by allowing the students to help each other answer questions. This will be explained in the script.

Participants and Props

All students in the class will actively participate in the game and be encouraged to answer the questions. The exercise will use a PowerPoint slide show to display the topics and questions. To answer the questions, each student will also need pencil and paper to write down their answer. In addition, a tennis ball (or other soft ball) will be needed for the "exception" part of the exercise.

The Script

1. This game will mimic the TV Game Show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader." One student in the class will be chosen as the "contestant" and be asked to come forward. The rest of the class will be the "computer science majors."

2. The contestant will then choose one of their classmates to be their helper. After this is completed, the contestant will receive a series of questions which he/she must answer in order to progress in the game. A total of 10 questions will be asked, two questions out of five selected topics. If time constraints are necessary, only five questions may be asked, allowing the exercise to be completed in a feasible amount of time.

3. The contestant will be allowed to choose which topic he/she desires to answer from. Once each question is asked, all of the "computer science majors" including the helper will also answer the question. Once the contestant locks in their answer, it will be shown on the PowerPoint slide. At this point, the rest of the students will show their answers so everyone will be able to compare the contestants answer with the computer science majors' answer, and see if the contestant is smarter than a computer science major.

4. In addition, the contestant will have a cheat to help him/her with difficult questions. This is the part of the exercise that demonstrates exception handling. If the contestant does not know the answer to a question, he/she can "throw" the ball to his/her helper, who is the "exception handler." The handler then "catches" the ball and has the opportunity to answer the question for the contestant. If the handler answers the question correctly, the contestant continues in the game. This can be done three times.

5. If the contestant is correct, he/she progresses to the next question until all questions have been answered. At each increasing level, the contestant will receive some type of reward based on their performance. If the contestant misses a question and cannot be saved, they lose the game, and will receive the reward corresponding to the questions they have successfully answered. The game ends when either all questions have been answered, or a contestant misses a question.

Provided are links to PowerPoint presentations which provide sample questions and show how the game flows. Each presentation has a different set of 10 questions.

PowerPoint Questions 1

Power Point Questions 2

(Note: on the slides that show the answers, click the "topic" button in the bottom right corner to return back to the topic menu)

Also provided is a video that demonstrates the format of this exercise.