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TSA Reference

Coding MS

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Rules
    1. General
    2. Test
    3. On-site Challenge
  3. Competing
    1. Test
    2. On-site Challenge
  4. Additional Tips
  5. Examples

Overview

Participants take an hour-long written test to demonstrate programming knowledge. The top 12, in a 2-hour on-site challenge, create a game in Scratch given a prompt constraints.

Rules

General

  • Two individuals per team
  • One team per chapter participates nationally

Test

  • Participants report to the time and place to take the test
  • Each participant on a team takes the test
  • Participants cannot communicate during the test
  • The tests are averaged and the top 12 teams qualify for the semi-final round
  • The test is multiple-choice and out of 50 points
  • Participants must bring two #2 pencils, one per person, to the test site
  • The test score will factor into overall score

On-site Challenge

  • Participants report to the time and place to do the on-site challenge
  • Participants will be given a prompt, usually some kind of game, accompanied by details and additional features to then create in Scratch
  • Solutions are ranked with first getting 80 points, second getting 75 points, and so on based on objective criteria such as whether the problem was solved and elapsed time
  • 20 points are given subjectively based on team cooperation, what approach was taken to solve the problem, and coding practices
  • Participants are responsible for bringing their own equipment and installing the needed software - Scratch Desktop
  • Participants may only bring one laptop, mouse, and extra charger or backup laptop, but only one may be used at a time.. They may also bring pencils and paper
  • There will be no internet or power access during the challenge
  • All code must be written during the competition

Competing

Test

There are two basic types of questions on the test: trivia and code comprehension.

Trivia questions are all about memorizing general facts about computers and programming.

Learning resources:

Code comprehension questions are about looking at a piece of code and figuring out how it works. To prepare, practice programming with languages like Python or Javascript.

Here are some resources for coding practice:

On-site Challenge

For the on-site challenge, you will be directed to make a specific game using Scratch. To prepare, practice making basic games in Scratch with your partner.

Here are some project ideas to work on for practice.

  • Breakout
  • Pong
  • Space Invaders
  • Asteroids
  • Defender
  • Frogger
  • Go Fish
  • Concentration (Match Up)

Make sure to try each of these under the normal event rules (two hours, no internet access, etc). If you don’t know how to code in Scratch, here’s a guide.

Additional Tips

  • There is a high chance that the program you must make will involve clones, so make sure to practice making a clone system

Examples