The Promoting Inclusivity in Technology Crew kicked off the School of Informatics and Computing’s hackathon Friday night. The event was also sponsored by Women in Informatics and Computing. The objective of the hackathon was to produce a web-based game from scratch, addressing inclusion and diversity.
The teams of student designers, developers and documenters had to address micro-inequities, micro-affirmations or unconscious biases involving women and other minorities in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
According to a report from the United States Department of Education, more than 30 percent of women who begin their bachelor’s studies in the STEM fields leave after the first year. Of almost 50 participants in the hackathon, 13 were female.
“Our goal is to bring together diverse groups so that they can accomplish something greater than themselves,” graduate student and PIT Crew member ?Kyle Overton said.
Twelve teams of mostly undergraduate and graduate students were given 42 hours — 6 p.m. Friday to noon Sunday — to ?design the game. The winning team will be awarded $1,000 to split, second will win $500 and the third will get $300.
Although some came for the learning experience, others came for the fun and rush of the hackathon.
“I like the creative aspect of it,” participant Andy Baker said. “There are so many finished products in terms of application software, video games and anything you can think of that you use a computer for. I love the creative process of coming up with stuff like that. ... To me, it’s all about the big picture. Someday, I hope to look on my own application with pride.”
The experience can go a long way. It can help in an interview where, in some cases, candidates will be asked to design something in a short time period, and the hands-on experience is very important in this field, graduate student Adhithya Ramakumar said.
“You probably learn more in these than an undergraduate course,” ?Ramakumar said.
Though this activity brings computer usage to a much faster pace and is more hands-on than a classroom experience, members of the PIT Crew said they hope to see this event ?influence change at IU.
“We hope that this hackathon is a genesis for future interdisciplinary engagement across schools,” Overton said. “This could easily be applied to arts and humanities, journalism, etc. The primary goal is to create champions of engagement for Indiana University to be known for enacting the positive change we want to see.”
Four professors of computer science, gaming and design will judge based on the games’ web-based functionality, clear gameplay documentation and entertaining and engaging presentation of core content.
The winners will be revealed at a ceremony at ?1 p.m. March 10.
