Dr. KalmadiShamarao High School, Ganesh Nagar , Pune
We had registered all the students of class 7 to class 9 for Bebras India Challenge. We have a lab with 60 computers, that looks pretty easy to conduct any online test for the students. But when it comes to all the six divisions(45 students per division) for all the standards, the adjustments in the timetable becomes too difficult.
Specially for Bebras challenge we needed internet on 45 computers, but when we start the test, due to poor internet connectivity, students couldn’t continue with the test. The other available option was to conduct test using off-line mode. We discussed with CSPathashala team and they provided all the required support. We were surprised that the offline mode was also so well designed that it gave the same experience to the students as if they were solving the test online.
But in the process we had to skip some of the divisions as we had to complete challenge before 30th November. At the end, the additional work we had to do was to collect all excel files and mail to CSPathshala.
The students really enjoyed the test and most importantly they got engaged in the discussion about how they approached the given challenge.
This interest of the students lead us to design a wonderful activity. “Computational Thinking :Challenge for A day” We started writing a challenge from Bebras set of challenges on the board outside the lab. Everyday, while coming into the lab the students read the challenge and try to solve it. This activity has given exposure to all the students who were not a part of Bebras challenge this year.
Including herewith the experience of our student Dhruv Kangoankar who got First runner up position in the region in ‘Mahavira Group’.
“The Bebras challenge, was certainly an interesting experience. It presented complicated & perplexing challenges to us in a tangible way. We had to analyse the problem carefully and find the most efficient solution to it. We had to think out-of-the-box and had to use our imagination to determine the outcomes of some problems.
Overall this was a fun filled experience & I enjoyed solving the paper so much that I had no expectations of actually achieving anything. I am really thankful towards my school and CSpathshala for providing such substantial learning experience.”
Manisha Girolkar
