Remember that Google scholarship I told you about back in November? It was the Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship that was to be awarded to Canadian students for the first time. Well, I have been waiting to let you all know how I fared, but wanted to let Google post about it officially first.
Now that they have, I can tell you that I am a finalist, and am excitedly getting ready to head to New York, New York tomorrow morning (getting to the airport at 5am, ugh) for an all-expenses paid retreat with the other scholarship finalists and winners, as well as Googlers. One person I'm really looking forward to meeting is my contact for the Google Ambassador Program, since she happens to work at the New York office.
I will, of course, be posting much about the trip, including lots of photos!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Mini-Course: Udpated Look
Thanks to some of the comments I've received on my previous design, I was motivated to work on the "look" of my mini-course a little longer. This is what I came up with. I would love to know what you think, though I probably won't be able to do any major changes at this stage (unless this attempt proves disastrous!). Also, I forgot to mention last time that the title of a set of slides will go in the white space under the main heading.
Mini-Course: Outline
As the start of my mini-course on computer science and games designed specifically for girls draws ever nearer, I have been excitedly finishing up an outline with my course's contents. I have a lot of detail written out, but just wanted to share a brief outline for now. Note that one of the reasons for organizing things the way I did is to ensure there is a good level of variety between videos and activities, and not too much "lecturing" in a row. Furthermore, about two or three hours a day will be spent working on an actual game using Game Maker.
Without further ado, here it is!
Computer Science and Games: Not Just for Boys!
Part I: Games and Computer Science
Without further ado, here it is!
Computer Science and Games: Not Just for Boys!
Part I: Games and Computer Science
- Introduction
- Computer Science and Games
- Not Just for Boys
- Preview of Course
- What is a Game?
- Key Components
- Introduction to Game Maker
- Design Process 1: Concept Stage
- Design Process 2: The Elaboration Stage
- Design Process 3: The Tuning Stage
- Starting Your Own Concept
- Game Worlds
- Gameplay
- Other Topics You Can Learn About
- Refining Your Concept
- Why Good Design Matters
- Principles of Good Design
- How to Learn About Your Users
- This is Computer Science?
- User Experience for Games
- Vector vs. Raster
- 3D Objects in the Computer
- 3D Objects on a 2D Screen
- Other 3D Graphics Concepts
- 3D Graphics Demo
- Alice
- Using Audacity
- Challenges With Game Audio
- Why AI Is Important For Games
- Examples of AI in Games
- Using Finite State Machines
Monday, April 28, 2008
Mini-Course: The "Look"
Here's a bit of a teaser for my upcoming mini-course. It defines the "look" I'm giving to my slides and notes and such. What do you think? Will the 13 year old girls like it?
(I should note that I would have made the controller in the background lighter, but I know the projector I will be using doesn't display light gray very well, so I just wanted to ensure it actually showed up!)
(I should note that I would have made the controller in the background lighter, but I know the projector I will be using doesn't display light gray very well, so I just wanted to ensure it actually showed up!)
WISE and Balancing Research and Life
The next year or so is going to be an exciting one for the Women in Science and Engineering here at Carleton University. That's right, there's a new branch of WISE Ottawa in town! Thanks to a group of enthusiastic women who see a bright future for females in our field, the Carleton branch of WISE is in the process of being reformed, and already has a few great events under its belt.
There's a lot of work to do this summer, like finding a way to brand ourselves with a fresh new logo, and finishing up a new website, but things are looking really good. We had a couple of talks during the winter semester, including one with Google door prizes and delicious food. I'd like to focus on that one for the rest of this post.
The poster for our April event can still be found here. Our guest speaker was Kamilla Run Johannsdottir, PhD., and she spoke about her experiences with balancing life in research with family.
I know that I personally found this talk very interesting and informative. Being recently married and hoping to have kids before I'm 30, I really wanted to know when the best time was according to someone who has already done it.
Kamilla had her kids after getting her PhD, largely based on when she actually got married and therefore had the opportunity. She had decided to work a couple of years in a full time position before having her first child. A large part of this decision came from the fact that the first few years as a professor can be very stressful and demanding. Apparently newbies often have to work very hard to impress their superiors with their performance in order to prove themselves. This makes it difficult to have the flexibility required when you are the mother of a young child.
Kamilla's talk was very good, especially because she promoted an excellent discussion session afterwards. From this, I think I concluded that, since I do have to opportunity, the best time to have kids would be after courses and comprehensives during the PhD, but before the end when the thesis needs to be defended. Apparently, even the part-time hours available to work on the thesis are enough to get by during that period. It was relieving and encouraging to get this kind of information, even though it may not apply when the time comes.
As usual, we served food at this event, thanks to the Faculty of Engineering and the Google Ambassador program. In addition, both Google and the Carleton Bookstore were very generous and provided us with some goodies to give away as door prizes.
At the end of the evening, we facilitated some discussion to get feedback on how the girls liked our events and what they'd like to see in the future. Some of the ideas included having a summer get together to play Frisbee or soccer, talks on public speaking, talks for elementary and high school students, a mentoring program, frosh week events, financial help in attending conferences for women in the field, advice on transitioning from high school to university, and a few talks focussed on industry. Like I said, the coming year should be really exciting, so stay tuned!
There's a lot of work to do this summer, like finding a way to brand ourselves with a fresh new logo, and finishing up a new website, but things are looking really good. We had a couple of talks during the winter semester, including one with Google door prizes and delicious food. I'd like to focus on that one for the rest of this post.
The poster for our April event can still be found here. Our guest speaker was Kamilla Run Johannsdottir, PhD., and she spoke about her experiences with balancing life in research with family.
I know that I personally found this talk very interesting and informative. Being recently married and hoping to have kids before I'm 30, I really wanted to know when the best time was according to someone who has already done it.
Kamilla had her kids after getting her PhD, largely based on when she actually got married and therefore had the opportunity. She had decided to work a couple of years in a full time position before having her first child. A large part of this decision came from the fact that the first few years as a professor can be very stressful and demanding. Apparently newbies often have to work very hard to impress their superiors with their performance in order to prove themselves. This makes it difficult to have the flexibility required when you are the mother of a young child.
Kamilla's talk was very good, especially because she promoted an excellent discussion session afterwards. From this, I think I concluded that, since I do have to opportunity, the best time to have kids would be after courses and comprehensives during the PhD, but before the end when the thesis needs to be defended. Apparently, even the part-time hours available to work on the thesis are enough to get by during that period. It was relieving and encouraging to get this kind of information, even though it may not apply when the time comes.
As usual, we served food at this event, thanks to the Faculty of Engineering and the Google Ambassador program. In addition, both Google and the Carleton Bookstore were very generous and provided us with some goodies to give away as door prizes.
At the end of the evening, we facilitated some discussion to get feedback on how the girls liked our events and what they'd like to see in the future. Some of the ideas included having a summer get together to play Frisbee or soccer, talks on public speaking, talks for elementary and high school students, a mentoring program, frosh week events, financial help in attending conferences for women in the field, advice on transitioning from high school to university, and a few talks focussed on industry. Like I said, the coming year should be really exciting, so stay tuned!
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