Ms – Exploring COMPUTER SCIENCE
Exploring Computer Science provides competitors with the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge around introductory competencies in computer science. This competitive event consists of an objective test. It aims to inspire members to learn about computers and computational systems.
Event Overview
Division: Middle School
Event Type: Individual
Event Category: Objective Test, 50-multiple choice questions (breakdown of question by competencies below)
Objective Test Time: 30 minutes
NACE Connections: Career & Self-Development
Items Competitor Must Provide: Sharpened Pencil, Conference-provided nametag, Attire that meets the Florida FBLA Dress Code
Competencies
· Logical Reasoning
· Basic Coding
· Manipulating and Analyzing Data with Digital Tools
· Problem Solving
· Algorithms and Programs
· Abstraction and Decomposition
· Pattern Recognition
District
Check with your District Leader for district-specific competition information.
State
Eligibility
· FBLA membership dues are paid by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December 1 (or earlier date specified by the District Director) of the current school year.
· Members may compete in an event at the State Leadership Conference (SLC) more than once if they have not previously placed in the top ten of that event at the National Leadership Conference (NLC). If a member places in the top ten of an event at NLC, they are no longer eligible to compete in that event.
· Members must be registered for the SLC and pay the state conference registration fee in order to participate in competitive events.
· Members must stay in an official FBLA hotel in order to compete.
· Each district may be represented by participant(s) based on the Florida FBLA scaled quota system found on the Florida FBLA website.
· Each competitor can only compete in one individual/team event and one chapter event (Annual Activities, Community Service Project).
· Each competitor must compete in all parts of an event for award eligibility.
· If competitors are late for an objective test, they may be disqualified or permitted to begin late with no extension of the time as scheduled.
· Participants must adhere to the Florida FBLA dress code established by the Florida Board of Directors or they will not be permitted participate in the competitive event.
Recognition
· The number of competitors will determine the number of winners. The maximum number of winners for each competitive event is 5.
Event Administration
· This event is an objective test administered at the SLC.
· No reference or study materials may be brought to the testing site.
· No calculators may be brought into the testing site.
Tie Breaker
· Ties are broken by comparing the correct number of answers to the last 10 questions on the test. If a tie remains, answers to the last 20 questions on the test will be reviewed to determine the winner. If a tie remains, the competitor who completed the test in a shorter amount of time will place higher.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
· FBLA meets the criteria specified in the Americans with Disabilities Act for all competitors with accommodations submitted through the conference registration system by the registration deadline.
Penalty Points
· Competitors may be disqualified if they violate the Competitive Event Guidelines or the Honor Code.
Electronic Devices
· All electronic devices such as cell phones, headphones, and watches of any type must not be brought to the testing site.
National
Be sure to see National guidelines at https://www.fbla.org/divisions/fbla-middle-level/competitive-events/
Study Guide: Competencies and Tasks
A. Logical Reasoning
1. Be able to follow a set of statements to a logical conclusion using deductive reasoning.
2. Be able to follow a set of statements to a logical conclusion using inductive reasoning.
3. Recognize what types of data a website should ask of its users and what it shouldn’t for the sake of user privacy.
B. Basic Coding
1. Understand and use loops.
2. Understand and use conditionals.
3. Understand and use functions.
4. Understand proper variable and function naming.
5. Recognize strings, Booleans, and arrays/list.
6. Recognize programming/markup languages used in web design.
C. Manipulating and Analyzing Data with Digital Tools
1. Basic binary/hexadecimal conversion.
2. Understand and implement an arithmetic mean.
3. Understand and implement an arithmetic median.
4. Understand and implement an arithmetic mode.
5. Understand and implement an arithmetic range.
6. Understand the purpose of a standard deviation.
D. Problem Solving
1. Understand how computers make decisions.
2. Explain how computers take input and give output.
E. Algorithms and Programs
1. Explain how a computer might search through data.
2. Be able to recognize a computer program.
3. Recognize the best algorithm for a simple problem (i.e. single loop vs nested loop).
4. Understand when a nested loop is needed.
5. Associate loops with underlying conditionals.
6. Understand how data is stored in a computer and accessed by programs.
7. Use flowcharts and/or pseudocode to address complex problems as algorithms.
8. Create clearly named variables that represent different data types and perform operations on their values.
9. Design and iteratively develop programs that combine control structures, including nested loops and compound conditionals.
10. Decompose problems and subproblems into parts to facilitate the design, implementation, and review of programs.
11. Create procedures with parameters to organize code and make it easier to reuse.
12. Seek and incorporate feedback from team members and users to refine a solution that meets user needs.
13. Incorporate existing code, media, and libraries into original programs, and give attribution.
14. Systematically test and refine programs using a range of test cases.
15. Distribute tasks and maintain a project timeline when collaboratively developing computational artifacts.
16. Document programs in order to make them easier to follow, test, and debug.
F. Abstraction and Decomposition
1. Understand the importance of abstraction and decomposition and be able to define both.
2. Recognize if a process is too specific or broad and can therefore be split or combined.
3. Be able to perform decomposition on real world problems into a series of steps and processes.
4. Be able to abstract an idea.
G. Pattern Recognition
1. Be able to deduce the missing element in a patterned series.
2. Recognize patterns in computer code.
3. Be able to correctly sequence a set of objects.
4. Be able to recognize and continue patterns.
H. Computing Systems
1. Recommend improvements to the design of computing devices, based on an analysis of how users interact with the devices.
2. Design projects that combine hardware and software components to collect and exchange data.
3. Systemically identify and fix problems with computing devices and their components.
I. Networks and the Internet
1. Model the role of protocols in transmitting data across networks and the Internet.
2. Explain how physical and digital security measures protect electronic information.
3. Apply multiple methods of encryption to model the secure transmission of information.
J. Data and Analysis
1. Represent data using multiple encoding schemes.
2. Collect data using computational tools and transform the data to make it more useful and reliable.
3. Refine computational models based on the data they have generated.
K. Impacts of Computing
1. Compare tradeoffs associated with computing technologies that affect people’s everyday activities and career options.
2. Discuss issues of bias and accessibility in the design of existing technologies.
3. Collaborate with many contributors through strategies such as crowdsourcing or surveys when creating a computational artifact.
4. Describe tradeoffs between allowing information to be public and keeping information private and secure.