Vinesh Kannan

Java Battleships

How might we make learning Java exciting for students?

Students think Java stinks. To make it more fun, my team of four instructors created a naval strategy game that could only be played by programming.

We tested this curriculum over four weeks with a class of 30 incoming college freshmen and learned many lessons about classroom engagement.

SoQL Ghostbusters

How might we introduce government data sets in a fun way?

In Ghostbusters, participants learn how to query the City of Chicago's abandoned vehicles dataset. While deciphering clues and tracking down hidden ghosts, they learn how to code in SQL.

My co-facilitator and I created this game for a special Halloween-themed version of ChiHackNight. Ten people participated and it was so lively you'd be surprised they were coding!

View the Activity on GitHub

Lyft Hack Night

How might we expose students to data science?

Data science is popular, but intimidating. Students fret about their aversion to math and lack of experience coding, but our team wanted to tap into every student's spirit of play promote this subject.

We partnered with the popular ride-sharing company Lyft and developed a platform that challenged 50 students to leverage real data to compete with taxis in their own simulated version of Chicago.

Results coming soon...