Hackathons Can Foster CS Skills Out of Class

group of students working on computers around table

A survey of students participating in hackathons found that most of them learn new concepts and gain skills that they later use in their computer science work. The survey was conducted by GitHub Education and Major League Hacking (MLH), which calls itself the "official student hackathon league." Each year, MLH hosts some 200 weekend-long "invention" competitions that bring students together on teams to work on targeted challenges.

According to the results of the informal survey, four in five students explored new technologies or services during their hackathon project experience. Even more (93 percent) said they learned something new that hadn't been covered in coursework. Sixty-nine percent said they gained new skills that they were able to use in classwork later on, and 85 percent said they thought the skills they'd picked up could help with future coursework.

A solid majority of hackathon participants (70 percent) said they met or worked on projects with people they'd never worked with before and nearly nine in 10 (89 percent) said they learned something new from fellow students during the event.

GitHub, which produces a platform for developer collaboration, is running a program that grants $1,000 to students in colleges and universities that are organizing their first MLH hackathon during the 2020 season, and provides the organizing team with one sponsored ticket to Hackcon, MLH's conference for hacker community leaders.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Abstract geometric shapes, including squares and rectangles, are arranged in a grid-like pattern with connecting lines

    Eclipse Foundation Establishes New Open Source Compliance Initiative

    The Eclipse Foundation has launched the Open Regulatory Compliance Working Group (ORC WG), dedicated to helping the global open source community navigate increasingly complex regulatory landscapes.

  • man with clipboard using an instrument to take a measurement of a cloud

    Internet2 Kicks Off 2025 with a Major Cloud Scorecard Update

    The latest release on Internet2's Cloud Scorecard Finder website previews new features that include dynamic selection criteria and options to explore multiple solutions side-by-side. More updates are planned in the new year.

  • person signing a bill at a desk with a faint glow around the document. A tablet and laptop are subtly visible in the background, with soft colors and minimal digital elements

    California Governor Signs AI Content Safeguards into Law

    California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed off on a series of landmark artificial intelligence bills, signaling the state’s latest efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology, particularly in response to the misuse of sexually explicit deepfakes. The legislation is aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI-generated content, as concerns grow over the technology's potential to manipulate images, videos, and voices in ways that could cause significant harm.

  • Campus Technology Product Award

    Call for Entries: 2024 Campus Technology Product Awards

    The entry period for the 2024 Campus Technology Product Awards is now open.