Analyzing Competitive Programming Competitions to Develop Effective Training Methods for Improving Problem-Solving Skills in Students Open Access

Abstract

Competitive programming is a mind sport that has become increasingly popular in recent years, with thousands of programmers participating in online competitions every day. Despite its popularity, there is not much research on the competition or effective training methods for students. This study aimed to fill this gap by analyzing previous competitive programming competitions to tag problems and determine which theoretical knowledge is most valuable in improving students' problem-solving skills. We also examined how competitive programmers approach problem-solving, resulting in a flowchart algorithm for solving problems, which we tested on problems from previous competitions to show its usefulness. Based on this research, we created a series of competitive programming practice meetings for students at Emory University, tracking their progress over time. Our approach was found to be successful, culminating in the university's participation in the ICPC Southeast Regional and qualification for the North America Championship. 

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction to competitive programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 Competitive programming training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.3 Emory University and the ICPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.4 Thesis statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Background 4

2.1 Competitive programming research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.2 The format of the ICPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.3 A competitive programming syllabus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Ranking Topics for Competitive Programming 10

3.1 A problem-solving flowchart algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2 Measuring topic importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3.3 Practical and theoretical knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4 Structuring a Semester of Practice Sessions 17

4.1 Meeting 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

4.2 Meeting 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4.3 Meeting 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4.4 Meeting 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4.5 Meeting 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.6 Practice Contest 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.7 Meeting 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.8 Meeting 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.9 Meeting 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.10 Meeting 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.11 Meeting 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4.12 Measuring the semester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5 Developing Practical Skills 30

5.1 Meeting 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

5.2 Team Selection Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.3 Meeting 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.4 Meeting 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.5 Meeting 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.6 Meeting 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5.7 The South Conference Regional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

6 Discussion 35

7 Conclusion 37

Appendix A Topic Importance Scores 38

Appendix B Problems flowchart paths 42

B.1 Southeast Regional 2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

B.2 North America Qualifier 2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Bibliography 45

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Computer Science
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Computer Science
Keyword	Competitive Programming
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Jinho D. Choi, Emory University
Committee Members	Michelangelo Grigni, Emory University Steven La Fleur, Emory University

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