#1 26-11-2006 10:50 pm
- guy3288
- New member
- Registered: 26-11-2006
- Posts: 1
Sudoku challenge 25.11.06
Congrats for successfully holding that 1st sudoku challenge.
But i think the future conduct of that can be improved.
1)Use only 1 set of question.
Why need to use 2 sets when you have enough space to separate the 40+ participants?
same level of difficulty is not the same when the question is not the same.
Participants here are 'fignting' each other to qualify.They don't fight against a certain minimum score like your IQ admission test. So the same set of question must be used to be fair.
Please do a study on the marks obtained in set 1 and set 2 and see if qualifiers come from set 1 just the same like from set 2.
2) Before the end of the contest, must inform participants to come back at a specified time to check for themselves if they qualify for final.
Better warn them early, those qualifiers who don't turn up in time would be left out.
I can understand the frustration of Mr Khoo for he had tried so hard, qualified and yet left out in the final.
3) Marks should be given to all correct answers even if there are blanks in the first puzzle.
By saying that you would not mark subsequent puzzle if the first is not completed only serves to force the participants to simply fill up the blanks.
Kids lose out because they are honest and do not know how to 'cheat.' ie simply filling up the blanks in the first or second uncompleted sudoku.
So they lose out from all the correct answers in sudoku puzzle 3 and 4 that they do.
just my personal view, no offence .
Last edited by guy3288 (30-11-2006 1:50 pm)
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#2 31-01-2007 10:31 pm
- Elaine_Cheong
- Committee Member
- From: Penang, Malaysia
- Registered: 25-09-2005
- Posts: 8
Re: Sudoku challenge 25.11.06
Dear Guy 3288,
Firstly, I would like to thank you for taking the trouble to share your views and comments with us. My apologies for the delay in replying to your suggestions as I’ve been very busy with the year end festive season but here are my explanations to some of your suggestions.
1. Actually, there is only 1 set of questions. We produced two sets but essentially there are the same. Only the numbers has been transposed to make it difficult for people to copy. So, the question of different level of difficulty does not arise and a study on which set of participants did better need not be conducted.
Indeed the space was more than sufficient. When we discussed the seating arrangement with the Public Library, I was informed that from their experience, the hall would only fit 60 plus people with tables and chairs. On top of that, I was made to understand that they don’t have enough tables to go around as they were being used around the library. So we only had a mental idea on the setup (the library was not able to provide a diagram of the hall and the arrangements of the table) of the hall. It wasn’t until that very day when everything came together. On top of that, we were keeping our fingers crossed on last-minute entries. As it turned out, more than 50% of the participants didn’t register until the very day of the competition.
2. As for your second suggestion, I absolutely agree and we will definitely take your suggestion into consideration. There was some miscommunication between myself and those who voluntarily helped me and I apologize for our shortcomings.
3. The method chosen to award points for each puzzle is at the sole discretion of the organizing committee. However, we will look into your suggestions and improve on the point system for future Sudoku Competitions.
Thank you once again for your constructive feedback and we will look into each of the points raised. We hope that you’ll join us for more activities in the future.
Sincerely,
Elaine Cheong
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