The computer science course here at MAMS, taught by Mrs. Taricco, covers everything on the AP CS curriculum and much more. We started off the year working in HTML and learning how to write content for our personal websites. We then began to work with CSS code to structure and add style to the sites. Using both languages we were able to produce a (hopefully) working website on which you are reading this!
This programming challenge was given to us in our introduction to Arrays and is meant to take in any positive number as an input. The program will then find and display every prime up to that number using an array of booleans and index values.
Bulgarian solitaire was a game that we were introduced to first with physical playing cards and learned that when separating any triangular number of cards into random numbers of random-sized piles you could always win the game. By taking the specific steps of the game, you can always rearrange the piles to get a pile of one, two, three until all cards are used. We wrote this program to demonstrate this concept by virtually playing the game with any number of cards and always reaching this outcome.
Many small business employers, especially those who have just recently started their business or just started hiring other employees, often struggle with forming a coherent team of employees. When one is trying to run their small business almost completely by themselves while training new employees, one of these duties might suffer in quality or time allotted. These new managers must navigate the training process without the guidance of corporate training standards like standardized videos and protocols and instead have to develop their own way to train their employees. If the owner does not have time or resources to train new employees themselves the duty might fall into the hands of more experienced employees, but in that case, it can lead to a disconnect from what the employer originally desired. It can be quite difficult, not only for new hires but also the whole staff, to keep track of where everything goes in a store and if a manager is not immediately available to ask for assistance, this can lead to confusion throughout the company. A final problem faced by small business owners new to the hiring process is shift management. Shift management systems can be very rudimentary because the employer does not feel the need to standardize a system with so few employees which often leads to unprofessional communication. These problems are placed upon the shoulders of small business owners around the world that might be new to the managing process and can add up quickly, leading to unnecessary stress and decreased efficiency in workflow.
The app will be designed to appeal to small business owners who need to train and manage their employees and will have all the functionality needed by the business owner for their employees to refer to during the working process. EmployBee will act as a reference for employees when concerning specific protocols they would typically ask the owner about. Business owners will use the app to give their workers information about work procedures that the worker may have forgotten or still have yet to learn. The app would also allow business owners to guide new employees through the integration process without dedicating the resources needed for their supervision. The app will be adaptable on an individual basis and managed by the owner of the business. In addition to small businesses, the app could also be extended to managers of larger companies, especially in workplaces divided into several departments such as large retail stores or hospitals. In these cases, the app could be used by managers on a section-by-section basis and be adapted to the individual needs of each business or department.
The EmployBee app’s three main points of functionality in descending order of importance are training aid for new employees, task and routine management, and finally scheduling communication. The minimum viable product (MVP) of this app concept is a customizable app of the work environment and a list of what needs to be done during each shift. When a manager creates an EmployBee account, they will be led through a setup process that presents them with a map builder to create an outline for their small business and where everything goes. Once finalized with setup, the map can be zoomed into smaller rooms like storage closets, and locations in that room can be clicked on to bring up labeled images of where things go on the walls and in storage containers like cabinets. Along with a map of where everything goes, a list of tasks for each shift will be available for new employees to make sure they don't miss anything. Many shifts like a night or closing shift will have a list of recurring tasks that need to be completed during every closing shift that can be referenced and checked off to make sure everything gets done every time. A secondary feature set that will be available is a searchable list of protocols for unique situations that new employees may have not yet faced. This interface and its information will be uploaded by the manager during the setup process and employees can access the protocol list through a searchable interface making it easier to react with speed and confidence in new situations. The final feature of this app is shift management and communication meaning employers are able to set and share their weekly schedules through the app. Employees can access these schedules to confirm what days and times they are working but can also reach out to the managers directly through the app with scheduling conflicts and requests for switches and time off. With all of these features built directly into the EmployBee app, if used properly, any small business can ensure all new employees train quicker than ever and feel comfortable in their new environment with access to locations of everything in the store as well as protocol for any situation they may encounter.