In education, Computational thinking is a set of problem-solving methods that involve expressing problems and their solutions in ways that a computer could execute.
Ever wonder how a computer approaches a problem? Join MITx for Computational Thinking for Modeling and Simulation and explore the differences in how a human would approach a problem and how a computer would. This course focuses on four major themes: representation, decomposition, discretization, and verification, all designed to help you learn about creating computational models for the physical world.
Ever wonder how a computer approaches a problem? Join MITx for Computational Thinking for Modeling and Simulation and explore the differences in how a human would approach a problem and how a computer would. This course focuses on four major themes: representation, decomposition, discretization, and verification, all designed to help you learn about creating computational models for the physical world.
- Using abstractions and pattern recognition to represent the problem in new and different ways
- Logically organizing and analyzing data
- Breaking the problem down into smaller parts
- Approaching the problem using programmatic thinking techniques such as iteration, symbolic representation, and logical operations
- Reformulating the problem into a series of ordered steps (algorithmic thinking)
- Identifying, analyzing, and implementing possible solutions with the goal of achieving the most efficient and effective combination of steps and resources
- Generalizing this problem-solving process to a wide variety of problems
Jeannette Wing envisioned computational thinking becoming an essential part of every child's education.However, since her article (published in 2006) integrating computational thinking into the K-12 curriculum has faced several challenges including the agreement on the definition of computational thinking.Currently, computational thinking is broadly defined as a set of cognitive skills and problem solving processes that include (but are not limited to) the following characteristics:
Current integration computational thinking into the K-12 curriculum comes in two forms: in computer science classes directly or through the use and measure of computational thinking techniques in other subjects. Teachers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) focused classrooms that include computational thinking, allow students to practice problem-solving skills such as trial and error (Barr, et al., 2011). Valerie Barr and Chris Stephenson describe computational thinking patterns across disciplines in a 2011 ACM Inroads article.However Conrad Wolfram has argued that computational thinking should be taught as a distinct subject.
Tags: computing,computer science,computational thinking
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