Unit 0

Unit 0 - Computational Thinking

Computational Thinking is the skill of the 21st century.

One of the exciting things about learning Computer science is that you learn a new and fundamental way of thinking and problem solving; a way of thinking that is critical in the 21st Century. It is called "Computational Thinking" and the idea that this is one of the big advantages of studying computer science, whatever your ultimate career or job choice will be, is that you will need to know how to use computational thinking skills.

Some are even claiming it should be added to reading, writing and arithmetic as a core ability that every student should learn.

Jeannette Wing, Head of the Department of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has been one of the most intelligent Computer Scientists to argue the case, and it was Jeanette who first coined the phrase "Computational Thinking." Some folks at Microsoft were impressed sufficiently by her arguments and the importance of the subject that they recently gave Carnegie Mellon a grant of several million dollars to set up a new Center to study this aspect of Computer Science and the way it transforms other sciences.

In this unit, you will:

• Learn why computational thinking is important.

• Learn basic computational thinking concepts, approaches and vocabulary.

• Use logical reasoning to explain the rule for a number sequence.

• Follow an algorithm to draw pictures constructed from 2D shapes.

  • Learn how to solve big problems by decomposing them into smaller parts.

• Learn about the basics of pattern recognition in recipes and learn how recipes are relevant to algorithms.

• Learn why abstraction is a cornerstone of computational thinking.

• Learn how the evaluation of solutions is applied in computer science.

Lessons:

• 1. Computational Thinking: Logic

  2. Computational Thinking: Algorithms

  3. Computational Thinking: Decomposition

  4. Computational Thinking: Patterns

  5. Computational Thinking: Abstraction

  6. Computational Thinking: Evaluation