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Computational Thinking - Reading 1

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20 views10 pages

Computational Thinking - Reading 1

Uploaded by

pranav.garg1006
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

BASIC CONCEPTS OF COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

In this unit you will learn what computational thinking is and about the four cornerstones of
computational thinking. What Is Computational Thinking? Computational thinking is an attitude and a
skill set where one uses specific techniques and strategies that help one to complete tasks successfully
and to solve problems systematically. It further helps us arriving at a solution that both humans and a
computer can understand.
From the examples above, one most likely uses computational thinking subconsciously daily. Just think
about baking cupcakes. One breaks the task of baking cupcakes into smaller tasks such as preheating
the oven, mixing the batter and preparing the icing while the cupcakes are baking – one small task at
a time.

One may also use previous experience from baking cupcakes when knowing to bake them slightly
longer than the recipe calls for. One also knows that chocolate chips are not a vital ingredient in
cupcakes, so one can skip that step if one does not have any available. One also knows to start
preheating the oven before pouring the mix into the cups and that, when one takes them out of the
oven, one needs to let them cool down before putting on the icing. As one get more experienced, one
may also realise that one could prepare the icing the day before.
The importance of computational thinking

Computational thinking lies at the heart of subjects such as programming, data science, cryptography,
informatics and artificial intelligence which are becoming indispensable in the information age.

Before computers can be used to solve a problem, one must tell the computer what to do by providing
the instructions to complete the task or solve the problem. To provide the instructions one needs to
understand the task or the problem itself and the ways in which it could be resolved. Computational
thinking techniques enable one to work out the required instructions.

One can use computational thinking to solve a problem by applying the four techniques or
cornerstones as described in this unit.

The following activity illustrates how the four pillars of computational thinking are used to solve a
problem:

Guided activity:
Activity
PATTERN RECOGNITION

In the previous section, you learnt what pattern recognition is and why it is important when
performing tasks or solving problems. Guided Activity also showed that when we break down a
complex problem into smaller parts (decompose), we often find patterns among the smaller parts.

Example:

Let us look at the sequence instructions for drawing a square and see if we could identify a pattern:
Guided Activity:
Activity:

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