How and why would I use Computational Thinking in my classroom?
So from our Mind Lab notes:
"Computational Thinking is a problem solving process. Computation thinking is a fundamental skill for everyone and involves solving problems, designing solutions and systems to solve open ended problems based on multiple variables"
Computation Thinking Means ....
Computation Thinking Means ....
- Solving problems
- Applying abstraction and decomposition
- Thinking algorithmically - what's the process?
- Thinking conceptually - what's the model?
- Understanding how things repeat and scale
- Dealing with errors
- ... among other things (depends who you read)
To demonstrate the concept we did an activity in pairs to find a number between 1-100 and count the number of yes/no questions it took to correctly find your partners number. Any number can be "guessed" within 7 steps:
I would like to think that computational thinking is added to every student's
analytical ability because it is an important "attitude and skill set" It gives students the
courage to solve problems by arming them with methods and models which can help
them breakdown a large difficult problem into small manageable chunks. It will be an important skill to demonstrate in a modern workplace.
That is the why I would use it answered - now to the how I would use it:
(taken from Pat Phillips presentation), Computational Thinking: A Problem-solving Tool for every
Classroom.
Let’s
take each of these computational terms, many of them derived from computer
science, and think about how they fit into your classroom scenario. First a
brief definition of each, and an example of how it applies.
Algorithm—set
of rules to solve problems..not just a simple recipe. There are vignettes for
slightly more complex problems, novels and series of novels for the most
complex problems. An important question is to ask “Is this solvable?” and “How
exact must the result be to be good enough?”
In
a science class you might use this term in organizing some experiment. “let’s
create an algorithm for setting up our chlorophyll experiment.” “The class
party is coming up. Let’s create an algorithm for getting all of the work completed.”
Data—the
information used to solve problems, how it’s organized and how it’s accessed.
In social studies “Let’s gather all of the population data we have on the
European countries and compile it into a data base. What words should we use to
label the fields?” Lining up for lunch becomes a queue. The details for making
a decision about planning a class trip become variables …some constants.
Abstraction –(1)
pull out the important details and (2) see or generalize the relationship of
details to other situations. Math story problems lend themselves to
this…abstract the important details. In history class you might lead students
through abstract thinking by generalizing the qualities of good leaders. Or in
??
Query—efficient
searching for information …drop the word “search” with online searching…learn
to use more advanced searches that use conditionals of </>, apply what
they have learned in math about Boolean logic with and/or/not logic. Use simple
data bases to explore these in any subject.
Sensing—Discussion
of handicapped - how do blind people navigate? How is that similar to robotic
programming.
Iterations—repeat
cycles. In math, iterations occur in long division, In science in the steps of
experiments. Questions about “how we know when we are finished” are also part
of this.
Systems—large
complex group(s) processes – Every lesson needs to be set into the framework of
how it is affected by other entities and effects others…Questions about how
groups self-organize with decentralized control, migrating birds, kids on the
playground, social groups…up to economies and biological systems.
Here is a link to a free online course on computational thinking if you
want to develop a greater understanding: https://computationalthinkingcourse.withgoogle.com/course?use_last_location=true
