Report of a Workshop on the Scope and Nature of Computational Thinking (2010) / Chapter Skim
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4 Relationship to Past and Ongoing Efforts
4 Relationship to Past and Ongoing Efforts
Pages 45-58
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From page 45... ...
4.1.1 LOGO In the 1960s, Seymour Papert introduced the notion of a computerbased microworld that could serve as an environment in which a child could learn "to manipulate, to extend, to apply to projects, thereby gaining a greater and more articulate mastery of the world, a sense of the power of applied knowledge and a self-confidently realistic image of himself as an intellectual agent." He argued that computation could have "a profound impact by concretizing and elucidating many previously subtle concepts in psychology, linguistics, biology, and the foundations of logic and mathematics" by giving a child the ability "to articulate the working of his own mind and particularly the interaction between himself and reality in the course of learning and thinking."1 1 Seymour Papert, 1975, "Teaching Children Thinking," Journal of Structural Language 4:219-29.
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From page 46... ...
Today, computational devices are everywhere, and access to networking and personal computing are quite commonplace. Moreover, the idea that computational technology could have a deep impact on everyday life for most citizens -- outlandish then -- is now easily accepted, and thus the ubiquitous presence of computational devices in our lives is an important motivator for systems of formal education to provide individuals with appropriate intellectual tools for managing and using such devices effectively.
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From page 47... ...
-- Lawrence Snyder 4.1.3 Computing the Future In 1992, the National Research Council issued the report Computing the Future,3 which was (among other things) the first Academy effort to articulate the nature of computer science and engineering as an intellec tual discipline.
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But computer scientists and engineers focus on information, on the ways of representing and processing information, and on the machines and systems that perform these tasks. The key intellectual themes in CS&E are algorithmic thinking, the representation of information, and computer programs.
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Computer programs enable the computer scientist and engineer to feel the excitement of seeing something spring to life from the "mind's eye" and of creating information artifacts that have considerable practi cal utility for people in all walks of life. Fred Brooks has captured the excitement of programming: The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff.
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From page 50... ...
The study of algorithms within CS&E is as challenging as any area of mathematics; it has practical importance as well, since improperly chosen algorithms may solve problems in a highly inefficient manner, and problems can have intrinsic limits on how many steps are needed to solve them. The study of programs is a broad area, ranging from the highly formal study of mathematically proving programs correct to very practical considerations regarding tools with which to specify, write, debug, maintain, and modify very large software systems (otherwise called software engineering)
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181-183) : Computer Science is not a science, and its ultimate significance has little to do with computers.
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Such intellectual skills are very hard to transfer without the medium of computer programming. Indeed, "a computer language is not just a way of getting a computer to perform operations but rather it is a novel formal medium for expressing ideas about methodology.
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From page 53... ...
they should be introduced to students." To improve engineering education, the report noted the importance of emphasizing engineering design, incorporating important and developmentally appropriate mathematics, science, and technology knowledge skills (among which were certain "computational methods") , and promoting engineering habits of mind (i.e., the values, attitudes, and thinking skills associated with engineering)
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• Some of the basic capabilities the report points to as characteristic in a technically literate person include certain hands-on technical skills like word processing or navigating online, an ability to identify and fix simple technical malfunctions, and an ability to think about benefits and risk in basic mathematical terms. These three dimensions have approximate mappings to the tripartite framework of FITness (foundational concepts, intellectual capabilities, and contemporary skills)
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From page 55... ...
workforce with computational thinking competencies essential to U.S. leadership in the global innovation enterprise; to increase the number of students develop ing computational thinking competencies by infusing opportunities for learning computational thinking into undergraduate education in the core computing fields -- computer and information science and engineering -- and in other fields of study; and to demonstrate transformative com putational-thinking-focused undergraduate education models that are replicable across a variety of institutions.
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From page 56... ...
" Bernat further emphasized that in contrast to groups such as the ACM that are focusing on education in computer science, the CRA intends to focus its efforts on computing skill, knowledge, and impact outside the computer science discipline. 4.2.3 Advanced Placement Computer Science -- NSF Broadening Participation Program and the College Board Jan Cuny described for workshop participants the NSF/College Board collaboration to redesign and revitalize the high school Advanced Place ment (AP)
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From page 57... ...
These projects typically engage the sciences, the arts, and literature.12 • During the workshop, Lee pointed to the Optimal Kidney Exchange PROBE, which uses novel algorithm design and database networking to identify optimal kidney matches between donors based on a complex set of criteria. Traditionally, kidney matching is done manually by medi cal experts based on blood type, organ size, patient condition, and so on.
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From page 58... ...
Using a specially developed pro gramming language called Meld, the project demonstrates abstraction, programming, logic, ensemble engineering, self-organization, robotics, and programming in the context of understanding emergent behavior. Meld is designed to streamline the process of programming for ensemble systems, and it works by propagating the commands that input through every node in the system, thus saving the programmer the time needed to propagate the command herself.
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