Demystify Computational Thinking

It is essential to teach our students how to solve problems, not just find answers to simple knowledge-based problems that could be resolved by asking Google, Siri, or Alexa. It is about teaching strategies to help students work through and solve complex problems around a multitude of topics and in varied environments. Computational thinking provides a standard, systematic approach to solving problems that can be used across content areas and subjects…and even across time. Computational thinking is part of computer science, but it is not just for computer scientists or programmers; it is for everyone! Computational thinking will help prepare students for their future, by shifting mindsets from learning to code to coding to learn.

Computational thinking is made up of several skills, and a great computational thinker will use all of them. In this collection, “Demystify Computational Thinking,” we will dive deeper into four foundational skills.

• Abstraction: Look at relevant and important details only.
• Algorithms: Use steps and sequencing to solve problems.
• Decomposition: Break things down into smaller manageable parts.
• Patterns: Find similarities and trends.

When engaging in the foundational computational thinking skills, problem-solving and critical thinking skills are practiced and exercised. Students will become better problem-solvers and accelerate their learning as a result. Creating better problem-solvers and critical thinkers will better prepare our students for jobs and careers that don’t even exist yet.