My understanding of Computational Thinking

There are many discussions concerning the term of Computational thinking since its mention by Jeanette Wing in 2006, various scholars tried to contribute to the definition of computational thinking but it seems to be little consensus (Selby and Woollard,2013).

But I think the pattern of decomposition, concentration and algorithmic and generalizations are more important than other techniques. We need to have the ability of decomposition to help us breaking down complex problems into separate parts so that problems can be solved step by step, it is always the first step when we encounter a programming code. Secondly, the reason why concentration is the core technique of computational thinking is that a whole web page or code project consist of lots of elements and they are closely related, even though there is a small mistake might cause chain reaction. The BBC Bitsize offer a concise explanation of algorithmic which is “developing a step-by-step solution to the problem, or the rules to follow to solve the problem.”, which means we need to understand the current algorithms and choose the right one to meet the needs. Lastly, from my perspective, good at generalizing is an important skill. Since many lines of codes can be reused in the same project many times, which need us to generalize them, in this way, efficiency can be greatly improved.

In my opinion, these four abilities included by computational thinking is significant to current study which is learning how to write code. Because when I learn coding lessons on the internet, I just learn the most basic logic of the code, every time I meet a new exercise or code language, I need to start from zero, and this process train my ability of decomposition, concentration and generalizations. Only if repeat the process as many as possible, I will be familiar of algorithmic and some kind of code language. It is much like a way to train our brain to process information logically and this way not just for computation but present everywhere and touch our lives all the time. The same as future works in any field, not just programmers, since we always need to make slides, write reports etc. all these tasks would be finished outstandingly well if we are able to take advantage of techniques mentioned above.

Computational thinking shouldn’t just be a philosophy or a theory, we should integrate it into our lives and learn to apply it, only then do we really understand it(Wing, J.M., 2006).