Introduction to Computational Thinking
What you'll learn
- Develop detailed step-by-step solutions to problems, think about and interpret data, and understand how different techniques improve problem solution efficiency
Requirements
- No prior knowledge is required
Description
Computational thinking is critical for solving problems and using data effectively in modern society, but what is computational thinking anyway? Computational thinking is really a way to solve problems by specifying detailed, step-by-step solutions to those problems; collecting, representing, and analyzing data to support drawing conclusions or making decisions; and using a variety of techniques to improve the efficiency of our problem solutions.
This course is designed to help you learn key computational thinking topics and develop your skills in those areas.
Learn About and Develop Computational Thinking Skills
- Algorithms and Procedures
- Data Collection, Representation, and Analysis
- Problem Decomposition
- Abstraction
- Automation
- Simulation
- Parallelization
Contents and Overview
In over 4 1/2 hours of content including 57 lectures, this course covers core computational thinking concepts. Four of the lectures include active learning activities integrated into the lectures, and the course also includes 13 additional exercises and topic understanding checks you can use to evaluate and hone your computational thinking skills.
The course includes lots of practice because computational thinking is a set of skills that most people need to develop by applying those skills rather than just hearing someone talk about them!
When you finish the course, you should be able to develop detailed step-by-step solutions to a variety of problems, think about and interpret data, and understand how different techniques improve problem solution efficiency.
Who this course is for:
- Someone who wants to improve their attention to detail as they solve problems
- Someone who wants to better understand how they can use and interpret data
- Someone who's curious about how computation affects problem solutions in society
Instructor
- 4.5 Instructor Rating
- 117 Reviews
- 871 Students
- 1 Course
Tim "Dr. T" Chamillard taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy for 6 years before retiring from the Air Force to join the Computer Science Department faculty at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) in 2003. He serves as the Program Director for the Bachelor of Innovation™ in Game Design and Development at UCCS and teaches various Game Design and Development courses required for that degree. He also offered the first MOOC in UCCS history on Coursera in Fall 2013.
Dr. T has written 4 programming books over the years: Beginning C# Programming with Unity (Visual Studio and MonoDevelop editions, 2017), Beginning C# Programming with MonoGame (2015), Beginning C# Programming with XNA Game Studio (2013), and Introductory Problem Solving Using Ada 95 (2000) .
Dr. T spent 5 1/2 years as an indie game developer in a company (Peak Game Studios) he formed with his two sons; that company shipped a video game version of Khet as well as completing several games on work-for-hire contracts. He currently does some indie game development in his new company, Burning Teddy.