[CS4HS] Computer Science for Non-Majors Takes Many Forms - NYTimes.com

[Steven Bird]

Thanks for this, Roland.  I'm curious to know what people think about
BYOB, an evolution of Scratch:
http://byob.berkeley.edu/

On 1 April 2012 14:48, Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> There is an interesting counter point to this article that points out that
> we need to clearly articulate what are the core elements of computational
> thinking. Not what programming that the must do, rather what they need to at
> least do in order to understand it. Regards Roland
>
> Quotes:
>
> Computer Science for Non-Majors Takes Many Forms - NYTimes.com
>
> Computational thinking is a fundamental skill for everyone, not just for
> computer scientists
>
> There is little agreement within the field, however, about what exactly are
> the core elements of computational thinking. Nor is there agreement about
> how much programming students must do, if any, in order to understand it.
>
> At many other campuses, computer science departments introduce computational
> thinking by sparing students from learning an industrial-strength
> programming language in order to try applying the general concepts. Instead,
> students learn visual scripting languages that produce interactive
> animation. Scratch, which was developed for elementary and middle-school
> students, is one such language.
>
> Someday, the understanding of computational processes may be indispensable
> for people in all occupations. But it’s not yet clear when we’ll cross that
> bridge from nice-to-know to must-know.
>
>
> This message was sent to you by Roland Gesthuizen via Diigo
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>
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