One of the best skills for everyone, for now, and for the future, is problem-solving. Computational thinking is the way to help us to develop that skill. Computational Thinking can be defined as a set of skills for problemsolving based on computer techniques. Computational thinking is needed everywhere and is going to be a key to success in almost all careers, not only for a scientist but for many professionals, like doctors, lawyers, teachers or farmers. For many problems it is a good idea to make a plan for its resolution using some of the techniques of computer science, such as: breaking down a complex problem into smaller parts that are more manageable and easier to understand, or solve-decomposition; looking for similarities among and within problems and others experiences-pattern recognition; focusing on the important information only, and pulling out specific differences to make one solution work for multiple problems: abstraction; developing a step-by-step solution to the problem: algorithms. This plan can be used by everyone, regardless of their area of knowledge, task or age. It is essential that these techniques are practiced and developed very early. In recent years we have to see the proliferation of numerous projects with the specific objective of encouraging the study of Computational thinking. The projects of massification of computational thinking and coding are now starting to be implemented in our education system in Portugal. Most students of the first year of the Computer Engineering course, from the IPG, mostly did not have the opportunity to develop computational thinking throughout their student life. In this paper, we present the results of a case study using follow and give instructions to improve their capacities in Computational Thinking..
ResumenUna de las mejores habilidades para todos, por ahora y para el futuro, es la resolución de problemas. El pensamiento computacional es la manera de ayudarnos a desarrollar esa habilidad. El pensamiento computacional se puede definir como un conjunto de habilidades para la resolución de problemas basadas en técnicas informáticas. El pensamiento computacional es necesario en todas partes y será la clave del éxito en casi todas las carreras, no solo para un científico, sino también para muchos profesionales, como médicos, abogados, docentes o agricultores. Para muchos problemas, es una buena idea hacer un plan para su resolución utilizando algunas de las técnicas de la informática, tales como: descomponer un problema complejo en partes más pequeñas que sean más manejables y fáciles de entender, o resolver-descomposición; buscando similitudes entre y dentro de problemas y otras experienciasreconocimiento de patrones; centrándose solamente en la información importante y eliminando las diferencias específicas para que una solución funcione para múltiples problemas: abstracción; desarrollando una solución paso a paso al problema: algoritmos. Este plan puede ser utilizado por todos, independientemente de su área de conocimiento, tarea o edad. ...