How Computers Work: Computational Thinking for Everyone

Abstract

What would you teach if you had only one course to help students grasp the essence of computation and perhaps inspire a few of them to make computing a subject of further study? Assume they have the standard college prep background. This would include basic algebra, but not necessarily more advanced mathematics. They would have written a few term papers, but would not have written computer programs. They could surf and twitter, but could not exclusive-or and nand. What about computers would interest them or help them place their experience in context? This paper provides one possible answer to this question by discussing a course that has completed its second iteration. Grounded in classical logic, elucidated in digital circuits and computer software, it expands into areas such as CPU components and massive databases. The course has succeeded in garnering the enthusiastic attention of students with a broad range of interests, exercising their problem solving skills, and introducing them to computational thinking

Philosophy of Computer Science and its Effect on Education - Towards the Construction of an Interdisciplinary Group

“…Our proposal has also a goal of social perspective which seeks clarify public opinion about the status of computing, trying to dismantle the false notion that assimilates the science of computing to the management or the ability to use technology (or some devices) [24,25]. This notion arose given the ICT-dependent context in which we find ourselves and the lack of a proper computer science education since primary school.…”

Proof Pad: A New Development Environment for ACL2

“…In addition to this higher-level feedback, I also made several small usability changes to the application based on more minor problems experienced by only one or two participants. Proof Pad was used as the primary software tool in the Fall 2012 section of Applied Logic and the Spring 2013 section of How Computers Work [11], a cross-listed honors course, at the University of Oklahoma. I provided support for the software throughout these two semesters, and the students completed several assignments using it.…”

“…Recently, Carl Eastlund and Rex Page have used ACL2 as a pedagogic software development tool [6][9][10] [11]. Page has been using ACL2 and DrACuLa (an ACL2 IDE) in the University of Oklahoma's software engineering course since 2003.…”

An Innovative Module for Learning Computational Thinking Skills among Undergraduate Students

“…The challenges are due to (1) the ineffective intervention used in the teaching and learning process (Gardeli & Spyros, 2017;Siiman et al, 2014), (2) a shortage of descriptions on the integration of CT elements in previous studies (Atmatzidou & Demetriadis, 2016;Kazimoglu, Kiernan, Bacon, & Mackinnon, 2012b;Lye & Koh, 2014)and (3) limited scope of activities conducted in the process of teaching and learning (Wang, Liu, Gu, Hu, & Wen, 2015). As a result of these three issues, the motivation to implement CT skills is still low among students, consequently affecting their achievement (Page & Gamboa, 2013;Romero, Lepage, & Lille, 2017;Weintrop et al, 2016). Motivation is a factor that can influence the development and learning of CT as it is a requirement in the learning process (Nikou & Economides, 2014;Palmer, 2005) .…”