Conclusion

The underlying theme of this course has been ‘computational thinking’. We’ve defined this as consisting of the skills to:

• formulate a problem as a computational problem
• construct a good computational solution (an algorithm) for the problem, or explain why there is no such solution.

We introduced the idea of an algorithm with two examples: an algorithm for addition and one for dictionary search. You learned about the concept of abstraction and its two varieties: abstraction as modelling and abstraction as encapsulation. We contrasted and compared computational thinking with both mathematical and engineering thinking. You have also been shown the ‘bigger picture’: the way that computational thinking is shaping research in many disciplines, ranging from biology and physics to economics and sport science.