2.1 Algorithms and Computational Thinking

Which of these are pillars of computational thinking?

• Decomposition: Breaking down data, processes, or problems into smaller, manageable parts

• Pattern Recognition: Observing patterns, trends, and regularities in data

• Abstraction: Identifying the most important details and discarding the unimportant aspects to make the solution manageable

• Algorithm Design: Developing the step by step instructions for solving this and similar problems

• functional programming - treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids changing-state and mutable data

Which of these is an example of decomposition?

• Break a program into procedures and functions

• Break a complex problem into modules using top down design

• Use a pre-written library of procedures and functions to perform operations such as sorting and searching.

• Subdividing a problem into smaller tasks that different teams can work on independently.

• Ignore the colour of a player token in a snakes ladder game model.

Which of these is an example of abstraction?

• The layers in a network protocol stack

• Break a complex problem into modules using top down design

• Use a pre-written library of procedures and functions to perform operations such as sorting and searching.

• Subdividing a problem into smaller tasks that different teams can work on independently.

• Ignore the colour of a player token in a snakes ladder game model.

Which of these is true about abstraction?

• The relevant details depend on what is being modeled.

• The unimportant details are ignored

• The relevant details depend on your opinion.

• An 8 bit integer is an abstraction of a whole number.

• Logic gates are an abstraction of transistor logic circuits.

Which of these are true about algorithms?

• The steps/instructions can be ambiguous

• The lowest level of the algorithm can be expressed any way as long as the instruction/step is clear and can be treated as a simple computational process.

• Algorithms rely heavily on syntax

• Algorithms are about expressing thinking steps not syntax

• Python like code cannot be used to write an algorithm

Define the term computational thinking

• Using a computer

• Developing an algorithm to solve a problem

• Making a computer use artificial intelligence

• Google is computational thinking

• Solving a problem using a computer

Which of the following is not a component of computational thinking?

• Abstraction

• Typing

• Decomposition

• Algorithmic thinking

• Pattern recognition/Generalising

Define the term abstraction within computational thinking

• Adding numbers together

• Taking a real world problem and designing a computer program that exactly replicates every part of that problem in the computer

• Representing real world problems in a computer program, using symbols and removing unnecessary element

• Performing multiple calculations on a list of variables

Define the term decomposition within computational thinking

• The breaking down of a program until it no longer exists

• The creation of music that can be played on a computer

• The breaking down of a problem into smaller problems

• The breaking down of waste to make compost

Identify which statement describes algorithmic thinking

• Thinking like a computer

• Writing binary numbers

• Identifying the steps involved in solving a problem

• Identifying what problems need to be solved