1. Problem Solving and Algorithms
Computational Thinking
Diego Aguirre

2. Expectations

3. Who Am I?

4. What is this class about?

6. A little problem…

7. A little problem… What if we had numbers From 1 to 27 … From 1 to 2187
Teams of 3 -> 15 minutes

8. El Paso’s Best Bowling Place

9. El Paso’s Best Bowling Place
You want this place to be unique, so…
More Bowling Pins!!!!

10. El Paso’s Best Bowling Place
You have to buy all those pins…
When n = 4, number of pins = 10

11. El Paso’s Best Bowling Place
Let’s say
each pin is 1 dollar…
10 bowling alleys
You want to see how expensive it is to buy pins for those 10 alleys, for n = 4, n = 10, n = 15, n = 20
How do you do it?
Teams of 3 -> 10 minutes

12. El Paso’s Best Bowling Place
You are worried about how wide the alleys would be…
If the distance between each pin is 0.1m, and each pin is also 0.1m wide…
How wide should the alley be when n = 4, n = 10, etc…

13. How did you solve these problems?
Did you need a computer?
Did you see something in common in these problems? The way you solved the Sudoku puzzles, and the way you calculated how many pins you needed…

14. How did you solve these problems?
Did you need a computer?
Did you see something in common in these problems? The way you solved the Sudoku puzzles, and the way you calculated how many pins you needed…
Solutions can (and should!) be resued! Problems like this appear everywhere in different contexts!

15. How did you solve these problems?
Do you think you used “Computational Thinking” even though a computer was not strictly necessary?
Hint: Why would I ask this questions if the answer was yes :P

16. Computational Thinking
Let’s come up with a definition…
No right or wrong answers….
Teams of 3 -> 10 minutes

18. 1. Decomposition Break a problem into parts or steps
How did we use Decomposition in the previous problems?

19. 2. Patter Recognition
Observing patterns, trends, and regularities in data
How did we use Patter Recognition in the previous problems?

20. 3. Abstraction
Identifying the general principles that generate these patterns
How did we use Abstraction in the previous problems?

21. Model
What is a model? Discuss…

22. Model

23. Model
All models are wrong, but some are useful

24. 4. Algorithm Design
Developing the step by step instructions for solving this and similar problems
How did we use Algorithm Design in the previous problems?

25. Computational Thinking
Thinking time!
I want you to put all of these in your own words…
Use examples!!!!
Teams of 3 – 15 minutes