Computational Thinking is Critical Thinking—and Belongs in Every Subject

Elements of computational thinking, like pattern recognition, are easily transferred to unexpected areas of study like social studies or English, says Tom Hammond, a former teacher who is now an education professor at Lehigh University. Hammond says that students like the computational thinking approach because it’s engaging: “Ask yourself, would you rather get to play with a data set or would you rather listen to the teacher tell you about the data set?” For example, in history classes students make use of data-rich, often open-source geographic information systems, or GIS, to plot election results from the colonial era to reimagine the way politics unfolded in the 1700s. These kinds of data visualization exercises offer a way for students to actively manipulate real-world information for deeper engagement and understanding. (more)