Computational thinking
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Flip to reveal answersWhat are the four concepts of computational thinking?
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Question
What are the four concepts of computational thinking?
Answer
Decomposition — breaking a large problem into smaller separate ones. Pattern recognition — finding what repeats. Abstraction — deciding what to leave out. Algorithmic design — writing the steps precisely.
Question
What does abstraction actually mean?
Answer
Deciding what to leave out, and why — not being vague. A route-planning app treats a road as a start point, an end point and a travel time, dropping surface, width and street name as irrelevant.
Question
What is pattern recognition for?
Answer
Finding the parts of a problem that are the same, so one solution serves many cases. Every track event needs the same steps, so solving it once covers the 100 m, the 200 m and the relay.
Question
What is algorithmic design?
Answer
Setting out the steps in order, precisely enough that someone else could follow them without asking a question. It does not require code — plain steps or a flowchart are enough.
Question
Does computational thinking require programming?
Answer
No. The guide states it explicitly: it is a toolkit of problem-solving techniques. Planning a sports day, designing a database and diagnosing a fault all use the same four.
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