Wing, J. M. (2008). Computational thinking and thinking about computing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A, 366, 3717-3725.

Summary

Type: Theoretical

Purpose: To distinguish between computational thinking and thinking about computing and discuss computing for everyone.

Findings: "Computational thinking is a kind of analytical thinking. It shares with mathematical thinking in the general ways in which we might approach solving a problem. It shares with engineering thinking in the general ways in which we might approach designing and evaluating a large, complex system that operates within the constraints of the real world. It shares with scientific thinking in the general ways in which we might approach understanding computability, intelligence, the mind and human behaviour... (Section 1, online). The field of computing is driven by scientific questions, technological innovation and societal demands... Moreover, as shown by the bidirectional arrows in figure 1, there is wonderful interplay—push and pull—among these three drivers: in the usual loop, scientific discovery feeds technological innovation, which feeds new societal applications; in the reverse direction, new technology inspires new creative societal uses, which may demand new scientific discovery (Section 2, online)"

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