Computational thinking (CT) is the process of analysing a problem then designing and expressing its solution in such a way that a computer can effectively carry it out. It includes a number of characteristics, such as breaking a problem into small and repetitive ordered steps, logically ordering and analyzing data and creating solutions that can be effectively implemented as programs running on computer.
The aim of this course is hence to take students with no prior experience of thinking in a computational manner to a point where you can derive simple algorithms and code the programs to solve some basic problems in your domain of studies. Student will also learn about basic program construct and simple data structures. In addition, the course will include topics to appreciate the internal operations of a processor.
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Course is taught in Python and then C after recess week. 3/5 for easiness as I only had some Python experience. C was foreign but I got used to it quickly. It should be very simple for those who have experience in poly or wherever.
There are pre-recorded LAMs for each week, and then a lecture which summarises the LAMs and some extra content. The LAMs are just the prof reading off the slides so referring to slides should be enough. Attending the lecture might be useful as some stuff they cover are not in the LAMs but could appear in the exams. There are weekly tutorials which are a mix of conceptual and coding problems. The TAs will go through in class. We got to play around with RPi sensehat in Python labs, while C labs are just extra coding questions.
Assessment format are LAMs MCQs, labs and a MCQ exam for Python, an assignment, MCQ and coding exam for C. For C, the exam, assignment, tutorials are done on a propietary IDE so it’s good to get used to the website.
Workload is pretty manageable as it is one tutorial and one lab per week pretty much. The C assignment is given nearer to finals but can be completed in 2-3 days or even hours if you’re experienced. Finish it when the question is released to get it out of the way before the weeks leading to finals.
December 6, 2021
