Computer science at school can be very creative. On the tenth Swiss Day for Computer Science Teaching, ETH Zurich provided teachers from all levels of schooling with new approaches to teaching computer science. The Rector also honoured schools and teachers who are committed to lively computer science lessons.
There’s much more to computer science than just operating a computer. It’s a certain way of thinking; an approach to take when describing and understanding the world and solving PROBLEMS (tasks), says Juraj Hromkovic, ETH Professor of Information Technology and Education. Typically, this way of thinking involves presenting information about the world in digital form by means of symbols and solving tasks by means of sequences of calculation rules, known as algorithms,
which act as keys that open doors to the world. “If our children understand how algorithms work, they will be better able to understand the technical world humans have created and to help shape it themselves later in life,” Hromkovic says. He has dedicated many years to ensuring that computer science classes in primary and secondary schools give students the ability to think algorithmically. A central tenet of the teaching method that he continues to develop is that students should solve their tasks by trial and error and through experimentation, and that they should translate the solutions they themselves come up with into computer programs.
Source: “Discovering the world with computer science”, Rebecca Lehmann, Florian Meyer, Zurich ETH News
