SFI 2016 will address the new Gen Ed objective of computational reasoning (CR). Find our what CR is and how you can infuse it into a course that doesn’t have programming. Dr. Jim Kurose, Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation for the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), will be our keynote speaker on June 2.
This is how the Faculty Senate is defining the Gen Ed objective of Computational Reasoning.
5b. Reason Computationally: Computational thinking is a problem-solving process that includes (but is not limited to) the following characteristics:
- Formulating problems in a way that enables us to use a computer and other tools to help solve them;
- Logically organizing and analyzing data;
- Representing data through abstractions such a models and simulations;
- Automating solutions through algorithmic thinking (a series of ordered steps);
- Identifying, analyzing, and implementing possible solutions with the goal of achieving the most efficient and effective combination of steps and resources;
- Generalizing and transferring this problem-solving process to a wide variety of problems.
Example: In this course, we will use a big dataset to analyze the spread of the Zika virus and make predictions about its transmittal geographically as well as the economic, social and environmental impact.
