Computational Thinking with Beginning C Programming

Course details

Programming lets us solve a variety of problems using the computer. C is a powerful programming language that also served as the starting point for Java, C++, and C#.

Computational thinking is critical for solving problems and using data effectively in modern society, but what is computational thinking anyway? Computational thinking is really a way to solve problems by specifying detailed, step-by-step solutions to those problems; collecting, representing, and analyzing data to support drawing conclusions or making decisions; and using a variety of techniques to improve the efficiency of our problem solutions. 

This course is designed to help you learn and apply beginning C programming concepts and key computational thinking topics and develop your skills in those areas.

Learn About and Develop C Programming Skills

• Data Types, Variables, and Constants
• STEM Computations
• Selection
• Iteration
• Arrays
• Strings
• Functions
• File IO
• Algorithm Analysis
• Pointers

Learn About and Develop Computational Thinking Skills

• Algorithms and Procedures
• Data Collection, Representation, and Analysis
• Problem Decomposition
• Abstraction
• Automation
• Simulation
• Parallelization

Contents and Overview

In over 14 hours of content including 131 lectures, this coursecovers core beginning C programming and computational thinking concepts. Four of the computational thinking lecturesinclude active learning activities integrated into the lectures, andthe course also includes 32 additional exercises, topicunderstanding checks, and larger programs you can use to evaluate and hone yourprogramming and computational thinking skills.

The course includes lots of practice because programming and computationalthinking is a set of skills that most people need to develop byapplying those skills rather than just hearing someone talk aboutthem!

When you finish the course, you should be able to implement small C programs to solve a variety of problems, develop detailedstep-by-step solutions to a variety of problems, think about andinterpret data, and understand how different techniques improveproblem solution efficiency.