National Workshop 3
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21 January 2021
Key Messages
Leaving Certificate Computer Science aims to develop and foster the learner’s creativity and
problem solving, along with their ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
Computing technology presents new ways to address problems and computational thinking
is an approach to analyse problems, design, develop and evaluate solutions.
The ALTs provide opportunities for students to develop their theoretical and procedural
understanding of the course.
The externally assessed coursework will be based on all learning outcomes, with those of
strand 3 being particularly relevant.
Digital technologies can be used to enhance collaboration, learning and reflection.
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Schedule
Session 1 Computational thinking
11.30 - 12.00 Tea/Coffee
Session 2 Algorithms
13.30 – 14.30 Lunch
Session 3 Computer systems
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Computational Thinking III
National Workshop 3, Session 1
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Overview of the Session
Part 1 Warm-up activities
Movement Break
Part 2 Computational thinking: thoughts and models
Movement Break
Further activities
Part 3
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Learning Intentions
By the end of the session, participants will be enabled to:
Work in groups on problem solving
Develop their understanding and experience in using some of the pillars of Computational Thinking
Assess and analyse research in the area of CT
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One model of Computational Thinking
Decomposition
Pattern recognition
Abstraction
Algorithm design
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Section 1
Warm Up Activities
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Xs and Os: Developing a winning strategy
Which pillars of Computational Thinking are used?
Abstraction? Decomposition? Pattern Recognition? Algorithm formation?
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Xs and Os: Developing a winning strategy
Move 1: Go in a corner.
Move 2: IF the other player did not go to opposite corner
THEN go in the opposite corner to move 1.
ELSE go in a free corner.
Move 3: IF there are 2 Xs and a space in a line
THEN go in that space.
ELSE IF there are 2 Os and a space in a line
THEN go in that space.
ELSE go in a free corner…..
[Link]
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ALT2 – IQ Tests
IQ scores are normally distributed with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15
55 70 85 100 115 130 145
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ALT2 – Mean and Median
Test the assertion (hypothesis) “Females are more intelligent than males”, by considering median,
mean, mode and spread in the graph shown.
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Microbit
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Music: 3-chord trick
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Changing key and the 3-chord trick
A B C D E F G
ABCDEFG
3-chord trick – pick a letter (no 1 ) – choose no 4, 5
So for A, the other two are D, E
What are the other 2 chords for C?
And for G?
Unplugged activity – give the general solution to change key
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Section 2
Computational Thinking:
Thoughts and Models
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Wing V Denning
Read both viewpoints and consider the following questions
● What is computational thinking?
● Is Computational Thinking good for everyone?
● How does Computational Thinking relate to programming
● How does Computational Thinking relate to other subjects?
● How can Computational Thinking be assessed?
● How might you approach this aspect of the course with your students / do you think
Computational Thinking is best taught or learned?
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Jeanette Wing
“Computational thinking is the thought processes involved in formulating problems and
their solutions so that the solutions are represented in a form that can be effectively
carried out by an information-processing agent.”
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Peter Denning
Computational thinking (CT) is a popular phrase that refers to a collection of computational
ideas and habits of mind that people in computing disciplines acquire through their work in
designing programs, software, simulations, and computations performed by machinery.
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One model of Computational Thinking:
• Decomposition.
• Pattern recognition
• Abstraction
• Algorithm design
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Section 3
Further CT Activities
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Sieve of Eratosthenes
List the prime numbers between 1 and 100
[Link]
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Mining Cryptocurrencies –
Factors of Semi-Primes
Semi –prime number only has two other factors, apart from itself and 1 ( eg 35)
Finding the factors of (really big) semi-primes was one way to harvest cryptocurrencies
323 is a semiprime – what are the factors
Develop a general solution (English and/or pseudocode and/or coding) to semi-prime
problems
Use Computational Think to enhance your solution
(Remember the semi-primes are huge – hundreds of digits so efficiency is important)
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Rock-Paper-Scissors
Write code / pseudocode to
determine the winner
Make the code more efficient
Develop a winning strategy
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© PDST 2023
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