50 George Square
Edinburgh University
Room 3.03
2 pm

An Introduction to Computational Thinking
by Dr Michael Rovatsos
Senior Lecturer at the School of Informatics at The University of Edinburgh, and Director of the Centre For Intelligent Systems and their Applications.

What is computational thinking? Often, it is construed as a set of
principles that allow us to map problem-solving processes onto
computer hardware and software, so that we can translate a
human-defined problem into an information processing problem.
But computational thinking can be much more than that – it is a mode
of thinking where information is seen as the atomic unit of building
models of the world, and the modelling skills one can develop
following this mode of thinking are far more broadly applicable than
simply to serve as a foundation for programming digital machines.
In this introductory lecture, we’ll introduce some fundamental notions
that underlie computational thinking – information, data, algorithms,
and machine models to enable participants with no or little background
in computational thinking to understand the foundational concepts
behind it. The theoretical principles covered in the lecture will
provide a foundation for learning more about humans, machines, and the
ways in which they work with (and against) each other.

This lecture is part of a series on Computational Thinking offered by the Anthrobotics Cluster at the University of Edinburgh and hosted by the CRAG (Creation of Reality Group), which will cover technical foundations of computer science and AI and discuss their possible futures and societal impact. It is directed at non-computer-scientists and aims to convey the core skills to enable
participants to engage in the broader debate around computers and society in an informed way, without attempting to make them programmers.

Room: 50 George Square – 3.03
Date(s): Wed 28/09/2016
Time: 14:00 – 16:00