Computational Thinking Is Critical Thinking. And It Works in Any Subject.

Computational thinking is one of the biggest buzzwords in education—it’s even been called the ‘5th C’ of 21st century skills. While it got its start as a way to help computer scientists think more logically about data analysis, lately it’s been catching on with instructors in a diverse number of subjects—from science to math to social studies.

One reason for its emerging popularity? It’s engaging.

“Ask yourself, would you rather get to play with a data set or would you rather listen to the teacher tell you about the data set?” asks Tom Hammond, an associate professor for the teacher education program at Lehigh University, in Pennsylvania. “Most are more interested in getting hands-on, even if it's just looking at the map and saying, ‘What about this?’”

Hammond is a social studies teacher by training with a natural interest in computer science, a subject he’s also taught. Now he’s championing a new approach to his subject that combines computational thinking with data visualization tools, like geographic information systems, or GIS, which pair maps with layers of data—so that users can see, say, election results by county or state borders in the colonial era.