Pensamento computacional e a resolução de problemas: possíveis conexões

Abstract

Computational Thinking became popular in 2006 and was officially included in the Brazilian basic curriculum with the publication of the National Common Curricular Base, in 2018. The Problem Solving method advocated by Polya in 1945 is a well-known topic, mainly in the field of Mathematics Education. Both Computational Thinking, structured by pillars, and the Problem Solving method refer to the practice of solving problems, interconnecting Mathematics. In which the Polya method is structured in four stages: understanding the problem, establishing the plan, executing the plan and looking back. This work considers the following pillars of Computational Thinking: abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition and algorithms. In this sense, the present research investigates the possible connections between the pillars of Computational Thinking and the steps of the Polya method. For this, eight mathematical problems are analyzed through pre-established analysis categories, two problems from the International Student Assessment Program and six problems from the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad in Public Schools. The results obtained point out connections between all the pillars of Computational Thinking with the steps of the Problem Solving method, and a pillar may be connected to more than one step, for example, the algorithms pillar presents a connection with the plan execution step and with the retrospect step.