Teaching and learning computational thinking through solving problems in Artificial Intelligence: On designing introductory engineering and computing courses

At the core of every computing related discipline and impacting everyone everywhere, computational thinking or CT has increasingly emerged as its own subject in all levels of education. How to effectively teach CT skills poses real challenges and creates opportunities. Focusing on engineering and computer science undergraduates, we resourcefully integrated elements of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into introductory computing courses. In addition to a comprehension of the essence of CT, AI enabled inspirations of collaborative problem solving beyond abstraction, logical reasoning, critical, and analytical thinking. It fostered the study of basic data structures and algorithms. Students enjoyed active learning classrooms. Learning to learn, they constructed essential knowledge from solving exciting AI puzzles, competing in strategic AI games, and participating in intellectual discussion. Every activity is designed to allow students to fully engage their mental tools. Neither coding nor programming was required.