Investigation And Research Into Algorithmic Thinking Among General High School Students

Algorithm is an ancient concept, which, with the development of the computer, has been a necessary algorithmic thinking for moderns. However, it was not until 2003,when maths curriculum criterion for senior middle school was issued, that algorithm was added to the maths textbook for senior students as part of content of courses. As a result, some maths teachers feel it quite difficult to adapt the new content. They don抰know how to start teaching algorithm. These are the problems facing each maths teachers in senior middle school.This essay is aimed at illustrating the algorithm teaching by analyzing some different editors of maths textbooks for senior middle schools briefly and comparator as well as tokenly analyzing the problems appearing when students are studying algorithm. Research shows:(l)Before learning algorithm, our student have have some certain algorithmic thinking and for some simple problems. They can describe their algorithm with natural languages. But it comes to the flow chart and basic sentences, our students don抰understand what simple flow charts describe, but they feel quite puzzled at the complicated ones. They can 插arry out? some algorithm, but can抰 create the algorithms of loop structures.(2) Even if students have learnt the related contents about algorithm, it is still difficult for them to model practical problems. On the other hand, they may apply the algorithm that exists there already and has been successful tested indiscriminately. They can imitate the similar problems, but they often neglect the difference between these problems in the process of imitations.(3) Learning the course of information technology can help students learn to analyze the code language. Information technology can help improve the study of algorithm. Thanks to the process of using computer, students will convert the important points from judging the correctness of the algorithmic code language to designing algorithm itself.(4) It is necessary to arrange and teach the algorithm and infiltrating algorithmic thinking into the other content of courses should be earlier than infiltrating the contents of algorithm. During the teaching process, teachers should exert an imperceptible influence on students and lead them to describing the algorithm of a practical problem with natural language briefly. However, when learning algorithm, students can 抰peruse the universality of algorithm excessively. What抯more, in our classroom teaching, teachers should begin from the actual cases. When there is no computer can use, we can adopt the role-play; when analyzing the algorithm of some concrete problems, we should start from the big the small, from the easy to the hard, that is probe into the problems step by step.