6 Ways Programming Improves Problem Solving and Critical Thinking Skills
Dhwani Shah
January 16, 2025
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3 min read
In the 21st century, coding is becoming an invaluable skill. While knowing how to code opens doors to several great career prospects, the benefits of coding extend beyond future job opportunities. Learning how to code prepares your kids for the future - personally as well as professionally. Coding plays an important role in a child's personal growth. It develops paramount skills – such as communication, problem solving and critical thinking – that can help kids deal with various situations in life. We all make mistakes and run into problems – no matter how big or small – at every stage in our lives. Teaching kids how to smartly and calmly approach and manage problems and mistakes at a young age will benefit them indefinitely in every aspect of their lives.
“The best way to escape from your problem is to solve it.”
Learning to code is not just about learning a programming language, it’s about learning how to deal with and fix issues and bugs beyond the screen too. The importance of teaching kids the art of finding and fixing issues and learning from their errors cannot be emphasized enough. The problem solving process also fosters the growth mindset in young minds, encouraging them to embrace challenges, persist through obstacles, and view failures as opportunities to learn and grow.
Coding provides a structured environment to put these skills into practice. Fixing issues in a code requires breaking down complex problems into manageable steps and experimenting with different solutions. This not only teaches kids the indispensable skill of problem-solving but also builds resilience and adaptability, which allows them to rise through adversity in the real-world.
Here are six lessons programming teaches kids about problem solving and critical thinking:
An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing. Be it programming or dealing with real-world problems, it's always a good idea to take the time to thoroughly plan the next steps towards reaching your goals. While learning how to code, kids learn how to foresee problems that may occur in the code and brainstorm smart solutions to tackle them. This way, problems do not seem as overwhelming and daunting as they would when they have to encounter them. Further, planning also trains children to be calm and respond intelligently in difficult situations.
Imagine having to solve a 1000 piece underwater-themed jigsaw puzzle. 1000 pieces can seem quite challenging. Where do you start? Well, you can start by sorting the hundreds of pieces into different categories – the pieces for the corals, the different kinds of fish, and the ship, all grouped separately. You then start piecing together each of these groups to make complete pictures of the corals and the ship. You finally piece all of these together to create your whole puzzle. Doesn’t sound so overwhelming now, right?
Breaking down the puzzle into smaller puzzles will help you solve it easily and efficiently. This is what we call decomposition, a fundamental skill in computer science and programming. Decomposition involves breaking down a complex problem into smaller parts to make it easier to tackle. The smaller parts are easier to examine, understand and solve individually, and can then be reassembled to create the complete code. When applied to life, this theory teaches us that while problems that can seem intimidating and complex, they can be understood better and managed effectively when broken down and decoded step by step.
While piecing together our jigsaw puzzle, we compare, from time to time, what we've pieced together to the actual picture of the puzzle, to check whether we are on the right track. Similarly, while coding, it's important to check the code frequently and see whether it is working out as planned. This is called iterative testing—testing the code after every few steps to identify mistakes earlier in the process as opposed to realizing these mistakes after spending hours working on the entire project. Iterative testing enhances critical thinking skills, as children develop a pattern of recognizing mistakes and errors and learn to avoid them in the future. Using iterative testing in life allows us to keep our goals in check, ensuring our actions are serving a purpose.
To err is human. If and when we fail, it's essential that we identify exactly what went wrong. Mistakes are an inevitable part of any journey, but recognizing them is the first step toward rectifying them. In coding, debugging is the process of finding and fixing the ‘bugs’ or errors in the code. Identifying faults in codes and rectifying them is a direct lesson in problem solving for kids. Why is the code failing to execute as expected? Where exactly is the issue? Solving coding problems sharpens their attention to detail and teaches kids to recognize and resolve mistakes in the real world efficiently and effectively.
As kids master the art of debugging a code, they actively seek and understand ways to improve the quality and the efficiency of the code. Code optimization requires innovative solutions and encourages them to think hard of unconventional ideas as they try to develop newer, enhanced strategies to fix and enhance the code. Coming up with out-of-the-box solutions to real-world problems boosts critical thinking and creativity and enables them to work problems out smartly and efficiently.
It's not always possible to execute a code on the first go. Children have to attempt writing and rewriting the same code several times, finding and fixing issues, bugs and errors till the code finally works the way it is supposed to. They must try and try till they succeed. In this way, coding teaches kids that it's okay to make mistakes. What’s important is getting one step closer to the goal with every step of the process.
Perhaps one of the most significant lessons children learn through coding is that the process is more important than the destination. When kids focus on the journey, they learn to enjoy the highs and lows along the way and don't let end results dictate their whole experience.
Problem solving is a skill all of us acquire as we navigate life, but training kids to be problem solvers at a young, impressionable age builds confidence and encourages them to look at challenges from a fresh and positive perspective.
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