New Paradigms for Computing, New Paradigms for Thinking

New computational paradigms (such as object-oriented programming, constraints, logic, and parallelism) can significantly influence not only what people do with computers, but also how they think about and make sense of the world. This paper examines how one particular computational paradigm—parallelism— can support people in new types of mathematical explorations and also help them gain new insights into the workings of real-world, decentralized systems like bird flocks and traffic jams. The paper describes a new parallel programming environment called StarLogo, and it provides examples of how StarLogo activities can suggest and encourage new ways of thinking.