Computational Adventures

A STEM learning service for adventurers to explore computational thinking, programming and applied computation.

Overview

Computational Adventures is designed for curious students and hobbyists to deep dive into computational thinking. Adventurers receive a set of 12 problems and mini-projects to solve, ranging from math to text analysis to computational art. Adventurers have the opportunity to explore a variety of subject areas and build mini-projects and are encouraged to go beyond the set tasks with ideas for extensions.

Our lively Discord community allows adventurers to meet people from around the world, collaborate on problems and connect with teammates to take projects further.

Adventurers will learn Wolfram Language in order to explore a world of computational opportunities, gain exposure to innovative ideas and technology and expand their ideas. Wolfram Language allows adventurers to vault over tedious low-level programming to immediately create, analyze and implement using the functional paradigm.

This program is a fantastic entry point to the summer programs at Wolfram, including the Wolfram Middle School Summer Camp, the Wolfram High School Summer Research Program and the Wolfram Summer School.

Faculty

Rory Foulger (He/They)

Director

Rory joined Wolfram in 2019, and is currently the Pre-college Education Programs Manager. Rory graduated as part of the first graduating class at Minerva University, where he received a BS in computational sciences. While working at Wolfram, Rory gained his MA in education and technology from University College London, and is currently working on his MA in game development at Falmouth University. Rory's academic studies have focused on data science, statistics and designing software to improve educational experiences for gifted students. Rory also runs the Wolfram Emerging Leaders Program and the Wolfram Middle School Summer Camp. Rory is passionate about gifted education, radical pedagogy and youth justice.

Eryn Gillam (They/Them)

Assistant Director

Eryn joined Wolfram in 2021 as the Technical Team Lead for Public Relations, and is now a part of the Pre-college Education Programs team. They graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in materials science and engineering, focusing on computational modeling. Eryn has been a mentor and the Academic Director at the Wolfram High School Summer Research Program for five years and is also the Academic Director of the Wolfram Emerging Leaders Program and the Wolfram Middle School Summer Camp. In their free time, they enjoy various creative hobbies, including knitting, baking and painting.

Program

Adventurers receive a pack of 12 guided projects and their solutions. Each adventure includes a tutorial on the relevant Wolfram Language functions, an explanation of the content area and multiple levels of problems to solve.

Adventures come with entry-level and advanced problems, self-contained mini-projects and extension ideas to complete over a longer period of time. Our welcoming Discord server allows adventurers to participate in conversation, debate solutions and extensions, share their code with peers and make new friends.

Adventurers also have access to video content to help them learn Wolfram Language and instructors to help them with any challenges they might face.

Content

Each adventure dives into a different content area so that adventurers are exposed to both the power of Wolfram Language and the huge variety of things they can do with their developing computational thinking skills.

Some examples of adventures include composing computational music, building facial recognition classifiers, solving math problems, creating cryptography ciphers, computationally analyzing Shakespeare plays, exploring real-world data, working with maps, building random layouts for board games, processing images, creating generative graphics, writing computational poetry, building a meme generator, creating interactive content and building websites.

Alongside this content, adventurers gradually learn to code in Wolfram Language, developing both their skills and their confidence in programming and computational thinking.

Who Should Participate?

We welcome adventurers of any age and stage of learning, from all around the world.

Any student enrolling in Computational Adventures should be confident in using a computer and reading and writing in English and should be interested in expanding their STEM knowledge. Students will need access to a computer that meets the system requirements.

For younger students, we have a separate section of the Discord server available for safe and moderated engagement.

Classes, Clubs and After-School Programs

Computational Adventures is perfect for classes, clubs and after-school programs looking for STEM activities. There are 12 sessions of content, each lasting 45 minutes to two hours, with plenty of optional extensions for engaged students. Adventures are self-contained and do not require a knowledgeable teacher. Students are welcome to work independently or in small groups, and most adventures end with the students creating something they can share with others.

If you are interested in running this program in a group setting, contact us and we will help you get started.

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