I am taking courses to earn my computer science endorsement and one of our current discussion topics challenged us to think about how we educate students on the problem-solving process. It has really given me time to think about how I teach problem solving.
This got me thinking about my own practices and am curious about how other educators engage in this work with students. Below is a modified version of how I approach problem solving with educators and students as shared in the class forums.
I would love to hear how others approach teaching problem solving in their classrooms.
As I think about how to apply what I have learned about problem solving not only for myself, but for students and teachers, I am constantly reminded that it has to be simple in design and explanation. If the process is confusing, then we will not achieve the intended result of helping students become better problem solvers.
Over my years as a FIRST LEGO League coach and mentor, instructional coach, and teacher, I have crafted a version of an approach that seems to work well for developing the problem solving skill set.
Everything I create, teach, and develop uses the Creative Learning Spiral developed by Mitch Resnick at Lifelong Kindergarten. You can read about it here (All I Really Need to Know (About Creative Thinking) I Learned (By Studying How Children Learn) in Kindergarten) or in his latest book, Lifelong Kindergarten. I love this spiral because it makes sense and helps users realize that problem solving is not a linear approach. We are constantly bouncing back and forth and spiraling through the process as needed. The spiral does not have an endpoint and makes it very similar to the feedback loop of the Scientific Method or Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey.”
With this spiral, it needs more support. When I think about the “Imagine” and “Create” stages of the spiral I often discuss using two models to further enhance the problem-solving process.
Framework 1: Computational Thinking. I understand that this phrase holds many opinions by various people. I will avoid these arguments for this topic and state that we use computational thinking to teach students how to solve problems. In particular, when I was a FIRST LEGO League Coach we organized all of our board and code strategy sessions and solution development using CT. In this video(this video is pretty much my answer to this prompt) I created a few years back, I explain how we used CT to analyze the board with our teams. This proved to be very helpful for students and ourselves as coaches. It gave us a framework. We could really break down our thinking into actionable steps. It allowed us to communicate with one another and ourselves. It helped us for our presentation to judges. Time and time again using this structure as a teaching tool, a problem-solving tool, and communication tool has proved very helpful.
Framework 2: LAUNCH Cycle by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani. This is a framework we use outside of computer science and robotics when we have design thinking challenges for all subjects. The authors have taken design thinking and reimagined the process in kid friendly language and steps. The 7 steps are helpful in all the ways computational thinking are helpful. It does not really have an endpoint, allows for cohesion of thought, and breaking down the thinking process effectively. It does not clutter solving a problem. I am using this framework for a global project I am preparing to launch next week! If you want to see how it works check this link https://sites.google.com/view/seaturtlesdg14/home
Regardless of what we use as educators, it has to make sense to the learner. If the system is so complicated and not broken down in a way that makes the process easier to manage, then we get lost in the weeds and frustration sets in. There are so many systems out there besides the ones mentioned in the reading and videos or my own approaches. The beauty is to find one that works for you and your students.
Other Posts
- Computational Thinking: Why Don’t More Schools Embrace This Buzzword? https://wp.me/p4covo-1qS
- Using Computational Thinking for FIRST LEGO League Success https://wp.me/p4covo-1Wo
- Computational Thinking: My Summer Learning Reflection https://wp.me/p4covo-1rH
Problem Solving is # 1 in my class!! My students hear me say it so often I can hear them say to others, “Hey! This is a Problem Solving class!!!” hahaha. However, it’s the hardest thing to get my students to understand. Many of them have a natural curiosity to WANT to figure things our, but so many of my students just want to be told “do this and then this” so that it is “correct”. The first step is to get them to understand that mistakes are GOOD!!!!! Then try and get their “Hmmmmm” and “What if we do this….” questions turned into actions.
My “WHY” for teaching this year is “Curiosity”…I’m hoping that I can get my students to reach beyond the normal classroom setting and find that excitement problem solving can bring!!!
“Problem Solving is EXCITING!!!”