Problem solving is the killer app – it’s what our students need to succeed.
Backstage at a play, in the music ensemble, as an engineer, a physician, a civil servant, or any other career you can imagine: being able to solve problems using your wits in real time is the best way to ensure you continue to grow and succeed in your profession.
It’s also been virtually weeded out of school curriculums everywhere, in the pursuit of acing standardized tests. Answering questions right isn’t solving problems. (Even solving math problems isn’t “solving problems.”) The highest GPA in the world won’t do you any good if you check out when the answer can’t be found in a book.
Solving problems means encountering a novel situation and, using your experience, your expertise, and your intellect, making sure the situation comes out the way you want it to.
To teach problem solving you need:
- Interesting problems
- Students engaged in solving them
- Questions that can’t be answered by Siri or ChatGPT or by turning to page 119 in a textbook.
As a teacher, I try to model problem solving in class and help guide my students down the road to comfort with solving interesting problems.
As a parent, I try to encourage my kids to get involved in experiences that forces them to solve interesting problems.
As a human, I try to reflect every day on how much of my work – across all the varied things I do – is solving interesting problems.