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Helping Students Understand the Importance of a Problem Solving Framework

Scott Newman (Electronics). Helping Students Understand the Importance of a Problem Solving Framework. Source: Public domain, acquired through wikipedia. Source: Public domain, acquired through wikipedia. Motivation. What is so important about a framework? What is your process?

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Helping Students Understand the Importance of a Problem Solving Framework

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  1. Scott Newman (Electronics) Helping Students Understandthe Importance of a ProblemSolving Framework Source: Public domain, acquired through wikipedia Source: Public domain, acquired through wikipedia

  2. Motivation • What is so important about a framework? • What is your process? • How did you learn yours? Source: Bob, Public domain, via mikimedia

  3. Ice Breaker

  4. Symptoms • Blank solutions • Midterm / quiz solutions that have no solution of any kind. • No scribbles, sketches, or explanations • Unreasonable solutions • No evaluation of results • Acceptance of values that are not physically possible • Inappropriate assumptions

  5. “Students today are dumber than we are!!” • Forest for the trees • Details are overwhelming • Stare at the problem and wait for an epiphany • Pattern recognition • Compare current problem to past problem. • Look through the text book for worked examples.

  6. Forest for the trees Source: Public domain, acquired through wikipedia

  7. Pattern recognition • Is it a duck? • Looks like a duck • It walks like a duck • Quacks like a duck These are ducks This isn’t a duck?? Source: DickDaniels, cc3.0, via mikimedia Source: David Ooms, cc2.0, via flikr Source: Trevira1, cc2.0, via flikr

  8. Physics (Electromagnetism) Two infinite wires, one along the x-axis and the other along the y-axis, intersect at the origin. If 2A flows in the +x direction and 1A flows in the –y direction what is the magnetic field at point P(2,4)

  9. Physics (Electromagnetism) 4 Infinite wires cross forming a 10cm sided square. If the currents are as indicated what does Q have to be to ensure the magnetic field at the origin is zero.

  10. General steps to problem solving • Understand the problem • Develop a plan • Execute the plan • Evaluate the results

  11. Steps discussion? • How do the 4 steps take shape within your department / faculty? • Understand • Plan • Execute • Evaluate Source: creducation.org, cc2.5

  12. Why do students not see the importance? • Have you seen this phenomenon? • What happened to the problem solving process?

  13. How do we as educators put the emphasis back onto the methodical approach to problem solving?

  14. Conclusion • We all believe in some form of problem solving framework. • Not everyone’s method will be the same. • By presenting the steps to students and reinforcing them through discussion and question design they will begin to see the significance.

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