5.2: Read

Read the article that Stephanie gave her students to help them problem solve.

Solve That Problem

Problem solving is a challenge that everyone must face on a daily basis. Students, especially, have to work hard to overcome their problems. In some cases, this is because it is their first time away from home, in an adult setting. They must rise to the challenge of solving their own problems rather than relying on their parents or teachers to solve them. Some problems are given by professors as homework assignments. They help students to improve their logic and critical thinking skills. Other problems come about because of life situations. Whether you are an international or a domestic student, you will come up against challenges that you must work to overcome. There are some simple steps that you can take to help you through the problem solving process.

Identify

First things first. You know you have a problem. But do you know exactly what the problem is? You must gather information about your problem to determine the precise nature of the problem. You need to think about your current situation and what is causing this situation. What factors are creating the problematic situation? For example, if your problem is low quiz scores, consider what circumstances are resulting in a low grade in this area. You might brainstorm your problem identification like this.

Brainstorm:

Problem: Often miss quizzes at the beginning of class

Cause: Usually arrive late to class

Cause: Always wake up late

Cause: Always go to bed late

Cause: Never finish homework early

Cause: Spend too much time socializing during the day

Cause: Homesick and don’t want to be alone

At first, it looks like the problem is low quiz scores, but by examining carefully and honestly evaluating the causes, you realize that the true problem is homesickness. Through a chain of cause and effect, this is resulting in missing the quizzes in your morning class. Now that the true problems and their causes have been identified, you can begin to think about possible solutions.

Create

Now, you need to brainstorm all the possible ideas to solve your problem. No idea is too ridiculous. Any idea is acceptable during the brainstorm process.

Homesickness Solutions:

• Move home
• Stop studying
• Study with friends
• Socialize after studying
• Socialize as a reward for studying
• Find a roommate from my country
• Study between classes
• No studying after 11pm rule
• In bed by 11pm rule
• Wake up early to study in morning
• Set more alarms
• Make time to talk to my family once a day

As you can see from the brainstorm above, some of the ideas are a little silly. These can be crossed out later. Some of the ideas might work well in conjunction with other ideas. You might need to find just the right combination of ideas to create the perfect solution.

Select and Try

Now, select the best idea or ideas and implement them. What combination of the ideas from the brainstorm would you recommend putting into practice? Start small. Give yourself timeto get used to the new way of doing things. After you are used to your solution, it’s time for the final step in problem solving.

Evaluate and Repeat

Is the problem solved? If not, is it because you need more time or because the solution you chose is not working. You need to evaluate the effectiveness of your solution. If you have given yourself plenty of time, and you still have your original problem, it’s time to choose a different solution and repeat the steps. If you no longer have a problem, congratulations, you completed the problem solving process successfully on your first try!