PROBLEM SOLVING

by Lizzie Milan supervisor

Meaning:

Problem solving is a planned attack upon a difficulty or perplexity for the purpose of finding a solution, in which a person uses his ability to solve problems confronted by him. It enables a person to exercise the control over his activities and environment. It is an instructional device whereby the teacher and pupils attempt in a conscious, planned, purposeful effort to arrive at explanation or solution to some educationally significant difficulty.

Definition:

According to Early Childhood Care and Education, “A problem exists for an individual when he has a definite goal he cannot reach by the behaviour pattern which he already has available.

Not merely a method of teaching, problem solving is a method of organisation of a subject matter. It is an approach to deal with subject matter. The researches of Teacher Training reveal that as compared to the chronological and topical treatment, problem approach is much more useful.

Advantages:

Life is full of problems. A successful man is he, who is fully equipped with adequate knowledge and reasoning power to tackle these problems successfully. Problems and puzzling situations are a normal feature of everyday life. These problems grow in complexity as one grows older. The solution of these problems enable one to have a mastery of the environment. Therefore, to enable one to face life, problem solving must be encourages in school life.

Pupils are curious by nature. They want to find out answers of many questions which are puzzling even to the adults; nevertheless they must be helped to satisfy their curiosity, whenever possible, by solving various problems. Teacher must teach the pupils, how to think so that they are able to transfer these techniques to a vast number of varied problem situations.

Steps in problem solving:

1.       Formation and appreciation of the problem:

 

The nature of the problem should be made very clear to the students. They must also feel the necessity of finding out a solution for the problem.

 

2.       Collection of relevant data and information:

 

The students should be stimulated to collect data in a systematic manner. Full cooperation of the students should be secured. They may be invited to make suggestions as to how they could collect the relevant data. The teacher may suggest many points to them. He may ask them to read extra books. He may also ask them to organise a few educational trips to gather the relevant information.

 

3.       Organisation of data:

 

The students should be asked to sift the relevant material from the superficial one and put it in a scientific way.

 

4.       Drawing of conclusions:

 

Discussion should be arranged collectively and individually with each pupil. Montessori Courses suggest that the teacher’s aim should be to secure that, as far as possible, the essential thinking is done by the pupils themselves and that their educative process produces the particular solution, formulation of generalization at stake. “Care should be taken that judgement is made only when sufficient data is collected.

 

5.       Testing conclusions:

 

No conclusions should be accepted without being properly verified. The correctness of the conclusion must be proved. The students must be taught to be critical, to examine the “truths” which they “discover” to see “whether they fit all the known data.” We should have our minds free from every bias in the process of problem-solving.

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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