PROBLEM SOLVING

What is problem solving?

Problem solving is a different way to develop skills of thinking and

reasoning.

Chilos knowledge is important for

problem solving

Problem solving activities promote:

• Knowledge

• Skills

• Attitudes

Children’s Knowledge is important for

adults toothey can see how children approach problems and

how they learn from that proccess.

Problem solving promotes group or common works.

What is a problem?

In a problem there are some elements like:

givens: the initial condition

obstacles

gaolas: objective, targets or desired ends.

With the world problem we can indicate a lot of things.

A problem has not only one solution because there are a lot of ways to solve it.

Teachers do not present real problems because they adopt closed problems (with a single answer).

There is a large variety of problems:

puzzle problems = they are important to look problems from different prospectives.

word puzzles =They can be divided in 5 categories

Real Realistic Tangible Contextual Abstract

Problem solving goes on at an unconscious level

because we do not pay attention

to the way we do things .

We learn principles to apply in

different problems

and

this is the ability to generalise skills

into a real life situation.

Understanding problemsThis is an important point because

Children need

to express the problem in their own terms.

Planning a course of action

is important

for children to became autonomous.

Adults’ helpThey help to: consider all factors think of a similar problem simplify the problem model the problem record the plan

PS strategies describing what the child is doing, asking what she/he is doing supporting the process

Reviewing the situation

is an important process.

is made at the end of the work

helps children to see the connections between problems, the plan and the solution.

Recall time:

is better if the recall time is not done immediately but after a period of time.

Success in PS

Attitudes, cognitive ability, experience are part of PS

Teachers’ work

to make children confident with their ability.

Cognitive ability

includes: knowledge memory metacognition

PS is based on knowledge

it requires

“know-how” (knowledge requires memory)

Most problems are solved by memory

Memory

1). information is analysed with short term memory

2). Is passed in the long term memory.

We have: episodic or event memory (for images) visual and auditory memory kinaesthatic memory that is unconscious

Different strategies to access to memory

Adults more efficient process to do it because they have more experience than children.

Concepts and actions are remembered because

the brain makes connections between new and old information.

Repetition used to improve our memory.

People can remember things with different processes.

relating new information with what they already know

dividing information by repetition by elaboration forming images

Is experience important to solve new problems?

Yes, because it is necessary to transfer skills from one context to another.

PROBLEM PRESENTATION

The way a problem is presented

plays a relevant role in

the ability of the child to understand

and relate it to previous experience.

The presentation of problems

has to be simple and clear.