B.Ed.
Teaching Notes-
Prepared by
SABARISH-P
M.Sc., M.Ed., JRF & NET
Lecturer in Physical Science, Arafa Institute for Teacher Education
Attur, Thrissur.
A
felt difficulty to reach our goals is generally called as a problem. Problem
solving involves mentally working to overcome obstacle that stand in the way of
reaching a goal.
Definitions of problem and problem
solving.
A
problem is a situation which is experienced by an agent as different from the
situation which the agent ideally would like to be in. – Polya
A
problem arises when one has a goal but does not know how this goal is to be
reached - Karl Duncker
Polya
defined problem solving as finding “a way where no way is known, off-hand… out
of a difficulty…around an obstacle”.
According
to Mayer Problem solving is
“thinking that is directed toward the solving of a specific problem that
involves both the formation of responses and the selection among possible responses.”
According
to Mayer and Wittrock, problem solving is “cognitive processing directed at
achieving a goal when no solution method is obvious to the problem solver”.
TYPES OF PROBLEMS
Well
structured and ill structured problems
Problems
can be well-defined or ill-defined. Well defined problems are called well
structured problems and ill defined problems are called ill-structured
problems.
A well-structured problem has a
clearly specified statement, a clearly specified goal, and a clearly specified
set of allowable operations.
For
example, “Solve for x: 2x + 11 = 33” is a well-structured
problem because there is clear given statement (i.e., 2x + 11 = 33), a clear goal state (i.e., x = __?_) and a clear set of operations (i.e., the rules of
algebra and arithmetic).
An ill-structured problem does not
have a clearly specified statement, goal, and/or set of allowable operators.
For
example, “develop a research plan for a thesis” is an ill-structured problem
for most students because the goal state is not clear (e.g., the requirements
for the plan) and the allowable operators are not clear (e.g., the places where
students may find information).
What
makes a problem well-structured or ill-structured depends on the
characteristics of the problem. Although most important and challenging
problems in life are ill-defined, most problems solving in schools involves
well-defined problems.
Routine and non-routine
problems.
(Not in B.Ed. syllabus)
When
a problem solver knows how to go about solving a problem, the problem is
routine. For example, two-column multiplication problems, such as 25 x 12 =
___, are routine for most high school students because they know the procedure.
When
a problem solver does not initially know how to go about solving a problem, the
problem is non-routine.
For
example, the following problem is nonroutine for most high-school students: “If
the area covered by water lilies in a lake doubles every 24 hours, and the
entire lake is covered in 60 days, how long does it take to cover half the
lake?”
What
makes problems either routine or non-routine depends on the knowledge of the
problem solver because the same problem can be routine for one person and
non-routine for another.
The goal of education is to prepare
students for solving all types of problems.
