Importance Of Acquiring Problem Solving Abilities

This section focuses on the standard, “Children demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem solving” (Early Childhood Iowa, 2012, p. 99). Through this standard, a child will: show interest in and find a variety of solutions to questions, tasks, or problems; recognize and solve problems through active exploration, including trial and error, and through interactions and discussions with peers and adults; share ideas or make suggestions of how to solve a problem presented by another person. Adults must support these benchmarks by providing opportunities for each child to try new ways of using materials, creating a safe environment with developmentally appropriate materials that offer an appropriate amount of stimulation and choice for each child to explore and play with, allowing each child time to process experiences and information, talking through problems with children to model problem-solving, holding class meetings to discuss issues that may occur and have the children brainstorm solutions, and choosing appropriate materials that promote creativity, self-expression, number, and emerging literacy skills (Early Childhood Iowa,

Problem Solving, Numeracy and Reasoning: Helping to expand their knowledge of problem solving using stories, games, role play, singing and games. Making the child feel easy talking about and understanding the language of reasoning and problem solving.

Every action a person takes is the result of having thought about what it is they think they should do and then doing it. Life is riddled with problems that require solving. Decisions are complex matters that require careful judgment and problem analysis especially when one is in a role where others look up to them and are affected by their decisions.

According to Vygotsky, mental tools are the cognitive strategies and processes that we invite students to experience in order to promote independent thinkers and learners. This process doesn’t necessarily take place automatically. Children should be taught and given opportunities to engage in activities that promote independent thinking and reasoning. Children should also be able to demonstrate and apply these thinking techniques and strategies to everyday learning and living. Bodrova and Leong adds, “The problem is that their thinking, attention, and memory are very reactive; what ends up holding their attention may or may not have anything to do with the task they are expected to perform” (Bodrova and Leong, 2007, pg.5). The ability to focus and maintain attention can be difficult for some children. The ability to stay engaged in a given task requires the development of mental tools that are taught with the implementation of highly- engaging instruction. Many

make many decisions and if they choose wrong, it may cost them their lives or someone else’s in

When supporting children that need more challenge, it is important to focus on asking them questions that allow them to think about a topic on a deeper level. When working with T, it was evident he knew what was being asked of him on this worksheet. I know I challenged him because he really had to think about what I was asking him, and give him a nudge in the right direction. According to Reys, Lindquist, Lambdin, and Smith (2015), “People who are good problem solvers are generally good at thinking about their own thinking—that is, they are good at metacognition. As a teacher, I need to remember to find ways to allow my students to think about their thinking in order to challenge them. I need to scaffold my students into asking themselves their own questions after they complete a problem.

Define the problem is the most useful strategy for me. It is often hard to identify the root of the problem when making a decision. For example, goal setting can be difficult when you have more than one goal that you want to accomplish. I have so many goals that I want to accomplish, but the problem is trying to finish them all at once. Doing so I never complete any goals. It becomes too stressful and overwhelming. Once I define the problem I can start organizing the information from what is important and what is more realistic to complete first.

Most of my life has been pretty simple and I have not had a lot of hard problems, consequently, developing problem solving skills in an environment with very little problems has been difficult. I know I do not have this skill because whenever I reach a bump in the road, I almost always need help overcoming the complication. Anytime I have a homework problem that I do not understand or am having a hard time with a school subject, I usually expect my parents to help me out and when they aren’t able to I usually get panicked and give up. To work on this skill, I am going to spend more time asking teachers questions when I do not understand a concept in class and use my resource periods more wisely. I am also going to work on my mindful thinking and use the breathing techniques that I am learning in the mindfulness lessons that my school provides. Decision making can go hand in hand with problem solving, making it another essential skill that I have not yet developed. I knew I did not have this skill from a young age, when I began to jump around from activity to activity. First I started with soccer then switched to swimming and then to gymnastics, and to this day I have not kept any of those sports. Even in small scale decisions, like what to pick at a restaurant, can make me frustrated. There are going to be a lot of big decisions

Problem solving is a universal process that allows us to make decisions on everything from what to eat and what to wear. These steps contain the necessary knowledge that has been constructed through previous life experiences. Without sufficient experience the supports designed to strengthen our choices are weakened ending in the ultimate failure of the problem.

Things need to be seen or manipulated to be understood, students in this stage of development display an increasingly accurate perception of reality and a decline in magical thinking, memory is improving and new skills in problem solving are emerging. They demonstrate creative, analytical and flexible thinking.

Every day individuals are faced with many different problems for example deciding what to wear, finding a suitable place to park your car or even completing an assignment. Whatever the problem is, ‘problem solving is defined as any goal-directed sequence of cognitive operations’, as suggested by Anderson (1980, p.257).

The first article titled “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, focuses on the different strategies and ways your mind can “work to discipline itself” and challenge your thinking. Good thinking ultimately leads you to being prepared and avoiding

A weakness in my learning strategy is that I don’t study regularly. So, I cram up everything the day before a test or two days before a test. To tell you the truth I don’t even have a learning strategy. The topic I am going to choose to help my problem is minimizing distractions because, in my opinion, this is what makes me not study regularly. The “Success by Design” states that to not have distractions while studying one should look for a place where you won’t be distracted, a secluded place with a working environment. While studying one should turn off one’s cell phone and do not sit in a place where one is going to get to relax to work.

The main responsibility of a nurse is to offer a various range of health care services which includes provision of health education, prevention against disease, promotion of health condition and treatment of acute illness. (as cited in Ling, Bo, Ying, Shao & Hui, 2014) They are expected to perform a wide range of clinical skills for saving patients’ lives and this requires student nurses to have solid foundation in their learnings. The problem-based learning is defined as the learning that develops from the process of working towards the solution of a given problem (as cited in Ling, Bo, Ying, Shao & Hui, 2014) and its learning approach has been the focus in the nursing education for student nurses’ academic curriculum. This essay argues that problem-based learning and self-directed learning help student nurses to develop critical thinking skills and problem solving competency. The essay also explains that both learning approaches develop student nurses to become effective team collaborators with good communication skills, which will make them grown and achieve higher in professional nursing career. Moreover, it describes how problem-based learning aids student nurses to develop their self-directed learning skills and empowers them to adopt to changes in the workplace and health care practices.

It is important to teach or at least try to teach students problem solving related to math. Problem solving plays a big part in the math process. Teaching problem solving is beneficial to students because helps the students find solutions when struggling. It helps math to be more interesting and less stressful. Students see math with less negative reaction and more hope. Problem solving helps and improves student’s ability to think, solve, and find solutions. It is important for students to have the ability to have problem solving skills and this is what it teaches the students. Ultimately, problem solving helps students focus increase and learn what works best for them.