Preface LP1 Page 1

Getting Smarter At Solving Problems:

Teachers manual
David Moursund
International Society for
Technology in Education
1787 Agate Street
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Copyright David Moursund 1990, 2004
Preface LP1 Page 2
About the Author
Dave Moursund has been teaching and writing in the field of computers in education since
1963. He is a professor at the University of Oregon in the College of Education. He is the director
of both a master's degree program and a doctorate program in computers in education.
Some of Dr. Moursund's major accomplishments include:
Author or co-author of about 25 books and numerous articles.
Chairman of the Department of Computer Science, University of
Oregon, 1969-1975.
Chairman of the Association for Computing Machinery's
Elementary and Secondary School Subcommittee, 1978 - 1982.
Founder, International Council for Computers in Education,
(ICCE) 1979. The name of this organization was changed to
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in 1989
when it was merged with the International Association for
Computing in Education.
Chief Executive Officer, ICCE, 1979-1989.
Executive Officer, ISTE, 1989-present.
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Contents
About the Author ---------------------------------------------------------------------2
Contents -------------------------------------------------------------------------------3
Overview of Teacher's Manual------------------------------------------------------4
LP1: Preface for Students -----------------------------------------------------------9
Lesson Plan 1: Getting Started...................................................................11
LP2 - LP3 Chapter 1: Introduction to This Book---------------------------------19
LP2: Our Changing World........................................................................22
LP3: Strategies.......................................................................................25
LP4 - LP5 Chapter 2: You Are A Smart Person ----------------------------------38
LP4: We Are All Smart............................................................................40
LP5: Metacognition on Solving Easy and Hard Problems ...............................43
LP6 - LP7 Chapter 3: What Is A Problem? ---------------------------------------53
LP6: Formal Definition of the Word 'Problem' .............................................55
LP7: Posing Clearly-Defined Problems .......................................................58
LP8 - LP9 Chapter 4: A Four-Step Plan For Solving A Problem --------------69
LP8: Attacking Hard Problems ..................................................................72
LP9: Building On Previous Work...............................................................76
LP10 - LP11 Chapter 5: Problem-Solving Strategies ----------------------------88
LP10: Strategies Useful In Many Disciplines ...............................................91
LP11: Computer-Based Primitives..............................................................95
LP12 - LP13 Chapter 6: Getting Better At Thinking-----------------------------110
LP12: What Is Thinking? .........................................................................113
LP13: Effective Thinking Practices.............................................................116
LP14 - LP15 Chapter 7: Transfer of Learning------------------------------------129
LP14: Chapter 7 Near and Far Transfer........................................................133
LP15: Increasing Transfer of Learning.........................................................136
LP16 - LP17 Chapter 8: Modeling-------------------------------------------------148
LP16: Non-Computer Models....................................................................151
LP17: Building and Using Computer Models................................................155
LP18 Chapter 9: General Purpose Computer Tools------------------------------170
LP18: General Purpose Computer Tools......................................................173
LP19 Chapter 10: Computer Systems ---------------------------------------------182
LP19: Computer Systems.........................................................................187
Bibliography --------------------------------------------------------------------------197
Appendix: Model Lesson Plan------------------------------------------------------200
Preface LP1 Page 4
Overview of Teacher's Manual
Introduction
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems is specifically designed to be used as a supplementary text
in a junior high school or secondary school computer literacy course. This Teacher's Manual is
specifically designed to help teachers of such computer literacy courses make appropriate use of the
instructional materials.
Although this manual is designed for computer literacy teachers, it likely that many other
teachers will make use of the text and the Teacher's Manual. Getting Smarter at Problem Solving
can be used in a wide variety of learning settings. For example, the text might be used in a course
on problem solving or as supplementary material in a social studies course. Also, the text has
been used extensively in graduate courses for teachers.
This Teacher's Manual is aimed at two distinct audiences. One audience is inservice teachers
who face the day to day challenge of helping a wide range of students to become more computer
literate. The other audience is educators, both inservice and preservice, who want to know more
about how we can help students to become better prepared for life in an Information Age Society
which is placing more and more demands on people's ability to solve problems.
Underlying Assumptions Inherent to the Text
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems focuses on problem solving in general, and on the roles
of computers in problem solving. Its underlying assumptions are:
1. All students can improve their ability to solve the types of problems they encounter at school
and outside of school. Almost all real world problems are interdisciplinary and involve ideas
both from formal school and from outside of school. Explicit study and practice in problem
solving can improve every student's ability to solve problems.
2. Computers are a powerful aid to problem solving. However, to make effective use of a computer
as an aid to problem solving, one needs to have a reasonable level of skill in problem solving
and an understanding of the overall field of problem solving. The use of computers in problem
solving is a sub discipline of the larger discipline of problem solving.
There is extensive research literature to support these assumptions. At the deepest level, schools
are constructed on the premise that education helps a person to get better at solving problems.
Essentially every list of Goals of Education mentions helping students to get better at problem
solving, critical thinking, higher-order thinking skills, decision making and other areas that can
loosely be coupled together under the heading "problem solving."
Organization of the Teacher's Manual
There is one chapter of the Teacher's Manual for each chapter of the Getting Smarter at
Solving Problems. Each chapter of the Teacher's Manual contains:
1. A rationale and overview of the chapter in the text. This is a brief summary of the ideas and why
they are included in the text.
2. Ways to coordinate the Getting Smarter at Solving Problems materials with a variety of
computer literacy courses.
3. One or more lesson plans. These include black line masters (for overhead transparencies) and
additional activities that can be used in class, as assignments, or in assessment activities.
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General Advice to the Teacher
The chances are that you have had little formal training in problem solving. This means that the
first time you make use of Getting Smarter at Solving Problems you may be both a student and a
teacher. Even the second and the third time you use this text you may find that you are learning a
great many new ideas. That is okay Problem solving, and the general field of teaching problem
solving, are well suited to a learn by doing approach. You are practicing solving the problem of
teaching problem solving.
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems is written at a junior high school reading level. If you read
at a leisurely pace, perhaps 250 words per minute, you can read the entire book in about four hours.
However, many of the ideas are profound. You may have encountered some of them in your
graduate studies. There are entire books on metacognition, transfer of learning, modeling,
journaling, brainstorming, and other topics that are treated just lightly in Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Don't be mislead by how quickly you can read the entire book!
The decision to adopt and use Getting Smarter at Solving Problems is a major decision. The
are many challenging ideas in the book. The book uses a guided discovery-based approach. The
book is designed to help students to become more independent and self sufficient. It is designed to
encourage them to challenge our educational system and to take more responsibility for their own
learning. The book can make a major contribution toward preparing students for life in our
Information Age.
Computer Literacy Courses
The Teacher's Manual will give you a great deal of help if you are teaching a computer literacy
course. You will need to make decisions on how much student time and effort will be devoted to
ideas from Getting Smarter at Solving Problems and how much will be devoted to the more
"traditional" content of the course.
As a starting point, we recommend that no more than the equivalent of one to two days per week
be devoted to the Getting Smarter at Solving Problems material. However, we recommend that
these materials should be integrated into the overall course. To the extent possible, ideas from
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems should be part of each day's work in your computer literacy
course.
There are many different versions of computer literacy courses. A typical computer literacy
course may focus on just one of the following themes, or it may draw from several of them.
A. Generic tool approaches that focus on use of one or more of the general purpose tools
database, graphics, spreadsheet, telecommunications, and word processor. These tools are
interdisciplinary, useful in all levels of schools, and useful both in school and outside of
school.
An alternative is to build a computer literacy course around applications software that fits
the needs of people in a specific applications area. Music software provides a good
example, as does software for use in the graphic arts. A computer literacy course could be
build around a specific piece of desktop publication software or a specific piece of
hypermedia software.
B. Computer programming, making use of languages such as BASIC and Logo.
C. A critical analysis approach. Here the emphasis is on reading, talking, and writing about
the history and current applications of computers, and how computers are affecting our
society.
There are many definitions of computer literacy. Generally speaking, computer literacy is a
blend of computer science (including computer programming), computer applications, and
computers in society (including reading, writing, and talking about computers and their impact on
Preface LP1 Page 6
our society). However, there should be one unifying theme: computers are a new and powerful aid
to problem solving. Computers can be used to help solve problems in every area of human
intellectual endeavor. The capabilities of computers as an aid to problem solving are having a major
impact on our world.
Guided Discovery-Based Learning
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems contains an underlying philosophy of discovery-based
learning. One reason for this is the general nature of the computer field. The computer field is
changing very rapidly. The computers your students will have available in their homes and on their
jobs 20 years from now will be a hundred or a thousand times as powerful as the computers they
now have available in school. This means that there must be a strong focus on learning to learn and
on transfer of learning. A guided discovery-based learning environment contributes greatly to
learning to learn, and it facilitates transfer of learning.
Journaling
There is now substantial research to support the idea of journaling as an aid to learning.
Students should read Getting Smarter at Solving Problems with a pencil and journal readily
available. They should carry on a running mental and written dialogue with themselves as they
study this type of material. This is a key aspect of improving one's critical thinking skills. Reading,
writing, and thinking are very closely intertwined activities.
Having students write in a journal raises an immediate question. Who will read the journal? Is a
student's journal completely private, not to be read by the teacher, fellow students, or parents? Or, is
it open, likely to be read by a variety of people?
A strong case can be made for either approach. You, the individual teacher, will need to set the
rules for your class. You should be aware of some of the consequences of the decisions you make.
For example, suppose you decide that students are to turn in their journals once a week. Then
you may feel some responsibility for reading (grading?) this writing, perhaps providing some
feedback. In addition, students will be constrained in what they write. Many may not feel
comfortable in displaying certain emotions, lack of understanding, or personal weaknesses.
Alternatively, suppose you decide that journals are completely private. How will you deal with
the situation where one student "borrows" another student's journal, and begins to read itperhaps
even out loud to the class? How will you deal with the case of a student who writes nothing, or who
writes nothing related to the course?
Journaling is a powerful aid to student learning. Thus, the key idea is to get students to write
something in their journals, even if it is only vaguely related to the course. You may decide to take a
compromise position between a journal being completely private and being completely public. You
may indicate to your students that journals are completely private. However, students will
occasionally be asked to recopy or photocopy a page to turn in At that time they can copy it (or
photocopy it) just the way it was originally written, or they can rewrite it. You make it quite clear
that either is acceptable to you, no questions asked!
Assessment
One major barrier to teaching problem solving is our conventional approach to assessment of
student progress. In most teaching situations, a teacher is required to produce an end of term
assessment of each student. This is most often in the form of a letter or numerical grade.
Sometimes this is supplemented by a brief written comment about the student. Neither approach
works well in a course on problem solving.
Students vary tremendously in their innate ability to solve problems. These differences are
exacerbated by culture, home and school environments, and so on. A short course on problem
solving is a very brief intervention into a very long and complex life. If the main part of the grade is
Preface LP1 Page 7
to be based on skill in solving a wide range of problems, you could assign grades based on tests
given on the first day of class. This is because one short course will have only a modest impact on a
student's overall ability to solve the wide range of problems the student encounters in life. This
leads to questions of what one wants to measure (What does a grade of B mean in this course?) and
how to measure it?
It is possible to construct tests over a variety of the material in Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Moreover, some of what you might test is relevant to and supportive of students learning
and coming to use key ideas in the book. For example, it is quite important that students increase
their working oral and written vocabulary to include a number of terms that are in the Glossary.
Thus, it is appropriate to test for vocabulary comprehension.
By and large, however, it is very difficult to adequately assess what students gain by working on
the materials and ideas in Getting Smarter at Solving Problems. Thus, we strongly recommend that
you down play conventional tests of facts and lower-order skills, and instead focus on participation,
involvement, and progress students make in integrating ideas and knowledge from the course into
their everyday lives. In addition, you may want to assign quite a number of the activities at the end
of the chapters as homework, and make use of this in assessment. There are some additional
activities for each chapter given in this Teacher's Manual. In any event, you should focus on
student progress. It should be possible for every student, no matter what their level of problem-
solving skills and innate ability, to make an "A" in the course.
A Warning
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems is designed to help students learn to challenge a number
of aspects of our conventional educational system. For example, the book focuses on the question:
If a computer can solve or help solve a type of problem that students are studying in
school, what should students learn about how to solve this type of problem?
This is a very hard question. It could well be that a substantial part of our current educational
system concentrates on preparing students to do things that computers do quite well. Certainly one
can find examples in which it appears that students are learning to compete with machines in areas
where the machines are quite successful.
As students come to realize this fact, they may begin to challenge you and your teaching
methods. They may begin to challenge their other teachers and the overall organization of the
curriculum. This is healthy and desirable. However, many teachers do not want to be challenged in
this manner. Thus, you may want to carefully explore with your students some of the proper ways
to challenge the conventional curriculum and conventional teaching methodologies. Also, you may
want to warn your fellow teachers that you are teaching your students to question some current
educational practices.
Concluding Remarks
The first edition of Getting Smarter At Solving Problems was published in 1990. At that time
the four megabit computer memory chip was in mass production, and a one million transistor
central processing unit chip was in mass production. This represents substantial progress from the
time the transistor was invented in 1947, or the first integrated circuit was produced in 1950. This
rapid progress is still continuing. We can expect that by the year 2000 we will have 64 megabit
memory chips; CPUs will be faster and more sophisticated. Thus, you are faced with the problem
of educating your students to make appropriate use of a very rapidly changing tool.
It is very important to realize that many of the ideas underlying problem solving and roles of
computers in problem solving are quite independent of any specific hardware or software. These
ideas will still be applicable many years from now. You should stress such ideas in your teaching.
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The ideas about problem solving given in Getting Smarter at Solving Problems are applicable
to adults as well as to young students. Look for ways to use these ideas in your own teaching and
in your non-professional life. When you make progress, share it with your students. Role model
being a life long learner. Role model the joy of learning new things and having this knowledge be
an important part of your everyday life.
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LP1: Preface for Students
(Note: Beginning here, there is one chapter of the Teacher's Manual for each chapterincluding
the Prefaceof Getting Smarter at Solving Problems. There are one or more lesson plans
associated with each chapter.)
Rationale and Overview.
Take a careful look at the title and subtitle of the student text. Many students have a mind set
that consists of:
1. "I have a certain, fixed level of smartness. This doesn't change." For example, some students
think of themselves as "smart" and others think of themselves as "dumb."
2. "Problem solving is something we only do in math classes."
Both of these points of view are terribly wrong. One of the major goals of a course making use
of this book is to help students acquire a more realistic understanding in these two areas. We would
like students to say and believe:
1. "I am better at solving some types of problems than others. I am smart enough to get better at
solving any type of problem that I care to spend time on."
2. "I regularly encounter and solve problems at home, at work, at play, and at school. Problems are
everywhere. What I learn at school can help me to solve some of these problems. What I learn
outside of school can help me solve some of these problems. Both types of learning are very
important to me."
Research on problem solving indicates that high self esteem and positive attitude are an aid to
problem solving and that they transfer between specific subject areas. That is, as you help your
students to improve their self esteem as a problem solver, you are helping them to become better
problem solvers throughout the full range of problems they encounter at school and outside of
school.
The Preface for Students is an advance organizer for the book. The way in which you introduce
the book and make use of the Preface for Students will set the tone for how students use the book.
The Preface for Students is written at a seventh grade reading level. If your students are not able
to read at or above this level, then most likely the book will not be suitable for their use without
substantial support. Of course, you can provide them with a great deal of help. Here are a few
suggestions:
1. Before assigning specific readings, provide students with an overview (an advance organizer) of
what they will be reading. Engage them in a discussion of the key ideas.
2. You may want to display key ideas and/or paragraphs on the overhead and read them out loud.
3. Alternatively, on some of the textual materials you may want to have students read the material
out loud and engage them in discussion as to possible meanings of what they are reading.
One of the more important goals of school is for students to learn to read with good
understanding of what they read. Every teacher has a major responsibility in helping students get
better at reading. In many schools, students do not receive adequate feedback on their current
reading skills. It is important that you help students to recognize and understand their strengths and
weaknesses as readers, and to get better at reading.
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems is not easy to read. It contains a number of big words and
big ideas. Be sensitive to the needs of your students. Help them to increase their vocabulary and
their ability to be consciously aware of these big ideas.
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The Preface for Students introduces and briefly discusses three ideas:
1. Aids to the human mind. There are lots of mental aids, and computers are one of the newer and
more powerful aids.
2. Learning how to learn. Each person is unique, and each person can learn how they best learn.
Through study and practice, a person can get better at learning.
3. Getting better at solving problems. By study and practice, a person can get a lot better at solving
the types of problems they encounter both in school and outside of school.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
The Getting Smarter at Solving Problems book fits nicely into a computer literacy course
which has one or more of the following focuses:
1. Computer applications.
2. Computer programming.
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
This first lesson, based on the Preface, can easily be oriented toward any one of these three
types of computer literacy courses. Here are a few examples of types of questions you can explore
with your class that will help relate the Preface materials to each of these types of computer literacy
courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. How does the process of learning to make use of one computer application carry over
(transfer) to learning another computer application?
B. In what sense is a computer application, such as a word processor, a better aid to the
human mind than pencil and paper? In what sense is it worse?
Note that if you are teaching a computer literacy course that focuses primarily on computer
applications, you may want to have your students study chapter 9 of Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems reasonably early in the course.
2. Computer programming.
A. How does the learning of a computer programming language relate to learning natural
languages (such as Spanish) or other subjects such as math?
B. Why does it take so much effort to learn computer programming?
Note that if you are teaching a computer literacy course that focuses primarily on computer
programming, you may want to have your students study chapter 10 of Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems reasonably early in the course.
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. Do computer aids to the human mind decrease the need for the type of learning that
occurs at school?
B. If students use computer aids to problem solving, such as a calculator or word processor,
will this decrease the ability of their brain to solve problems without these aids?
C. Are we becoming too dependent on computers? What happens if the power goes off?
D. All things considered, is our world a better place because of computers? Have students
focus on examples from their own lives and in the lives of people they know well.
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Lesson Plan 1: Getting Started
Primary Goals
1. Students will understand that they live in a rapidly changing world and that they need an
education that helps them adapt to such changes.
2. Students will understand differences between lower-order and higher-order thinking skills.
Prerequisites
1. (General) Students need to be able to read, write, participate in class discussions, and
communicate with their fellow students at a level consistent with the overall level of the course.
The Preface is written at a seventh grade reading level. This is the minimal reading level needed
to be successful in reading the text.
2. (Specific) None.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
Textbooks, to give to students.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students)
Pencil and paper.
Spiral bound notebook to use as a journal. (It is okay if this is not available until the next
day.)
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. Allow students 10-15 minutes to read the
Preface and browse the book.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Additional, very important terms and expressions, receive less
specific attention. Examples from the Preface include:
aids to the human mind
computer
human mind
journal
journaling
learning to learn
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problem
problem solving
One major goal of Getting Smarter at Solving Problems is to help students increase their ability
to communicate freely and easily about ideas of problem solving. Learning the new vocabulary is
essential. Emphasize activities that have your students talk using the new vocabulary and write using
the new vocabulary. Make sure that you use the vocabulary frequently in your discussions with
your students.
Most likely students studying from Getting Smarter at Solving Problems will have access to a
word processor and will have basic skills in using a word processor. If so, you may want to assign
each student the task of building their own glossary. As they encounter terms that are bold faced in
the book and/or that are new to them, they should add them to their personal glossary. They should
make up a definition that is in their own language and has meaning to them. This can be an on
going assignment, with a printout or a disk copy to be turned in every couple of weeks.
Objectives
1. Students will participate in a whole-class brainstorming activity to list aids to the human mind
and how they help in solving problems.
2. Students will introspect on how they learn; students will write notes to themselves about how
they learn.
3. Students will learn about journaling and that they will need to have a journal available when they
are studying from the book, Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Description
Background
Every student in your class is "smart" and is quite capable of getting smarter. This book defines
smartness as the ability to cope with (solve) the wide variety problem situations and problems that
one encounters at home, at work, at play, at school, and elsewhere.
Perhaps the single most important idea in problem solving is building on previous work of
yourself and others. Previous work of other people has produced reading, writing, arithmetic,
television, computers, and many other aids to problem solving. It has also produced foundational
knowledge in areas such as learning theory, curriculum and instructional design, brain theory, and
theory of problem solving. These can all contribute to helping people get better at solving problems.
Note that each aid to problem solving creates problems. Reading, writing, and arithmetic have
transformed the societies of the world. They have created the problem of needing a formal
educational system. Computers are a powerful change agent. They exacerbate the types of problems
created by previous aids to the human mind.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by displaying Preface Overhead Transparency 1: Aids to Problem Solving. Engage
students in making a list of aids that humans have developed to help them solve problems. For
each aid, students are to give an example of the type of problem the aid helps solve.
An alternative approach to this and to each whole class discussion or brainstorming exercise is
to have the activity done in groups of three or four. This type of cooperative learning and small
group approach to learning can be very effective. If you have not experimented with it, this is a
good place to begin. The research supporting cooperative learning and use of small discussion
groups is quite convincing.
Preface LP1 Page 13
If the activity is done in small groups, you may want to provide each group with a large piece of
butcher paper. One person becomes the recorder, and writes the group's responses in large print
so that the butcher paper can be posted in the front of the room for the whole class to read. This
type of approach is quite effective, but somewhat slow. If you regularly use this approach on the
whole class brainstorming activities in the lesson plans, most lesson plans will take an extra day
to complete.
2. Now engage students in a categorization process. The aids can be categorized in many ways,
such as:
Easy to learn to use versus requires a lot of training in order to learn how to use.
Cheap versus expensive.
Aids to the mind versus aids to the physical body.
Creates few new problems versus creates many new problems.
3. Now focus attention just on the aids to the human mind that were listed above. For each aid that
is listed, focus added discussion on what types of problems the aid helps to solve. For example,
written musical notation is an aid that helps composers to compose music and helps preserve
and pass on music from one generation to the next (especially before we had recording
equipment).
4. Display Preface Overhead Transparency 2: Ways of learning. Ask the class to think about how
they learn. Give them enough time so each class member can write down a couple of responses.
Then draw on their results to make a list of how people learn.
5. Now focus attention on the idea that some ways of learning are better for certain types of
problems. If you want to be a good swimmer (be good at solving the problem of swimming)
you can learn quite a bit by reading books. But actually swimming, with a good coach providing
feedback, is a better way to get to be a good swimmer.
7. Have students introspect on what they have learned by the individual written brainstorming
activity and the whole class brainstorming activity on learning. Help them to realize that they
have learned something about how they and others learn. That is, they have learned about
learning.
8. Introduce the idea of journaling and the need to bring a journal to class. Clearly state your
policy on who gets to read the journals.
9. Hand out texts and assign the Preface to be read. Indicate that it is okay to read ahead if they
like. Use Preface Overhead Transparency 3: Organize Your Thinking, to stress the idea that
research supports the value of having an advance organizer to orient one's mind toward the
materials to be learned.
10. Closure. Get students to think about some of the important ideas that have been discussed. You
may want to make use of Preface Overhead Transparency 4: Preface Summary. Each student is
to decide on one idea that they felt was particularly important. As time permits, these ideas can
be shared by the whole class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a
personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to read the Preface and get a journal for regular use in class.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
Preface LP1 Page 14
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
Each student was engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
Each student thought of and wrote down ideas on how he/she learns.
Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage student to think about ideas discussed in class as homework. Each is to be prepared
to share (at the next class meeting) one example of what they thought of.
Alternatively, students are to talk to at least one person about the ideas from this class meeting.
Each is to be prepared to share one or two ideas of what was talked about and how the conversation
proceeded.
Notes
This lesson contains a high density of new, powerful ideas. These ideas cut across all
disciplines. They are applicable both in school and outside of school. Your goal is to have students
incorporate these ideas into their everyday lives. Have patience. Rome was not built in a day.
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Preface Overhead Transparency 1
Aids to Problem Solving
A list of some of the aids that humans have developed to
help them solve problems.
1. Ball point penbetter than a quill pen for writing.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Preface LP1 Page 16
Preface Overhead Transparency 2
Ways of Learning
A list of some of the ways that people learn.
1. By practicingfor example shooting baskets.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Preface LP1 Page 17
Preface Overhead Transparency 3
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
There is a box like this at the beginning of each chapter
It contains some of the highlights of the chapter. Spend
a minute or two reading and thinking about these
highlights. Research says that this time will be well
spent. It will help you to learn the chapter material
much better.
The Preface is about:
Aids to the human mind.
Thinking about how you learn.
Using computers to help you solve
problems.
Preface LP1 Page 18
Preface Overhead Transparency 4
Preface Summary
PREFACE SUMMARY
There is a box like this at the end of each chapter. It
contains a summary of a few of the key ideas in the
chapter.
The purpose of the Preface is to get you started in
thinking about what this book is about. Some key ideas
include:
1. A computer is a powerful aid to the human mind.
Reading, writing, and arithmetic are also powerful
mind aids.
2. It is important for you to learn how you best learn.
3. By studying and practice, you can get better at
problem solving.
Preface LP1 Page 19
LP2 - LP3 Chapter 1: Introduction to This
Book
Rationale and Overview.
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems has two major goals:
1. To help students get better at solving problems.
2. To help students learn some of the roles of computers as an aid to solving problems.
There is an immense literature on problem solving, critical thinking, higher-order cognitive
skills, decision making, and a variety of other closely related topics. The Bibliography at the end of
this book provides pointers to some of this literature. In this book we lump all of these topics
together under the general title of problem solving. The References at the end of the Teacher's
Manual give pointers to a lot of the current literature on problem solving.
The first two chapters of the book make use of a student's informal, intuitive definition of
problem. It is not until chapter 3 that a formal definition of problem is provided. Thus, during the
time you are covering the first two chapters, you should not expect students to fully agree on what
constitutes a problem. Indeed, you might want to get a debate going on whether something is or is
not a problem.
It is clear that there are a wide range of problems. Some are much easier to solve than others.
Some occur only in school, while others occur mainly outside of school. Students often come to
believe that there is very little relationship between the problem-solving skills they learn in school
and the skills needed to deal with non-school problems. This helps pinpoint one aspect of the issue
of transfer of learning and provides a major challenge to teachers.
A Thought Experiment
Here is an interesting "thought experiment" that helps to clarify what we are trying to
accomplish as we teach problem solving. Imagine that there were only a very small number of quite
specific problems that a person had to cope with in life. For example, perhaps the following would
be three of them:
1. Given the situation of having your clean clothes laid out for you in the morning. Get
dressed.
2. Given the situation of being seated in front of a plate of food. Feed yourself.
3. Given the situation of a small number of coins sitting in front of you. Determine the total
amount of money represented by these coins.
If you have raised children, you realize that it takes a great deal of training and experience to
become proficient at solving these problems. Indeed, young people with certain mental and/or
physical handicaps may not be able to learn to solve these problems for themselves. These
problems have been carefully studied in special education settings.
In this thought experiment, suppose that there were only a few hundred such problems that a
person would ever encounter in everyday life. Than education could consist of memorizing and
internalizing how to solve each of them. A behavioristic, stimulus-response approach to education
might suffice. Imagine how easy it would be to design a curriculum for this setting!
However, education is not that simple. The reason is that there are innumerable problems that a
person might encounter. As the world changes, the nature of the problems that a person might
encounter also changes. This leads to a very simple model of education for problem solving.
Preface LP1 Page 20
1. Learn to solve the types of problems that one frequently encounters. The goal is to get so good
at solving these that little thought is required and very few errors occur.
2. Develop knowledge and skills that are useful in solving problems that one has not encountered
before or that one has encountered only infrequently.
Chapter 1 focuses on the ideas that all students can learn to learn (thus, get better at learning).
All students can get better at solving problems. The overriding goal is to help students get better at
coping with less frequently occurring problems. (If a problem occurs frequently, students likely
learn to solve it through experience or it is already part of the regular curriculum.)
Methodology Used in This Book
The methodology used in this book is based on a careful analysis of the research on problem
solving and a variety of educational research literature. It includes substantial emphasis on:
1. Acquiring and internalizing a working vocabulary that can be used to think, talk, and write about
ideas related to problem solving.
2. Journaling.
3. Small group and whole class discussions.
4. Small group and whole class brainstorming.
5. Cooperative learning.
6. Metacognition.
7. Consciously thinking about and working to increase transfer of learning.
It may be that your students have been schooled in these approaches to learning. More likely,
however, many of these ideas will be new to your students. Thus, quite a bit of your initial effort in
teaching the problem-solving ideas will be to teach students to deal with these instructional
methodologies.
Don't be overly bothered if you encounter resistance. We give young people a great deal of
credit for their flexibility. However, in many ways they are quite resistant to change. The
educational change literature provides solid evidence of how students resist changes in instructional
methodology. You are apt to hear statements such as, "This isn't the way Ms. Smith did it!"
Decide in advance how you will deal with such resistance to change. Work out one or more
strategies. Student resistance to change provides you an excellent opportunity to address the issue
of change and how one copes with change. Are adults more resistant to change than children? This
is an excellent topic for small group and whole class discussion, and for journal writing. It is quite
appropriate to spend class time addressing this issue.
Strategies
A strategy is a plan of attack on how to deal with a certain type of problem. You know a variety
of strategies for dealing with unruly students and the bureaucracies of the school system. You
learned these through your formal preservice training, by talking with other teachers, and by trial
and error. The strategies that you have are likely quite effective in most cases. However, there is no
guarantee that they will handle every situation or that they will always be successful.
It is important that students become aware of the strategies that they use in coping with
problems. They should learn that it is possible to learn additional (perhaps better) strategies by
formal schooling, from friends, from parents and other adults, by trial and error, and so on. The idea
of strategies is one of the most important ideas in problem solving.
Preface LP1 Page 21
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
An underlying theme in every course should be "learning to learn." Computer literacy courses
should also have an underlying theme of problem solving and roles of computers in problem
solving. A computer literacy course provides an environment in which students can explore their
own learning styles and work on learning to learn. Here are a few examples of types of questions
you can explore with your class that will help relate the chapter 1 materials to several general types
of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. What features are common to all word processors (or, to some other generic piece of
software such as a database)? To what extent does learning one of these features on one
particular piece of applications software carry over to more easily learning the similar
feature on a different piece of applications software?
B. When you are learning to use a word processor (or other generic software) what is your
preferred style for learning? For example, do you like to experiment on you own, have the
teacher explain it, read a book, watch a fellow classmate do it, or what? Is your preferred
learning style the same as for all other students in the class? Does it work equally well for
all pieces of applications software?
C. In what sense is, "Use a word processor." a good strategy for solving a writing problem?
The same type of question can be asked for other types of applications software and other
problems. For example, in what sense is, "Use a word processor." a good strategy for
solving an information storage and retrieval problem?
2. Computer programming.
A. What learning strategies do you use in learning a new "primitive" in a programming
language?
B. How do you study for a programming test? Is it the same way that other students in the
class study for programming tests? Is it the same way you study for a test in other
courses?
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. What came before the Information Age? What do you think will come after the
Information Age? How do such changes affect people? How do they affect you?
B. How can you tell if a person is computer literate? Are you computer literate? Why would
a person want to be computer literate?
Preface LP1 Page 22
LP2: Chapter 1 Our Changing World
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn to make use of journaling as an aid to learning.
2. Students will be introduced to changes going on in our world, and some of the roles of
technology in these changes.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read the Preface and have considerable awareness of
how technology is affecting their lives.
2. (Specific) None.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. Allow students 10-15 minutes to read
Chapter 1: Introduction to This Book. The Teacher's Manual contains two lessons based on this
chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary.
Additional, very important terms and expressions, receive less specific attention. Key vocabulary
and expressions from chapter 1 include:
advance organizer
basic skills
higher-order thinking skill
Information Age
lower-order thinking skill
memorize, look it up, figure it out
strategy
Notice that these are all listed in activity 2 at the end of chapter 1 in Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. In each chapter there is an activity 2 that focuses on vocabulary.
Preface LP1 Page 23
Objectives
1. Students will participate in a whole-class brainstorming activity to list ways in which the world
is changing.
2. Students will introspect on thinking and on learning to think.
3. Students will write in their journals
Description
Background
Talking, writing, and thinking are closely intertwined. Thinking can be viewed as "talking
silently to yourself." Writing can be viewed as a way of representing talking, and as an aid to the
careful organization of thinking/talking. Thus, introspection, participating in group brainstorming,
participating in small group discussions, and journaling are all important ways to practice thinking.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall what
they feel is a very important idea from the previous lesson from Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Provide a long wait time. Then accept several students' responses. (Be aware that a
long wait time allows students to practice higher-order thinking skills, rather than just saying the
first thing that pops into their conscious mind.)
2. Display Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 1: Setting Up Your Journal. Help students get
started in using their journals. Have them write on some important idea that they remember
from the Preface.
3. Discuss how journals will be used in your class. For example, if they are to be completely
personal and private, make that very clear. Indicate that you expect that they will write in their
journals each time the class makes use of Getting Smarter at Solving Problems or focuses on
ideas from that book.
4. Have your students spend a couple of minutes reading the first part of Chapter 1: Introduction
to This Book. You may want to make use of Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 2: Organize
Your Thinking.
5. Engage your class in a brief discussion of some possible meanings of, "You can lead a horse to
water, but you can't make it drink." Relate it to the role of the teacher and the role of students in
school.
Remember that each whole class discussion in these lesson plans can begin as small group,
cooperative discussion and brainstorming sessions. If you take this approach, you may want to
provide each group with butcher paper and a felt market. Each group is to produce results that
are then posted in the front of the room and which serve to facilitate whole class discussions. If
you use this approach, then quite likely each lesson plan will take two class periods of time to
complete.
6. Display Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 3: Using Your Journal. Notice that the overhead
illustrates both general comments and quite specific, personal comments from a student. Stress
that journal entries should frequently contain personal comments.
7. Display Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 4: The World is Changing. Engage your students in
a group brainstorming process to make a long list of ways in which the world is changing and
what is leading to the change.
As time permits, this activity can be expanded into a discussion of how these changes affect the
individuals in the class and other people in the world. The word "change" does not imply
Preface LP1 Page 24
"change for the better." For each change that is suggested, you might focus the discussion on
the good and the bad aspects of the change.
8. Discuss the organization of the activities at the end of the chapter. Relate the discussion to, "You
can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."
9. Assign the reading of chapter 1 and the doing of activity 1 at the end of the chapter.
10. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to read chapter 1 and begin to make regular use of their journals. Students are to
do activity 1 at the end of chapter 1.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage student to think about ideas discussed in class as homework.
Notes
Journaling is a powerful idea, applicable in every academic field. You might want to talk about
this with some of your fellow teachers. Perhaps you can convince some of them to make use of
journaling in the classes they teach.
Preface LP1 Page 25
LP3: Chapter 1 Strategies
Primary Goals
1. Students will be introduced to the ideas of learning strategies for solving problems and learning
to use tools as an aid to solving problems.
2. Students will learn about lower-order thinking skills and higher-order thinking skills.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read chapter 1 and have begun to do some writing in
their journals.
2. (Specific) None.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems..
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. It can be extended to two periods by
allowing more time for class discussions and assigning more of the activities at the end of the
chapter.
Glossary
Key vocabulary and expressions from chapter 1 include:
advance organizer
basic skills
higher-order thinking skill
Information Age
lower-order thinking skill
memorize, look it up, figure it out
strategy
Objectives
1. Students will participate in a whole-class discussion on memorization, looking it up, and
figuring it out as modes of learning.
2. Students will construct arguments for and against allowing use of calculators at all times, even
on tests.
Preface LP1 Page 26
3. Students will participate in a whole-class discussion of lower-order and higher-order thinking
skills.
4. Students will make a personal list of strategies they frequently use in solving problems, and will
contribute to the creation of a whole-class list of strategies useful in solving problems.
5. Students will write in their journals.
Description
Background
There are many ways to get better at solving problems. One way is to learn special purpose and
general purpose strategies that can be used either on specific sets of problems or on a wide range of
problems. Later parts of this book focus on common strategies used in problem solving. The brief
introduction given in chapter 1 is merely designed to introduce the vocabulary and to serve as an
advance organizer for the topic.
A second way to get better at solving problems is to learn to make use of tools that are designed
to help one solve problems. The hand held calculator is an example of such an aid to problem
solving. While the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has been strongly advocating use
of calculators in schools since about 1980, this is still a controversial issue in many schools.
Much of what students learn in school falls into the category of lower-order thinking skills on
Bloom's taxonomy. However, much of what problem solving is all about is higher-order thinking
skills. Students can learn to distinguish between these two levels or types of thinking skills. They
can begin to take increased responsibility for their own learning.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall what
they feel is a very important idea from the previous lesson from Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Provide a long wait time. Some students will page back through their journals or
look in their textbook. That is okay. Then accept several students' responses. This approach to
starting a class can be used throughout the course. Its purpose is to get students started thinking
about what they have been learning and are learning.
2. Display Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 5: Memorizing, Looking It Up, Figuring It Out.
Discuss that these are three somewhat different ways to "know" something. Point out that one
person might think it is important to memorize something (like a phone number) while another
person might feel it is better to just look it up.
3. Have students work individually to make up personal examples of things that they memorize,
learn to look up, and learn how to figure out. Then use the overhead to collect examples from a
number of students. Do not be judgmental. Rather, look for diversity. Look for examples where
items fall into two or perhaps all three categories from different students' points of view.
4. Display Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 6: Strategies. Engage students in a discussion of the
relative merits of memorize, look it up, figure it out as three different strategies for dealing with
material covered in school and outside of school.
5. Display Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 7: Is It "Cheating" To Use A Calculator? Engage the
class in a brief discussion of the topic. Perhaps students, teachers, and parents have differing
views on the topic.
6. Have each student figure out arguments on both sides of the questions. Then use the overhead
to summarize good arguments on each side of the issue.
Preface LP1 Page 27
7. Display Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 8: Lower-Order and Higher-Order Thinking Skills
and briefly review these ideas.
8. Have each student make up an example of a lower-order thinking skill question on ideas that
have been covered during the first part of the class. Provide quite a bit of wait time. Then use an
overhead to display several of their examples.
9. Have each student think of an example of a higher-order thinking skill question on ideas that
have been covered during the first part of the class. Provide quite a bit of wait time. Then use an
overhead to display several of their answers.
10. Give students an assignment. A suggested assignment is given under Student Activities in the
next section of this lesson plan. Make sure that activity 3 from the end of chapter 1 is included
in the assignment. Be aware that research strongly supports the value of frequently assigning
homework. In this course, assign homework that requires use of higher-order thinking skills.
11. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and activities. You may want to make use of Chapter 1
Overhead Transparency 9: Chapter 1 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that they
felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole class, in
small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to do activities 3, 4, and 5 at the end of chapter 1
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students made written notes on possible answers to the discussion questions raised in
class.
All students spent time in class and outside of class working on the assignment.
Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage student to talk to their parents and other adults about what they think about use of
calculators. Have them bring up the topic in a math class and in a science class they are taking.
Compare and contrast the responses of the math and science teachers.
Notes
The class discussion on use of a calculator may lead students to question their math teacher.
You might want to warn the math teachers that you will be discussing this topic in your class.
Preface LP1 Page 28
Additional Activities For Chapter 1
Note: These Additional Activities might be assigned as homework or be used for class
discussion. Some may be appropriate for use as assessment activities. Some of the Additional
Activities include a brief discussion of possible applications in a course.
1. What has changed during the past 50 years? Have cars changed a lot during the past 50 years?
Has medicine changed a lot? Make a time line showing major changes. You may want to use
computer software to help do this. You might want to get information for the time line by
interviewing older people that you know.
This is a rich topic. The Information Age is a lot different than the Industrial Age that came
before it. There has been a lot of change during the last 50 years. This change affects all of us.
Students face an adult life of continued rapid change. You want them to think about such
change and how they will deal with it.
This activity can be done as an individual exercise, a small group exercise, or a whole class
exercise. The time line can be created from scratch using a programming language such as
BASIC or Logo. Or, it can use a commercially-produced piece of time liner software.
2. How do you learn things? Is there a difference between how you learn to get better at writing
and how you learn to get better at doing math? Write two short letters to an imaginary friend.
The first letter should explain how to get better at writing. The second letter should explain how
to get better at doing math.
This is a thinking about learning activity. The goal is to get students to become more
consciously aware of their thinking and learning processes. This goal is strongly supported by
research.
3. What is your typing speed? What is your handwriting speed? What is your hand printing
speed? Figure out a good way to find answers to these questions. You may want to do this in a
small group discussion. Then find answers for your own speeds.
Preface LP1 Page 29
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 1:
Setting Up Your Journal
Today's Date Page 1
_____________________________________
IMPORTANT IDEA FROM THE PREFACE
I think the most important idea in the Preface is that
people can get smarter. I know that I am getting
smarter. I can solve lots of problems that my younger
brother can't solve. I couldn't solve them when I was
his age.
Preface LP1 Page 30
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 2
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
You live in a complex and rapidly changing world. One
purpose of schools is to help you learn to cope with the
types of problems you will encounter when you become
an adult. This means that you need to:
Learn how to learn.
Get better at solving problems.
There are many ways to get better at problem solving.
One way is to write ideas in your journal that occur to
you as you read.
Preface LP1 Page 31
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 3:
Using Your Journal
Today's Date Page 1
_____________________________
LEADING A HORSE TO WATER
The horse might not be thirsty. You can put water
in front of a horse, but it might not be interested in
drinking right then.
In the same way, you can put good ideas in front of
a student. However, the student might not want to learn
the material. The student might not be thirsty for
knowledge at that time.
Of course, you can try to force the student to learn.
That may not work very well. I learn best when I want
to learn. I learn best when I am interested in the
material.
Preface LP1 Page 32
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 4:
The World in Changing
Some of the ways in which the world is changing.
1. People live longerbecause of better medicine.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Preface LP1 Page 33
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 5:
Memorize, Look It Up, Figure It Out
Think about things you study in school. Think of two
examples in each category.
1. Something worth memorizing.
2. Something worth learning how to look up.
3. Something worth learning to figure it out.
Preface LP1 Page 34
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 6:
Strategies
A strategy is a plan of attack. A strategy is a general way to
try to solve problems. Here are a few examples.
1. Break big problems into smaller problems. (The smaller
problems may be much easier to solve.)
2. Draw a picture or a diagram to help you see what is
happening in the problem. (The human mind is very good at
dealing with pictures.)
3. Use brainstorming, either by yourself or in a group.
(This is a good way to get some ideas about a hard
problem.)
4. Make use of reference books. (A good way to solve a
problem is to look up how to do it in a book.)
Later parts of the Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems book spend a lot of time on
strategies.
Preface LP1 Page 35
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 7:
Is It "Cheating" To Use A Calculator?
Some people think that students should be allowed to use a
calculator any time that they want to, even on tests.
Think of two good arguments in favor of this.
1.
2.
Think of two good arguments against this.
1.
2.
Preface LP1 Page 36
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 8:
Lower-Order and Higher-Order
Thinking Skills
Lower-Order: Columbus discovered America in the year
____.
Higher-Order: Columbus discovered America in the year
1492. What was he trying to accomplish on his historic
voyage, and why was it important to try to accomplish it?
Lower-Order: The Earth orbits about a star we call the
____.
Higher-Order: The Earth orbits about a star we call the
sun. How do we know this? (You might want to describe
several different scientific experiments that could be used to
prove the assertion.)
Lower-Order: The name of the first president of the United
States is ____.
Higher-Order: The name of the first president of the United
States is George Washington. What was the process that led
to his becoming president, and why didn't he become the
king of the United States?
Preface LP1 Page 37
Chapter 1 Overhead Transparency 9:
Chapter 1 Summary
CHAPTER 1 SUMMARY
Here are four good ways to get better at problem
solving:
1. Learn reading, writing, and arithmetic.
2. Learn a number of general purpose strategies for
solving problems.
3. Learn to use tools, such as the computer, that help
solve problems.
4. Practice solving problems.
Preface LP1 Page 38
LP4 - LP5 Chapter 2: You Are A Smart
Person
Rationale and Overview.
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems has two major goals:
1. To help students get better at solving problems.
2. To help students learn some of the roles of computers as an aid to solving problems.
There is an immense literature on problem solving, critical thinking, higher-order cognitive
skills, decision making, and a variety of other closely related topics. In this book we lump all of
these topics together under the general title of problem solving.
By the time students gets to the classes you teach, they have repeatedly demonstrated that they
are quite smart and that they are good problem solvers. They have successfully coped with life in
our society and with our school systemthey have survived! However, there are many different
types of problems and many different types of "smarts." Some students are street wise, while others
are school wise. Some have tremendous "people" skills while others seem to prosper as "loners."
One of the things that we know about problem solving is that success breeds success. Our
school system and our society tend to reward people who are good at solving school and non
school problems. This positive feedback promotes putting in the time, energy, and thought needed
to become still better at problem solving.
There has been a lot of research about how people differ in their learning styles. A good
summary of some of the key ideas is given by Robert Sternberg (1990). One of the main points
that he makes is that if a teacher is not aware that students have widely varying learning styles, the
teacher is apt to (subconsciously) reward students whose learning styles are quite like those of the
teacher. That is, many students will be made to feel inadequate because their learning styles do not
match those of the teacher. This contributes to poor self esteem, poor progress in learning to learn,
and poor problem solving ability.
You, as a teacher, want to create a learning environment that strongly encourages your students
to become better problem solvers. One starting point is to help all of your students to realize that
they are already quite good at solving problems. All of your students are "smart."
Part of being "smart" is making effective use of one's brain. All students can think. All students
can get better at thinking. Metacognition is a field of study that focuses on thinking about thinking.
Research indicates that even at the primary school level students can think about their own thinking
processes. This metacognition helps to make them better thinkers.
Chapter 2 focuses on the ideas that all students are smart and can get smarter. All students can
think and can get better at thinking. All students can gain increased knowledge and awareness of
their current strengths and weaknesses as problem solvers. This knowledge can serve as a basis for
getting better at solving problems.
The chapter also explores the idea of a machine or a book being smart. The goal here is to get
students to think about how their smartness differs from that of machines and books.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
An underlying theme in every course should be "getting better at thinking about and solving the
types of problems addressed in the course." Computer literacy courses focus on computer-related
tools both as an aid to solving problems and as a source of problems. Thus, they lend themselves to
Preface LP1 Page 39
the explicit study of one's own thinking process in learning to solve problems and in attempting to
solve problems.
Here are a few examples of types of questions you can explore with your class that will help
relate the chapter 2 materials to several general types of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. Select a specific computer application, such as a database. What problems is it designed to
help solve? Give examples of important problems both in school and outside of school
where the computer application is useful. Then give examples of somewhat similar
problems where the computer is not particularly useful. For example, a city bus schedule
might well be stored in a computer database. But a printed copy of the schedule for the
bus routes you use is much more useful to you.
B. Select a specific computer application, such as a database. What role does the human
mind play in making effective use of this computer application?
C. In what ways does being good at using a computer application make you smarter?
2. Computer programming.
A. Name some problems that a computer cannot solve. Name some problems that a computer
can solve. Compare and contrast the thinking skills of people and the capabilities of
computers in solving difficult problems.
B. Can a computer think? We often anthropomorphize computersendow them with human
characteristics. What are advantages and disadvantages of doing this? Does it get in the
way of learning to program and being responsible for the performance of one's programs?
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. Is it possible that eventually we will have computers that are "smarter" than people? What
would that do to our society?
B. What are appropriate roles for people in creating and solving problems, versus appropriate
roles for computes?
Preface LP1 Page 40
LP4: Chapter 2 We Are All Smart
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn a definition of a "smart person" and that they are smart.
2. Students will learn some ways in which they can get smarter.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read chapter 1 and have an intuitive understanding of
ideas such as learning to learn, problem solving, and higher-order thinking skills.
2. (Specific) Students can read, follow directions, and write well enough to complete the quiz at the
beginning of chapter 2 without help. (If this is not the case, provide them with appropriate help.
You want every student to be successful on this quiz.)
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. Allow students 10-15 minutes to read
chapter 2: You Are A Smart Person. The Teacher's Manual contains two lessons based on this
chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary.
Additional, very important terms and expressions, receive less specific attention. Key vocabulary
and expressions from chapter 2 include:
easy (to solve) problem
hard (to solve) problem
metacognition
smart person
think
Objectives
1. Students will do the journal writing activity, Fun Things That I May Do After School Today.
2. Students will write about ideas such as, "Is a book smart?" and "Is a machine smart?"
Preface LP1 Page 41
3. Students will have increased ability to talk about their own strengths and weaknesses as a smart
person. They will display the ability to do metacognition.
Description
Background
All students are smart and all can get smarter. Here we are defining "smart" to be the ability to
understand and solve the types of problems that one encounters both in school and outside of
school. It also includes being able to "do" things like build a model, repair a car, cook a meal, create
and tell a story, and compose music. All students have both strengths and weaknesses in their
smartness. Increased self-awareness of these strengths and weaknesses can contribute to a student
getting smarter. There are many tools, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and computers, that assist
one's smartness. Learning to use these tools increases one's smartness.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall what
they feel is a very important idea from the previous lesson from Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Provide a long wait time. Then accept several students' responses.
2. Display Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 1: Organize Your Thinking. Use this as an advance
organizer for the lesson.
3. Display Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 2: What Does It Mean To Be Smart? Facilitate a
whole class brainstorming on this topic. Continue until students have provided you with a
reasonably long list of ideas. Do not be judgmental.
Remember, each whole class discussion of this sort can instead begin with a small groups,
cooperative brainstorming, and discussion activity.
4. Have your students spend a few of minutes reading the first part of chapter 2: You Are A Smart
Person. Make sure that all students do the journal writing exercise, Fun Things That I May Do
After School Today.
5. Engage your class in a brief discussion of whether animals such as cats, dogs, dolphins, or
whales can plan alternative activities that they might carry out later in the day. How would one
design an experiment to test this aspect of smartness?
6. Display Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 3: Ways Of Getting Smarter. Engage your class in a
brainstorming session on ways to get smarter.
7. Have students read the remainder of chapter 2 and do activities 1, 2, 5 and 6 at the end of the
chapter.
8. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to read chapter 2 and to continue making regular use of their journals. Students are
to do activity 5 and 6 at the end of chapter 2.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
Preface LP1 Page 42
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half contributed in the whole class brainstorming
activities.
All students successfully completed the quiz at the beginning of chapter 2.
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage student to think about how one might test how smart an ant or a fly is. Perhaps they
might want to ask their science teacher this question.
Notes
Smartness, as defined in this chapter, is only partially related to intelligence. Intelligence and
ways to measure intelligence are a very complex topic. There is now considerable agreement that
intelligence can be increased. In recent years Howard Gardner (1983) and Robert Sternberg (1988)
have written quite readable books on intelligence that capture many of the key and controversial
ideas.
Preface LP1 Page 43
LP5: Chapter 2 Metacognition on Solving Easy and
Hard Problems
Primary Goals
1. Students will increase their skill at metacognition.
2. Students will learn to recognize some of the characteristics that make a problem relatively easy
or relatively difficult for them.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read chapter 2 and are comfortable in doing journal
writing activities.
2. (Specific) Students understand that a useful definition of "smartness" is the ability to
understand and solve the types of problems that one encounters.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. It can be extended to two periods by
allowing more time for class discussions and assigning more of the activities at the end of the
chapter.
Glossary
Key vocabulary and expressions from chapter 2 include:
easy (to solve) problem
hard (to solve) problem
metacognition
smart person
think
Objectives
1. Students will participate in a whole-class discussion on different kinds of problems that they
encounter in school and outside of school.
2. Students will list important problems that they find easy to solve.
3. Students will list types of problems that they find difficult to solve.
Preface LP1 Page 44
4. Students will practice metacognition on what makes problems particularly easy or hard for
them.
Description
Background
Research on problem solving indicates that the difficulty of a problem is highly dependent on
the problem solver. A problem might be very easy for one person and very difficult for another,
even though both have relatively similar intellectual abilities and education.
Through careful metacognition, a student can come to recognize his or her strengths and
weaknesses as a problem solver. This provides useful information in getting better at solving
problems.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall what
they feel is a very important idea from the previous lesson from Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Provide a long wait time. Some students will page back through their journals or
look in their textbook. That is okay. Then accept several students' responses. This approach to
starting a class can be used throughout the course. Its purpose is to get students started thinking
about what they have been learning and are learning.
2. (For comic relief.) Display Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 4: How To Measure The
Smartness Of A Flea. Have each person in the class write down two or more ways to tell if one
flea is smarter than another. Suggest that it is okay that the ideas be humorous. Allow about two
minutes of writing time. Then call on students at random, soliciting one idea from each student
you call on.
3. Debrief the flea activity. Point out that it may be quite difficult to solve the problem of whether
one flea is smarter than another flea. A researcher might spend years on such a problem.
4. Display Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 5: What Makes A Problem Easy. Do a whole class
brainstorming on what makes a problem easy. Be aware that some students may think that a
particular types of problem is easy while others think it is hard. You might ask for a show of
hands on each type of problem that is names. Students can vote for "easy" or "not so easy."
5. Have students do the journal writing activities Important Problems That Are Easy For Me, and
Practice In Metacognition from the text.
6. If time permits, do a whole class debrief on these journal writing activities. The goals are to add
to the list complied above on What Makes A Problem Easy and to help class members discover
that a problem may be easy for one person and difficult for another, or vice versa.
7. Assign activities 3, 4, 7, and 8 from the end of the chapter as work to be done in class or outside
of class. Tell students that this is a required assignment to be turned in at the beginning of the
next class meeting.
8. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and activities. You may want to make use of Chapter 2
Overhead Transparency 6: Chapter 2 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that they
felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole class, in
small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to do activities 3, 4, 7, and 8 at the end of chapter 2 Students are to turn these in at
the beginning of the next class meeting.
Preface LP1 Page 45
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students made written notes on possible answers to the discussion questions raised in
class.
All students spent time in class and outside of class working on the assignment.
Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage your students to ask other people for examples of hard problems. For example, they
might ask other students, teachers, siblings, or their parents for examples of problems that they find
hard to solve.
Notes
One of the things that makes a problem hard to solve is that it is unfamiliar. Research on
problem solving indicates that one needs a great deal of domain specific knowledgethat is,
knowledge of the particular subject areas the problem concernsin order to be good at solving a
particular type of problem. If you are going to be good at solving math problems, you will need to
learn a great deal of mathematics.
Researchers and writers in the field of problem solving argue among themselves about how
much problem solving depends on domain specific knowledge and skill, and how much one can
transfer knowledge and skill across different problem domains.
Additional Activities For Chapter 2
1. Researchers in artificial intelligence have been working for many years to develop computer
programs that are very good at playing chess. At first these programs were not very good. But
gradually they have gotten better and better. Now, the best computer chess program is ranked in
the top 500 chess players in the whole world.
What are your feelings about this type of computer program? Do you think it is fair for this
program to compete in chess tournaments with humans? Suppose that a better program is
written, so the computer never loses? Would people still want to learn to play chess?
This same type of question can be raised about other machines. A fast sports car can accelerate
from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just a few seconds. No human will ever be able to run 60 miles
per hour. But we still have track meets.
2. This activity requires having enough calculators for about half of the class. It is a teacher-
facilitated activity. Divide the class into two groups. One group gets to use calculators and the
other does not. Now give the class a test consisting of a variety of multiplication and division
problems that can be done on a calculator. Make sure that many of the numbers have quite a
few digits in them, so that it would take a long time to do one of the calculations by hand. Tell
the students it is a timed test, so they are to work quickly, but accurately.
Preface LP1 Page 46
Watch them as they work. As soon as a couple of the calculator group seem to have finished the
whole test, call "time." Read off the answers, and let each person grade their own paper. Gather
some statistics about the average number of correct answers from each group. Use this to start a
class discussion on whether it is fair to use calculators. You might ask whether it is fair for the
math teacher to not allow calculators on tests and in doing homework.
This activity gets at a critical issue. Many students believe that it is cheating to use a calculator.
(But most adults own and use calculators!) Is it cheating to use an elevator instead of walking
up and down the stairs? Is it cheating to use a car or a bicycle instead of walking? Why is it
cheating to make use of a calculator?
Many students who feel it is cheating to use a calculator do not think it is cheating to use a
computer. What are the similarities and differences? Very small, easily portable, computers are
now being made. Some look just like a calculator. Is there really a difference between a
calculator and a computer? Suppose every person owned their own personal computer that they
could carry with themselves all of the time. Then would it be cheating to use a calculator or a
computer?
3. Pick a piece of software designed to solve some category of problem. For example, pick software
designed to draw a graph of data. Demonstrate it to the class. If time permits, have a contest
between the computer and several students you know who are very good at solving the problem
by hand.
Use this for a class discussion just as in 2. above. You are raising the questions: If a computer
can solve or help solve a problem, what should students learn about solving that kind of
problem?
4. In 1966 Joseph Weizenbaum, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
published a paper describing ELIZA, a computer program that could carry on a conversation
with a person. This program has been rewritten many times and many different versions now
exist. Most likely you can find a public domain version of the program that will run on the type
of computers available to your students. Students of all ages enjoy carrying on a conversation
with a computer. Let your students play with this program. Use this experience as a lead in to
discussing whether a machine can be smart.
5. In 1950 Alan Turing published a test for measuring whether a machine is intelligent. It is an
imitation game. A computer program is written that attempts to pretend that it is a human.
People in one room communicate via computer terminals to the computer and a person located
in another room. The people ask questions of the human and the machine, attempting to tell
which is which from the answers.
A variation of this game is to place a boy and a girl in a room, and to communicate with them via
computer terminal or typed messages. One of the two attempts to "imitate" being of the
opposite sex in terms of how he or she answers questions submitted by people in the other
room. The goal of the people asking questions is to attempt to tell which is the boy and which is
the girl.
The question of what constitutes intelligence is interesting and difficult. It can lead to lively
class discussions. Some of the discussion may focus on robots in movies or television.
Preface LP1 Page 47
Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 1:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
The ability to think before you act is very important in
solving problems. Most people are good at considering
alternatives. This chapter is about:
What does it mean to be 'smart?'
Thinking about your own thinking.
Thinking about what kinds of problems are easy
for you.
Preface LP1 Page 48
Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 2:
What Does It Mean To Be Smart?
A person is smart if they:
1. Are good at dealing with people.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Preface LP1 Page 49
Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 3: Ways
Of Getting Smarter
1. Spend time talking to smart people.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Preface LP1 Page 50
Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 4:
How To Measure The Smartness Of A Flea
1. Place it midway between a cat wearing a flea collar and
one not wearing a flea collar. See which way it goes.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Preface LP1 Page 51
Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 5:
What Makes A Problem Easy?
A problem is easy if:
1. You have solved it many times before.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Preface LP1 Page 52
Chapter 2 Overhead Transparency 6:
Chapter 2 Summary
CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY
Metacognitionthinking about thinkingis very
important. You can think about your own thinking.
This is one way to get better at solving problems. Some
other key ideas in this chapter include:
1. You know some types of problems that you are good
at solving.
2. You can think about why some problems are easier
for you than other problems.
Preface LP1 Page 53
LP6 - LP7 Chapter 3: What Is A Problem?
Rationale and Overview.
There is a considerable amount of research literature on problem solving. A brief summary of
the findings includes:
1. One needs to know a lot about the specific subject matter of a problem domain in order to be
good at solving the problems in that domain. Being good at solving chess problems does not
automatically make one good at solving interpersonal problems or problems in other domains.
2. There is some transfer of problem solving knowledge and skills from one domain to another.
This can be increased by appropriate instruction and practice.
3. Transfer of problem-solving skills between domains is enhanced by having a good working
vocabulary to talk about problem solving and by metacognition.
Much of the design of Getting Smarter At Solving Problems focuses on the above ideas.
Chapter 3 addresses the issue of, "What is a problem?" It gives a formal, four-part definition of the
word "problem." It talks about problem-like situations that have some of the characteristics of a
formal problem but lack one or more of the four parts in the formal definition.
A good working knowledge of a formal definition of "problem" is useful in addressing
problems from many different domains. This is because one of the most important steps in problem
solving is, "Understand the problem." What does it mean to understand a problem? Part of what it
means is to work to have a clearly defined problemthat is, one in which all four parts of the
definition are clearly identified. Thus, a student can get better at solving problems by memorizing
the four-part definition and by developing skill in using this definition in a wide variety of settings.
(A good memory is a good aid to problem solving and to getting better at solving problems.
However, it takes more than good memorization skills to be good at solving problems.)
A key component in the four-part definition is "ownership." Ownership leads to involvement, to
an investment of time and energy, to persistence.
The idea of ownership raises important educational questions. Many students have little or no
interest in the types of problem situations that are posed by teachers and/or school textbooks. The
problem situations seem totally unrelated to their current lives and interests. Thus, the students do
not accept any ownership of these problem situations. The problem situations do not become
problems for the students. Sometimes the students make a half hearted effort to address the
problem situation, and other times they ignore it completely. Threats of poor grades do little to
alleviate the situation.
The key point is, without ownership, there is no problem. Good teachers are good at
helping to provide students with problem situations that are both relevant to the curriculum and
relevant to the students. These are problem situations where students are likely to build ownership.
One approach is to help students to learn to pose their own problems. Problem posing is
developing as an important part of the overall field of problem solving. Initially you will likely find
that your students have difficulty in posing problems that require higher-order thinking skills. Give
them lots of encouragement as they begin to make progress in this endeavor.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
The computer is a tool that is designed to help solve problems. Every computer literacy course
should have problem solving as a central focus. The emphasis may be on exploring the types of
problems that computers help create, such as in a computers and society course. (Note that we did
not have computer crime before we had computers. Computers have contributed significantly to the
Preface LP1 Page 54
problem of "Big brother is watching you." Or, the focus may be on actually learning to make use of
the computer as an aid to solving specific types of problems.
In either case, problem posing is important. Name some of the problems that computers are
creating. Name some problems that can be solved using a particular software application package.
Name some problems that can be solved using a particular level of programming skill in a particular
programming language.
Here are a few examples of types of questions you can explore with your class that will help
relate the chapter 3 materials to several general types of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. Select a specific computer application, such as a database. What problems is it designed to
help solve? Give examples of problems both in school and outside of school where the
computer application is useful to you personally. Make sure that these are clearly defined
problems, with all four components of each problem being clearly specified. (This relates
to clearly defined problems, ownership, and problem posing.)
B. Suppose that you are familiar with several different pieces of generic applications
software, such as a word processor, database, and graphics package. Pose a problem that
is more effectively addressed by use of a combination of two or more of these pieces of
software than by any one individually.
C. Of the generic application packages that you have studied, which is the most fun to use?
Why? (This relates to ownership.)
2. Computer programming.
A. What is "fun" about learning to write computer programs? Compare and contrast with the
level of "funness" of learning other courses or developing other skills.
B. What makes a computer programming problem particularly hard? What makes a
computer programming problem relatively easy? When is it appropriate for students to
pose their own "homework" programming problems?
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. Does the four-part definition of "problem" given in this chapter apply equally well to all
disciplines? Or, does it mainly favor technology-oriented problems that can be addressed
by use of a computer?
B. What can students and teachers do to help increase student ownership of the types of
problems that are deemed appropriate for students to study?
Preface LP1 Page 55
LP6: Chapter 3 Formal Definition of the Word
'Problem'
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn a formal, four-part definition of "problem."
2. Students will learn to identify the missing components in a problem situation that keep it from
being a clearly-defined problem.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read chapter 2 and have an intuitive understanding of
ideas such as learning to learn, problem solving, and higher-order thinking skills. Students can
give examples of personally relevant problems that occur both in school and outside of school.
2. (Specific) Students understand that smartness is being able to solve the types of problems that
they encounter in school and outside of school..
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in the Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. Allow students 15-20 minutes to read
chapter 3: What Is A Problem?. The Teacher's Manual contains two lessons based on this chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 3 contains a much larger list of terms than the
previous chapters. Be aware that most students cannot easily assimilate such a large list of new
terms in a single class period. You will want to emphasize use of this vocabulary throughout the
remainder of the course.
clearly-defined problem
computer program
cooperative learning
given initial situation
goal
ownership
Preface LP1 Page 56
poorly-defined problem
problem
problem posing
problem situation
resources and restrictions
Objectives
1. Students will participate in a whole class discussion focusing on "Alternatives" in some
problem situations that the teacher displays using the overhead projector.
2. Students will do the journal writing activity, My Definition Of Problem.
3. Students will pose clearly-defined problems from a given problem situation.
Description
Background
A clearly-defined problem has clearly defined Givens, Goal, Resources and Restrictions, and
Ownership. A problem-like situation that has some but not all of these clearly defined components
is called a problem situation. The process of moving from a problem situation to a clearly-defined
problem is one aspect of problem posing. It is important that students memorize and internalize the
four-part definition of a clearly-defined problem. It is important that students develop skill in
recognizing when they are faced by a problem situation and that they gain increased skill in posing
clearly-defined problems from a problem situation.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall what
they feel is a very important idea from the previous lesson from Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Provide a long wait time. Then accept several students' responses.
2. Display Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 1: Organize Your Thinking. Use this as an advance
organizer for the lesson.
3. Display Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 2: Alternatives. Facilitate a whole class
brainstorming on this topic. Continue until students have provided you with a reasonably long
list of ideas. Do not be judgmental. The goal is to help your students realize that there may be
many different goals or possible courses of action that arise from a problem situation.
Remember that you may want to use small groups and cooperative learning techniques to
approach this discussion topic.
4. Display Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 3: Alternatives. Facilitate a whole class
brainstorming on this topic. Continue until students have provided you with a reasonably long
list of ideas. Do not be judgmental. The goal is to help your students realize that there may be
many different goals or possible courses of action that arise from a problem situation.
5. Have your students spend a few of minutes reading the first part of chapter 3: What Is A
Problem? Make sure that all students do the journal writing exercise, My Definition Of
Problem. Give students enough time so that most of them read through the Halloween Costume
Day At School example in the chapter.
6. Display Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 4: Four-Part Definition Of A Problem. Discuss the
four parts, illustrating from the Halloween Costume Day example. Point out that there is a
difference between having a clearly-defined problem and solving the problem. Getting a clearly-
Preface LP1 Page 57
defined problem is often a first step in working to solve a problem. However, there are many
clearly defined problems that have no solution.
7. Display Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 5: Brainstorming. Have your class do brainstorming
on what is brainstorming. (Note that they are doing metabrainstorming.)
8. As time permits, have your students continue reading chapter 3. Assign activity 1 at the end of
the chapter.
9. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings.. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to read chapter 3 and to continue making regular use of their journals. Students are
to do activity 1 at the end of chapter 3.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least contributed in the whole class brainstorming activities..
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
Have students pay attention to how people use the word 'problem." Look for examples where
people actually mean problem situation rather than clearly-defined problem.
Notes
Problem solving is an important component of every course that your students are taking. Some
teachers are quite explicit about teaching problem solving, while others do not even mention the
word 'problem.' You want your students to become aware of these differences and to ask their
teachers, "Why?" You want them to ask, "What are the main problems that you are teaching us how
to solve? Are these clearly-defined problems? "
These types of questions are often quite challenging. You may want to spend some time
discussing them with your fellow teachers. Warn them that some of your students will be raising
these types of questions in their classes.
Preface LP1 Page 58
LP7: Chapter 3 Posing Clearly-Defined Problems
Primary Goals
1. Students will increase their skill at brainstorming in small groups..
2. Students will increase their skill in developing clearly-defined problems from problem
situations.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read chapter 3 are used to participating in whole class
brainstorming sessions..
2. (Specific) Students have memorized the four-part definition of problem.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. It can be extended to two periods by
allowing more time for class discussions and assigning more of the activities at the end of the
chapter.
Glossary
Key vocabulary and expressions from chapter 3 include:
clearly-defined problem
computer program
cooperative learning
given initial situation
goal
ownership
poorly-defined problem
problem
problem posing
problem situation
resources and restrictions
Preface LP1 Page 59
Objectives
1. Students will participate in a small group brainstorming session.
2. Students will use the vocabulary Givens, Goal, Resources and Restrictions, and Ownership in
their speaking and writing.
3. Students will pose a variety of possible relevant goals when they encounter a problem situation
that lacks a clearly-defined goal.
Description
Background
Problem solving is a human endeavor. Humans create and solve problems. One of the main
goals of school is to help students gain increased skill at creating and solving a wide range of
problems.
Quite often a problem situation will lack both a clear Goal and clearly defined Resources and
Restrictions. Brainstorming individually, in small groups, and in large groups is a powerful strategy
for addressing this situation. All students can get better at this type of brainstorming by study and
practice.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall what
they feel is a very important idea from the previous lesson from Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Provide a long wait time. Some students will page back through their journals or
look in their textbook. That is okay. Then accept several students' responses. This approach to
starting a class can be used throughout the course. Its purpose is to get students started thinking
about what they have been learning and are learning.
2. Display Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 5: Brainstorming. Do a whole class brainstorming
on, "What is brainstorming?" and "Good ways to do brainstorming." The goal is to come up
with a number of approaches to brainstorming. Point out that brainstorming is a strategya
way to approach certain types of problems. It is not guaranteed to work and it is not relevant in
every possible problem situation. But it is fairly useful in many different problem situations.
3. Divide the class into groups of three or four for an individual and small group brainstorming
activity. The topic is from the text:
Pat's social studies teacher is talking about drunk driving. The teacher says, "Last year in this
country about 25,000 people died because of drunk drivers." Pat thinks about her older brother's
friend who drinks and drives. She feels scared.
First each person in the group is to do individual brainstorming on possible goals that Pat might
set. Then share in a small group brainstorming. The whole exercise should be completed in
about 10 minutes.
4. Debrief this exercise with the whole class. What worked, and what didn't work? What "ground
rules" are needed within the groups to make the brainstorming proceed more smoothly and/or
be more effective?
5. Using the same small groups, each group is to decide on a specific goal that Pat should work
on. Then the small group is do a group brainstorming on Resources and Restrictions that Pat
faces in attempting to achieve this goal.
6. Use Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 6: Possible Goals For Pat to make a list of the goals that
the different small groups selected. Briefly discuss similarities and differences. Emphasis
differencesthe same problem situation may lead to many different goals being set. Ask your
Preface LP1 Page 60
class for "real world" examples of this. Have one or two in mind, in case they need some
prompting. For example, perhaps the school lunchroom is quite noisy during lunch time. One
group of people might set a goal of having all students sit quietly while they eat. Another group
might set a goal of curbing the loudness of the small number of students making the most
noise. Still another group might set a goal of allowing students to eat lunch off campus if they
wantthereby decreasing the number of people making noise in the lunchroom.
7. If time permits, have the same small groups work together on Brainstorming About Too Much
Homework, which is an activity at the end of chapter 3 in the text.
8. Assign students activities 3, 4, 7, and 8 from the end of chapter 3.
9. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and activities. You may want to make use of Chapter 3
Overhead Transparency 7: Chapter 3 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that they
felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole class, in
small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level. This type of closing
activity can be used at the end of any class period.
Student Activities
Students are to do activities 3, 4, 7, and 8 at the end of chapter 3 Students are to turn these in at
the beginning of the next class meeting.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students made written notes on possible answers to the discussion questions raised in
class.
All students spent time in class and outside of class working on the assignment.
Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage your students to find examples of problem situations where different groups of
people have decided on different goals. Tell them that you will be asking for examples at the
beginning of the next lesson on problem solving. A good source of examples can be found in the
area of environmental issues.
Notes
The development of clearly-defined problems from problem situations is one of the most
important ideas in problem solving. Different people will develop different problems from the same
situation. A key aspect of a democratic society is that this can occur, and that the different groups
are free to pursue their own particular aims. Free and open debate on the differing points of view
Preface LP1 Page 61
(different Goals, different applicable Resources and Rules) is critical. The ideas from chapter 3 are
quite suitable for use in a social studies course.
Additional Activities For Chapter 3
1. Problem posing is very important. Many leaders are good at problem posing. They can think of
problems that are important to solve. They can think of problems that many people want to have
solved. They can organize people to work together in solving these problems.
This is a journal exercise. Do it for the next three days. Each day, in each class you are taking,
pose a problem. Write it in your journal. The problem should relate to the class material you are
studying. It should be important to you. It should be important to other people.
There is growing awareness of the importance of problem posing. Many colleges give courses
on problem solving. It is only in recent years that some colleges have also begun to give courses
on problem posing.
2. Here is a good way for you and a friend to work together to study for a test. Take turns making
up problems for each other. Make up a problem that you know that you can solve. See if your
friend can solve it. You may need to help your friend to solve the problem. That will help you.
You can learn a lot by explaining things to someone else.
This type of activity can be used in any course. One way to use it is in small groups. Each
person in the group makes up a problem that they think is important and that is related to the
material being studied. Then the whole group gets a chance to discuss and to try to solve each
of the problems.
This type of exercise is quite challenging and valuable. Initially, the students will all make up
rather simple "fact-oriented" questions. They have been exposed to this type of question
throughout their schooling. They may not have any idea of what constitutes a problem in social
studies, in language arts, or in art.
A variation on this activity is to give students a test to look at. What parts of the test are lower-
order skill, "memorized fact" types of questions? What parts of the test require more careful
thinking or problem solving? Research indicates that students rather quickly adapt to the type of
tests that a teacher gives. If you want your students to get better at problem solving, give them
tests that focus on higher-order thinking skills and problem solving. Research also indicates
that most teacher-made tests focus almost exclusively on lower-order skills.
Preface LP1 Page 62
Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 1:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
This chapter contains a four-part definition of the word
'problem.' This definition is used throughout the rest of
the book. A starting point in solving a problem is to
gain a clear statement of the problem. This chapter will
give you practice in:
Metacognition, to understand the meaning of
'problem.'
How to deal with problem situations that are not
clearly defined problems.
Brainstorming, a useful strategy in dealing with
problem situations.
Preface LP1 Page 63
Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 2:
Alternatives
Pat wakes up in the morning and remembers that it is a
school day. Pat thinks, "Most of my clothes are dirty. What
shall I do?"
1. Resolve to plan ahead next time.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Preface LP1 Page 64
Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 3:
Alternatives
At breakfast, the television set is on. Pat hears the
announcer talking about an African country. "The situation
is grave. It is reported that 5,000 children are starving." Pat
finds that it is hard to eat while thinking about these
starving children.
1. Find out more about the African country.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Preface LP1 Page 65
Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 4:
Four-Part Definition Of A Problem
1. Givens. There is a given beginning situation. This is a
description of how things are, what is happening, what is
known, and so on.
2. Goal. There is a desired final situation. This is a
description of how you want things to be. What do you want
to accomplish?
3. Resources and Restrictions. What types of things can
you do that might help you achieve the goal? What
resources do you have? Resources include skills, knowledge,
time, energy, materials, machines, money, and so on.
What are the restrictions and rules that you must follow in
working to solve the problem? Often these are not written
down, but you know them. For example, YOU SHOULD
NOT BREAK THE LAW. In taking a test, DO YOUR
OWN WORK.
4. Ownershipimportance to you. In order for something
to be a problem for you, you must have some interest in
solving it. You must accept some ownership.
Preface LP1 Page 66
Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 5:
Brainstorming.
What is brainstorming? What are good ways to do it?
1. People take turns providing ideas.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Preface LP1 Page 67
Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 6:
Possible Goals For Pat
1. Share her feelings with her older brother.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Preface LP1 Page 68
Chapter 3 Overhead Transparency 7:
Chapter 3 Summary
CHAPTER 3 SUMMARY
A problem has four parts: Givens, Goal, Resources and
Restrictions, and Ownership. A problem is said to be
clearly-defined if the Givens, Goal, and Resources and
Restrictions are all quite clear.
Most problem situations are not clearly-defined
problems. This is especially true of real world problem
situations. It can take a lot of thinking to get a clearly-
defined problem from a problem situation.
Brainstorming is often a useful strategy in this thinking
process.
If a problem is clearly defined, then it can be
communicated to others. This allows groups of people to
work together to solve the problem.
Preface LP1 Page 69
LP8 - LP9 Chapter 4: A Four-Step Plan For
Solving A Problem
Rationale and Overview.
Chapter 3 provided a careful definition of the word "problem." It seems as though many
people believe that any problem that can be named can be solved. How many times have you heard
statements such as the following: "If we can land a man on the moon and successfully return him to
earth, why can't we properly educate our children, clean up our cities, and end poverty? A question
like this strongly suggests that if we can name the problem (for example, "properly educate our
children") then we should be able to solve it.
Based on the definitions in chapter 3, you recognize that "properly educate our children" is a
problem situation rather than a clearly-defined problem. It is a goal, and it is not even a clearly-
defined goal. One way to answer the person who raises this question is to ask, "What do you
mean by 'properly educate our children?'" This will likely lead to a heated debate, and eventually the
problem situation may be resolved into a clearly-defined problem.
Even then, however, there is no guarantee that the clearly-defined problem can be solved. There
are lots of clearly-defined problems that have no solution. This means that no matter how long and
hard a person works on these problems, they will never be solved.
The concept of an unsolvable problem is very important. The real world is full of unsolvable
problems. However, school tends to only present students with problems that are solvable. Indeed,
the problems that students encounter in their courses can often be solved just using the ideas that
they are currently studying in the course that presents the problem. Typically such problems do not
require much in the way of synthesis of ideas and methods from previous or other courses.
This suggests two important tasks that you should be working on throughout this course.
1. Help all of your students to understand that there are many unsolvable problems.
2. Help your students to gain some coping strategies for when they encounter
problems that are unsolvable or that are sufficiently difficult that in your students'
eyes they appear to be unsolvable.
The first task can be accomplished by providing lots of examples and by helping your students
learn to create their own examples. Eventually some of your students will take delight in posing
unsolvable problems to their teachers and other people.
The second task is harder, partly because it is usually quite difficult to determine that a problem
is unsolvable. A problem may be merely very difficult to solve or it may be well beyond one's
current problem-solving abilities. There are lots of ways to cope with unsolvable problems. One
very good way is to create a new problem that is closely related to the original one, but which is
solvable. This approach is also useful with problems that are very difficult or are beyond one's
current problem-solving abilities.
This chapter focuses on two general approaches to getting better at solving problems:
1. Learn some general ways to attack problems. This chapter gives a four-step plan
that is useful in attacking a wide range of problems. (Chapter 5 gives some other
general-purpose methods for attacking problems.)
2. Learn to build on the work of other people. Each subject you study in school
consists of some of the work of other people. Each subject has already been
studied for many years by experts in that field. The experts have picked out
Preface LP1 Page 70
some of the most important ideas. When you learn these ideas, you are building
on the work of these experts.
The first lesson plan for this chapter focuses on the idea of an unsolvable problem and a general
purpose four-step plan that can be used to attempt to get started in solving almost any problem. The
second lesson plan focuses on learning to build on the previous work of oneself and others.
Computers can be very useful in this approach to problem solving.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
A computer literate student should have a good understanding of the capabilities and limitations
of computers. The student should know when a computer is apt to be a useful aid in solving a
problem and when it is apt not to be useful. The student should know that a computer is not a magic
"brain" that can solve all problems.
Here are a few examples of types of questions you can explore with your class that will help
relate the chapter 4 materials to several general types of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. Select a specific computer application, such as a database. What problems is the database
designed to help solve? Make up a sequence of questions that cannot be answered by use
of the database. (Think of these as problems that cannot be solved when the Restrictions
are that you can only make use of the data in the database.)
B. Take a look at some graphics software that includes a library of clip art as well as some
powerful aids to drawing. In what sense does such an applications package help you to
build on previous work of others? In what sense does it help you to build on your own
previous work? Are there graphic problems that cannot be solved by use of this
application package?
C. Give students a writing assignment to be done on a word processor. After the assignment
is completed, give them another assignment requiring modification and extension of the
first paper. They are building on their previous work, making use of a word processor to
simplify the overall effort.
2. Computer programming.
A. When you are writing a computer program in a language such as Logo or BASIC, in what
sense are you building on the previous work of others? (Keep in mind that you are
making use of a sophisticated operating system as well as a language compiler or
interpreter.)
B. An excellent sequence of programming assignments can be based on having students
solve a sequence of problems, each being a relatively modest variation or extension on the
previous one. If a student's solution to the first of the problems is a carefully written, fully
documented, and well modularized program, then this solution can easily be modified to
solve the second and subsequent problems. This type of sequence of assignments
provides an excellent illustration of learning to do one's own work so that one can later
build on it.
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. Does the four-part strategy for attacking a problem that is given in this chapter apply
equally well to all disciplines? Or, does it mainly favor technology-oriented problems that
can be addressed by use of a computer?
B. Are most clearly defined real world problems solvable? Or, are most such problems
unsolvable?
Preface LP1 Page 71
C. Does technology (such as computers) create more problems than it helps solve?
Preface LP1 Page 72
LP8: Chapter 4 Attacking Hard Problems
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn a four-step strategy that can be used to attack most problems.
2. Students will learn some strategies for dealing with problems that they perceive to be very
difficult or perhaps unsolvable.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students can give examples of personally relevant problem
situations and problems that occur both in school and outside of school. Students recognize that
ownership is an important part of the definition of problem, and students can recognize their
own level of interest, ownership, desire to reach the goal, etc. in a problem situation.
2. (Specific) Students have a working knowledge of a formal definition of the word "problem."
They have developed an initial level of skill in recognizing when a problem situation is not a
clearly-defined problem.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. Allow students 15-20 minutes to read
chapter 4: A Four-Step Plan For Solving A Problem. The Teacher's Manual contains two lessons
based on this chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 4 contains only two new terms:
four-step plan for solving a problem
unsolvable problem
Remember that chapter 3 contains a lot of new vocabulary. Give your students additional
practice in using these terms from chapter 3.
clearly-defined problem
computer program
cooperative learning
given initial situation
Preface LP1 Page 73
goal
ownership
poorly-defined problem
problem
problem posing
problem situation
resources and restrictions
Objectives
1. Students will participate in a whole class discussion focusing on unsolvable problems that the
teacher poses.
2. Students will create their own examples of unsolvable problems and will participate in a whole
class brainstorming session to create a list of unsolvable problems.
3. Students will practice using a four-step strategy that can be used to get started in attacking
almost any problem.
Description
Background
A clearly-defined problem has clearly defined Givens, Goal, Resources and Restrictions, and
Ownership. There are two major difficulties that students encounter in dealing with problem solving
situations. First, the situation is usually not a clearly-defined problem. Second, many clearly-
defined problems are unsolvable or are beyond the capability of the student.
The four-step plan discussed in chapter 4 can be traced back to the work of George Polya
(1957). It consists of:
1. Understand the problem.
2. Devise a plan of action.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Check to see if the problem is solved.
This plan allows one to begin to approach almost any problem, whether it is solvable or not. If
students apply it conscientiously and fail to solve a problem, they should then switch into a mode of
what to do when a problem may be unsolvable or too difficult for their current level of knowledge
and problem-solving skills. In this mode the task may become one of posing a simpler, but closely
related problem.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall what
they feel is a very important idea from the previous lesson from Getting Smarter at Solving
Problems. Provide a long wait time. Then accept several students' responses.
2. Ask students whether they feel that every clearly-defined problem can be solved. Let them think
about this for a minute, making arguments in their heads. (If time permits, small group
discussions leading to consensus building can be used here.) Then have the class vote yes or no
on this question by a show of hands.
Preface LP1 Page 74
3. Use the vote to promote some discussion on whether every clearly-defined problem is solvable.
Encourage one or two students to give an example of a clearly-defined problem that is not
solvable.
4. Have students spend several minutes writing examples in their journals of clearly-defined
problems that are not solvable. Then use Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 1:Unsolvable
Problems to do a whole class brainstorming to gather additional examples of unsolvable
problems. For each problem that is posed, guide students through a quick mental check of
whether the problem has clearly specified Givens, Goal, and Resources/Restrictions. What is
there about a problem that makes it unsolvable?
5. Display Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 2: Organize Your Thinking. Use this as an advance
organizer for the remainder of the lesson.
6. Give students approximately 15 minutes to read the first part of chapter 4 and to do the journal
writing exercise on THE PROBLEM OF A MESSY ROOM.
7. Use Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 3: A Four-Step Plan to discuss the four-step plan for
attacking a problem. Place considerable emphasis on helping students learn to detect where or
when they are not able to carry out the steps of the plan. How can one tell when one cannot
solve a problem? When should one stop working on a problem, or redefine the problem to be
more tractable?
8. Engage students in a whole class discussion of how one can tell whether a problem is
unsolvable or beyond one's current capabilities. Remember that persistence is a very important
part of being good at solving problems. However, unthinking persistence could lead to spending
a lifetime stuck on a single unsolvable problem or a problem that is beyond one's capabilities.
9. Display Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 4: New Problems. Engage students in a whole class
brainstorming session to create examples where the steps taken to solve a problem created new
problems.
10. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings.. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to finish reading chapter 4 and to continue making regular use of their journals.
Students are to do activity 1 at the end of chapter 4.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words from this and previous chapters, and
provided positive reinforcement to students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; many contributed in the whole class brainstorming activities.
All students wrote in their journals.
Preface LP1 Page 75
Extensions and Follow-up
Have students look for examples of problems that are unsolvable. Have students ask their other
teachers for examples of problems that are very difficult to solve. The students should ask their
teachers how one can tell that a problem is very difficult to solve.
Notes
Problem solving is an important component of every course that your students are taking. Some
teachers are quite explicit about teaching problem solving, while others do not even mention the
word "problem." In many courses the only problems that are presented are ones that have solutions
and that can easily be solved using ideas from the course. You want your students to become aware
of this and to ask their teachers, "Why?" You want them to ask, "Why do we spend most of our
time dealing with relatively simple problems that are solvable? Why don't we spend more time
addressing harder problems that come from the real world and may not even have a solution?"
These types of questions are often quite challenging. You may want to spend some time
discussing them with your fellow teachers. Warn them that some of your students will be raising
these types of questions in their classes.
Preface LP1 Page 76
LP9: Chapter 4 Building On Previous Work
Primary Goals
1. Students will understand the importance of building on the previous work of themselves and
others when solving problems.
2. Students will understand that computers are an important aid to building on the previous work
of themselves and others, but there are many other important aids.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read the first four chapters of the textbook.
2. (Specific) Students have memorized the four-step plan that can be used to attack almost any
problem. They have a functional level of knowledge of the idea of a carefully defined problem
and some ideas on how to move from a problem situation to a carefully defined problem.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. There should be time for additional
discussion of ideas from the previous lessonparticularly on unsolvable problems and what one
does when they encounter problems that may be unsolvable or beyond one's current problem-
solving capabilities.
Glossary
Key vocabulary and expressions from chapter 4 include:
four-step plan for solving a problem
unsolvable problem
Objectives
1. Students will give examples of when they are building on previous work of themselves in
solving problems.
2. Students will give examples of when they are building on previous work of others in solving
problems.
3. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the importance of reading, writing, arithmetic,
speaking, and listening in the curriculum from the point of view of problem solving by building
on the previous work of others.
Preface LP1 Page 77
Description
Background
Probably the single most important idea in problem solving is to learn to build on previous
work of oneself and others. Don't repeatedly reinvent the wheel! (However, it is important to keep in
mind that reinventing the wheel can be a very useful learning exercise. Such learning exercises help
one learn to be inventive. Discovery based education is a powerful approach to education.)
The basics of educationreading, writing, arithmetic, speaking, listening, etc.are "basic"
because they help one to build on the previous work of oneself and others. The computer is a
powerful aid to building on previous work of oneself and others. It brings a new dimension to
problem solving, and it poses a very difficult question for educators.
If a computer can solve or help solve a type of problem that we want students to learn about in
school, what should we have students learn about solving this type of problem?
A question like this has no easy answer. However, it seems clear that students have the right to
know that computers are useful in solving the types of problems that they are studying in school.
They have a right to learn the capabilities and limitations of computers as an aid to problem solving.
Many educational leaders recommend that we stop teaching students to compete with computers in
areas where computers are particularly useful. Instead, we should teach students to make use of
computers in these areas. Perhaps one goal of computer literacy education should be to
help students learn enough about computers so they can answer this question for
themselves.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall what
they feel is one of the most important ideas that they have learned so far from Getting Smarter
at Solving Problems. Provide a long wait time. Some students will page back through their
journals or look in their textbook. That is okay. Then accept several students' responses.
2. Ask if anyone has come up with additional good examples of unsolvable problems, or has
asked any of their teachers for an answer to an unsolvable problem. (Be especially supportive of
students who have asked other teachers for examples. It is important that all teachers be
involved in helping their students get better at solving problems.)
3. Display Chapter 4 Overhead 5: Horses and Wheels. Have students write in their journals on
ways in which these two ideas are related. Each student is to make a list of several different
ways they are related. Debrief the exercise by having students share some of their ideas; record
using Overhead 5.
4. Display Chapter 4 Overhead 6: Don't Reinvent The Wheel. Do a whole class brainstorming on
why people often communicate in parables or maxims using expressions such as "Don't
reinvent the wheel." rather than more specifically saying what they mean. Keep bringing the
focus back to "Don't reinvent the wheel." A parable or maxim contains the essence of an
important idea. But each person hearing the parable or maxim must interpret its meaning in light
of their own world situation and the problems they are dealing with.
5. Display Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 7: The Basics Of Education. Do a whole class
discussion on how the basics relate to "Don't reinvent the wheel." Focus the discussion on the
idea that the "basics" are considered to be building blocks for helping to solve and helping to
learn to solve the full range of problems that one encounters in life.
6. Provide the class with time to do activity 2 at the end of chapter 4. In this activity students
practice communicating with each other on ideas that they feel are important in the course. You
want your students to gain increased ownership of the task of learning material from the course.
Preface LP1 Page 78
7. Provide the class with time to do activity 10 at the end of chapter 4. This focuses on how one
can tell if they have produced a correct solution to a problem. If time permits, do a whole class
debriefing on this activity. Likely the list of responses that students provide will give you an
indication that our current educational system does a poor job in helping students to become
self reliant problem solversable to provide feedback to themselves on the correctness of the
work they have done.
8.. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and activities. You may want to make use of Chapter 4
Overhead Transparency 8: Chapter 4 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that they
felt was particularly important. As time permits, these ideas can be shared by the whole class, in
small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to do activities 3,4, 5 and 6 at the end of chapter 4. Students are to turn these in at
the beginning of the next class meeting. (Explain that the tests items created in activities 3 and 4
need not be tried out on their fellow students.)
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students made written notes on possible answers to the discussion questions raised in
class.
All students spent time in class and outside of class working on the assignment.
Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage your students to keep thinking about how a person can tell if an answer they have
produced to a problem is a correct answer. Have them raise this question in the other classes they
are taking. Do some courses have more "right" answers than others?
Notes
The basics of education are very important. However, a good education is a balance between
learning basics and learning to think and solve problems using the basics. The proper balance point
varies from student to student. This means that students need to be involved for themselves in
discovering the balance points that are appropriate to them. The proper balance point will likely vary
from subject to subject.
The issue of "How do I know that the solution I have produced is correct?" is of utmost
importance. A good part of the answer lies in having a good understanding of the process leading to
a solution. Without such an understanding of the process, often one cannot have much confidence
in the outcome.
Preface LP1 Page 79
Additional Activities For Chapter 4
1. You know how to find the area of a square. There is a formula for it. The formula is:
A = s
2
A. Explain the meaning of the terms in this formula.
B. Do you think that a student in the first grade could understand your explanation?
This activity is designed to get students to think about the specialized notation and vocabulary
they encounter in the courses they take. It could be used as the basis for a class discussion. For
example, consider the formula for the surface area of a sphere.
A = 4!r
2
Some of the students in your class may not understand this notation. You can try to explain it to
them. Or, you can have those who do understand it explain it to those who do not.
2. The same type of activity can be done using the specialized vocabulary and notation from other
disciplines. One goal is to help students understand that they study a subject in order to learn
how to understand the problems in that subject. It is necessary to learn the vocabulary and
notation in a subject in order to communicate with the people and the reference books in that
subject. That is, the vocabulary and notation have resulted from previous work of others, and
one must learn them in order to build on that work.
3. Most real world problems do not fit nicely into one course area. To solve a real world problem,
you may need to use knowledge from lots of different subject areas. Give an example of:
A. A real world problem that involves both math and history.
B. A real world problem that involves both science and social studies.
C. A real world problem that involves both art and music.
This is a good class discussion activity. It can be done as a whole class brainstorming activity.
Notice that it raises a major challenge to our educational system. If most real world problems
are interdisciplinary, why is school organized along disciplinary lines? How can we expect
students to deal with interdisciplinary real world problems when schools virtually ignore these
problems?
This also brings up the topic of transfer of learning. You might begin to introduce the idea
of transfer here. A whole chapter is devoted to it later in the book. How does a student transfer
knowledge from school subjects to real world problems? What can be done in school to increase
transfer?
4. What happened to all of the dinosaurs that used to live on earth? There are many different
theories on this. Do some library research on this topic. Find different theories that explain
what happened to the dinosaurs. Which theory seems best to you? Why?
Library research is a very important part of problem solving. From very early on, students can
learn to "look it up." But it is important that students learn that many problems do not have just
one right answer. Many of the problems that people deal with involve values and honest
differences in opinion. Library research tasks should be open ended. They should be designed
to help develop ownership on the part of the student.
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Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 1:
Unsolvable Problems
1. Find two positive numbers whose sum is a negative
number.
2. Using the full resources of the planet earth, within the
next ten years build a spaceship that can travel a hundred
times the speed of light.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 2:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
How do you get started in solving a problem that you
don't know how to solve? One way is to get a clear
understanding of the problem. Then devise a plan of
action, carry out the plan of action, and check to see if
you have solved the problem.
Some other key ideas in problem solving include:
Don't reinvent the wheel. Make use of previous work
that you and others have done.
Each school subject focuses on how to solve the
problems of its subject area.
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Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 3:
A Four-Step Plan
1. Understand the Problem: This is a feeling and thinking
step. Often you begin with a problem situation. You work
on the problem situation to pose one or more clearly-defined
problems.
2. Devise a plan of action: This is a thinking step, often
done mentally, assisted by pencil and paper.
3. Carry out the plan of action: This is an action step, and
there is a chance of error in carrying out the actions. For
some plans of action, a computer can carry out the plan.
4. Examine and think about the results of your work. This
is a thinking and a values step, drawing on everything you
know. It has two parts:
A. Check to see if the problem is solved.
B. Check to see if new problems have been created.
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Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 4:
New Problems
1. Solving the problem of people needing good ground
transportation led to cars, air pollution from exhaust fumes,
and lots of people being killed in traffic accidents.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 4 Overhead 5:
Horses and Wheels
How are the following two statements related?
A. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make
it drink.
B. Don't reinvent the wheel.
1. Both are simple statements with deep meaning.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Chapter 4 Overhead 6:
"Don't Reinvent The Wheel"
Think of this as a very short maxim. What are some other
maxims?
1.
2.
3.
Why do we use maxims?
1.
2.
3.
Preface LP1 Page 86
Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 7:
The Basics Of Education
How do these relate to the ideas in "Don't reinvent the
wheel?"
1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Arithmetic
4. Speaking
5. Listening
Preface LP1 Page 87
Chapter 4 Overhead Transparency 8:
Chapter 4 Summary
CHAPTER 4 SUMMARY
Many problems can be solved by following a four-step
plan:
1. Understand the problem.
2. Devise a plan of action.
3. Carry out the plan of action.
4. Check the results.
In devising a plan of action, it is very helpful to build
on the things that you already know and the things that
other people know. School helps you to learn the things
that others have already discovered about solving
problems. Each school subject focuses on
understanding and solving problems in one particular
field.
Preface LP1 Page 88
LP10 - LP11 Chapter 5: Problem-Solving
Strategies
Rationale and Overview
Chapter 4 provides a general four-step plan (a strategy) that can be used to attack almost any
problem. It is certainly not guaranteed to succeed in producing a solution to any specific problem,
since many problems have no solution and many other problems are so hard that a person is not apt
to develop a solution.
Each academic discipline can be defined by the types of problems that it focuses on, its
collected results, its notation and vocabulary, its unsolved problems, its methodologies, and so on.
Each discipline has developed or adapted problem-solving methodologies that work well within that
discipline. That is, each discipline has developed strategies that are effective within that discipline.
The research on problem solving strongly suggests that there are few problem-solving strategies
that are useful across all disciplines. This research talks about roles of domain specificity in
problem solving. That is, to become good at solving the problems of a discipline, one needs a great
deal of knowledge about that discipline and the types of strategies used in that discipline.
However, there are some strategies that are useful over a wide range of disciplines. These can be
taught as part of almost any discipline, but taught in a manner that helps increase transfer of
learning. Every teacher has some responsibility to teach for transfer. Thus, all teachers have some
responsibility to help students explicitly understand the problem-solving strategies they are
teaching, and to help students transfer possible use of these strategies to other disciplines.
This chapter contains both a general discussion of strategies and specific instruction on several
strategies that have wide applicability. Breaking big problems into smaller problems is certainly a
widely applicable strategy. It is called the top-down strategy. Its success is dependent on eventually
breaking a problem down into doable tasks (primitives). The underlying concept of this approach is
that one can get better at solving problems by getting better at breaking big problems into smaller
problems and by increasing one's repertoire of primitives.
The bottom-up strategy begins with things that one knows how to do, and builds toward a goal
or builds toward creating a goal and then towards the goal one has created. One can get better at
problem solving by developing an increased list of primitives, and by getting better at putting them
together in a manner that one finds pleasing and/or in a manner that contributes to accomplishing a
task.
One reason that computers are so important is that they can provide one with primitives that are
easy to learn and easy to use. The square root key on a calculator provides a good example, as do
graphic routines on a computer.
This chapter of the Teacher's Manual contains two lesson plans. The first focuses on the
general idea of a strategy and some general-purpose strategies. The second focuses on the idea of a
primitive and how a calculator or a computer can give a person a greatly increase storehouse of
primitives.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
The idea of strategies is absolutely fundamental to problem solving. Thus, since problem
solving should be a central theme in a computer literacy course, the idea of strategies should receive
major attention.
Preface LP1 Page 89
The idea of a primitivea building block problem that one can easily solveis also
fundamentally to problem solving. Access to calculators and computers greatly increases a person's
repertoire of primitives.
Here are a few examples of types of questions you can explore with your class that will help
relate the chapter 5 materials to several general types of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. Select an application package that you know well. Describe the overall capabilities of the
software. Then make a list of the primitives that this software provides. For example, a
graphics package might include primitives for drawing a square, for drawing a circle with
a precisely defined center and radius, and for scaling a figure to a specified size.
Compare/contrast having a computer make these primitives available to you versus having
the primitives be provided by gaining a combination of paper, pencil, and simple tools
skills.
B. Think about how long it takes to learn to use a new piece of software or some new
features in a piece of software. If the human-machine interface is well designed, such
learning may be quite "natural" and nearly automatic. The learning one has done on
previous pieces of software or previous features of a piece of software may transfer easily
to the new situation. Look for examples of applications software in which this seems to be
true and others where it does not seem to be true. Explore the idea that perhaps all
software can be designed so that it is easily learned in a learn by doing, discovery-based
approach.
2. Computer programming
A. Each computer programming language contains a very large number of primitives. Newer
versions of a language may contain additional primitives. For example, early versions of
BASIC did not contain graphics primitives. However, versions of BASIC for the
microcomputer contain graphics primitives. Some versions of BASIC now contain
graphics primitives that are quite a bit like the graphics primitives in Logo. Explore the
question of why we have more than one programming language. Why not just build every
useful primitive into one language?
B. Select a programming language and determine how many primitives are built into the
language. How many of these does one need to carry around in their head to be a good
programmer in that language? Is it necessary to have that type of memory to be a good
programmer?
C. Select two different programming languages. Make a list of at least ten primitives that are
in one and not in the other, and vice versa. Discuss the question of why all of these
primitives are not in both languages.
D. Teachers emphasizing "correct" programming style in BASIC and Pascal emphasize top-
down programming. Logo enthusiasts emphasize bottom-up programming. However,
modern computer science departments in universities teach their students both top-down
and bottom-up program design ideas and practices. Discuss these ideas with your
students. When is a top-down approach most appropriate, and when is a bottom-up
approach most important? How can one tell when to switch from one to the other when
undertaking a major programming task? A combination of top-down and bottom-up might
be called middle-out programming. Is this the way most people write programs?
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. Even a simple handheld calculator provides one with some primitives. One can acquire
these primitives by many hours of pencil and paper practice and memory work, or one can
acquire them by learning to use a calculator. Is it cheating to use a calculator?
Preface LP1 Page 90
B. More generally, there are lots of things that one can learn to do by hand or that one can
learn to do by use of a machine. What are the social and cultural consequences of
replacing "by hand" knowledge and skills with "by machine" knowledge and skills? What
happens if the power goes off or the machines break?
C. The concept of "appropriate technology" is quite important in dealing with the
introduction of technology into developing nations. Increasingly, the developing nations
must interact with the rest of the world, in our global village. What constitutes appropriate
computer-related technology for developing nations? How could or should computer-
related technology affect education in the developing nations?
D. It seems clear that the way one thinks about a problem is highly dependent on the tools
and problem-solving aids that one has had available as they have learned to solve
problems. If one grows up using calculators and computers, one learns to think and to
solve problems using these tools. Discuss the idea that if one is not introduced to these
tools relatively early on in their education, they may never become fully comfortable with
these tools and fully competent in using them. (Here the analogy might be with learning to
speak a language like a native.)
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LP10: Chapter 5 Strategies Useful In Many Disciplines
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn two widely applicable strategies for solving a problem: the top-down strategy
and the bottom-up strategy.
2. Students will learn to recognize strategies that they commonly use in coping with problems.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students know that a strategy is a plan that can be used to help
solve a problem. They should know that no strategy is fool proof and that some strategies are
more useful than others.
2. (Specific) Students have memorized the four-step plan (the four-step strategy) for attacking
problems that was presented and discussed in chapter 4.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson is designed to fit into one class period. Allow students 15-20 minutes to read
chapter 5: Problem-Solving Strategies. The Teacher's Manual contains two lessons based on this
chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 5 contains five new terms:
bottom-up strategy
calculator primitive
computer primitive
primitive
top-down strategy.
Objectives
1. Students will learn the top-down strategy; they will give examples of its use from problems they
encounter in school and outside of school.
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2. Students will learn the bottom-up strategy; they will give examples of its use from problems
they encounter in school and outside of school.
3. Students will give examples of strategies that they commonly use in coping with problem
situations both within school and outside of school.
Description
Background
A strategy is a plan that can be used to attack a particular type of problem. The human mind
automatically, without conscious thought, is continually developing strategies. These are often
applied at a subconscious level. ("I had a hunch." "I followed my intuition.")
Research on the teaching of problem solving provides strong support to the idea that students
should specifically studying strategies that are useful within specific disciplines or useful across
many disciplines. The careful naming, study of, and practice in using such strategies can lead to an
increase in transfer of learning. It takes a great deal of study and practice of a strategy to internalize
it so that its use is automatic when it can be usefully applied. This study and practice must involve a
wide range of examples and be spaced over a long period of time.
Teaching Procedures
1. One of the assigned activities from the last class period was a journal writing activity of
SOLVING PROBLEMS USING MATH. Begin the period by a whole class discussion on,
"What is math." Make use of Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 1: What Is Math?
An alternative is to organize small group discussions on this topic. Each group is to produce a
list of answers to be written on butcher paper and then shared with the whole class.
There are many possible answers, including "Whatever mathematicians do." Focus the
discussion on how math is different from other disciplines. How is learning math (knowing
how to do math) different from learning other disciplines or knowing how to solve the problems
of other disciplines?
2. Ask students to brainstorm in their journals on some strategies they use in solving math
problems. (Alternatively, have them work in small groups.) Debrief this activity using Chapter 5
Overhead Transparency 2: Math Strategies.
3. Use the math strategies discussion to get your students thinking about strategies that they use in
other areas. Also, help the class to analyze which of the math strategies seem to be most useful.
Does the usefulness of a math problem-solving strategy change as one moves on to higher level
math courses?
4. Display Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 3: Organize Your Thinking. Use this as an advance
organizer for the remainder of the lesson.
5. Give students approximately 10-15 minutes to read the first part of chapter 5 and to do the
journal writing exercise on STRATEGIES I USE TO HELP ME MEMORIZE THINGS.
6. Debrief using Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 4: Memorization Strategies. Be aware that this
activity may help your students to learn some new strategies for memorization. There are many
books on this subject. You might want to give your students an assignment that requires finding
and reading such a book. Note that this is building on the previous work of others. People have
spent years doing research on good memorization techniques. It is quite likely that your
students have not been taught such techniques and have failed to discover them by themselves.
Preface LP1 Page 93
You may also want to ask your students if they have ever had explicit instruction on how to
memorize things. Perhaps some students have been taught memory tricks (such as use of
mnemonics) and others haven't.
7. Use Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 5: Top-Down Strategy to discuss the top-down
approach for attacking a problem. Have students contribute examples of when they personally
solved a problem by breaking it into smaller pieces. You may want to have them do journal
writing on this topic.
8. Use Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 6: Bottom-Up Strategy to discuss the bottom-up
approach for attacking a problem. Have students contribute examples of when they personally
solved a problem by putting together pieces, perhaps initially not even knowing where they were
headed. You may want to have them do journal writing on this topic.
In discussing the top-down and the bottom-up strategies, you should raise the issue of
creativity. Is one of these strategies a more creative approach to problem solving? Do creative
artists make more use of one strategy than another? Do scientists make more use of one
strategy than the other?
9. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits, these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to finish reading chapter 5 and to continue making regular use of their journals.
Students are to do activity 1 at the end of chapter 5.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words from this and previous chapters, and
provided positive reinforcement to students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; many contributed in the whole class brainstorming and/or
discussion activities.
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
Have students look for examples of strategies that they use in coping with the problems they
encounter outside of school. Have students look for examples of strategies they use in coping with
school problems. Have students ask there teachers for good strategies. Have a "Strategy of the
Day" contest. Any student can enter, by writing down a strategy and posting it on the bulletin
board. A team of students selects the winner. The winning strategy is written on butcher paper and
posted in the front of the room until the next day's winner is selected.
Preface LP1 Page 94
Notes
Problem solving is an important component of every course that your students are taking. Some
teachers are quite explicit about teaching problem solving, while others do not even mention the
word "problem." In every course your students learn strategies for coping with the course and for
solving the types of problems that arise in the course. Sometimes these strategies are explicitly
taught. In other cases the students discover strategies for themselves. Often the strategies that they
discover for themselves are not very effective.
It is important to have students do metacognition on the strategies they use. It is also important
for students to receive feedback on which of there strategies are relative effective and which are
relatively ineffective. This means that they must share their strategies with someone who can give
such feedback, or they must learn to provide such feedback for themselves.
This is a very important idea. If time permits, you may want to spend one or more additional
days on this topic. This is closely related to the ideas of chapter 6 where we talk about more
efficient and less efficient thinkers. More efficient thinkers make use of strategies that are, on
average, more efficient.
You should be aware that a student's coping strategies may be deeply seated and based on early
successes that have long since been forgotten. Probing the sources of a student's coping strategies
can easily lead into the uncovering of psychological problems. Use extreme caution!
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LP11: Chapter 5 Computer-Based Primitives
Primary Goal
1. Students will understand that calculators and computers are an important source of primitives
useful in solving a wide range of problems, and that the availability of such primitives can have a
significant impact on their personal education.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read the first five chapters of the textbook.
2. (Specific) Students understand the role that strategies play in problem solving. They can name
some strategies such as top-down and bottom-up, and they can identify some of their own
strategies used in coping with the problems they encounter at school and outside of school.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
At least one handheld calculator with a square root key. If possible, obtain an overhead
projector calculator so that you can demonstrate calculator use to the whole class.
(Optional) A classroom set of handheld calculators which have a square root key.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson fits comfortably into one class period. If you decide to make use of a classroom set
of handheld calculators, you may want to expand this lesson into two class periods.
Glossary
Key vocabulary and expressions from chapter 5 include:
bottom-up strategy
calculator primitive
computer primitive
primitive
top-down strategy.
Objectives
1. Students will give examples of some of their own primitives from several different problem-
solving areas.
2. Students will demonstrate understanding of how a machine such as a handheld calculator helps
them to easily acquire new primitives.
Preface LP1 Page 96
3. Students will be able to explain the difference between the concept underlying a primitive and
the processes needed to carry out operations to solve a primitive.
4. Students will write about some of the educational implications of acquiring primitives by
learning to make use of calculators and computers.
Description
Background
The human brain has a tremendous capacity to memorize. When a problem is encountered and
solved, memory traces are laid down that can help solve the problem or somewhat similar problems
the next time they occur. Thus, most people soon memorize (fully automate) how to deal with a
wide range of frequently occurring problems.
However, as technology has progressed and life in our society has become more complex, each
of us encounters more and more problems that we have not encountered before or that we encounter
only infrequently. This leads to the need for an educational system that help us cope with
infrequently occurring and unanticipated problems.
A general approach to this consists of:
1. Learn to solve a wide range of "building block" problems (primitives) that are appropriate to
dealing with a wide range of problems.
2. Learn strategies that can be applied to a wide range of problems.
3. Practice using your primitives and your strategies on a wide range of problems. Develop
confidence in your ability to cope with new and unexpected problem situations.
4. Learn how to learn.
Calculators and computers add a new dimension to this discussion. Of course, calculators and
computers are part of the technology that is making life more complex in our society. However, at the
same time they are a new source of primitives. Many problems can be solved by making
appropriate use of these primitives in conjunction with mental and paper and pencil primitives that are
traditionally acquired in school and outside of school.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to recall an
example of a problem-solving strategy that they have used during the past day. Provide a long
wait time. Then accept several students' responses.
2. Display Chapter 5 Overhead 7: Primitives. A primitive is a building block problema problem
that one can solve "for sure" and can use in solving more complicated problems. Lead the class
in a brainstorming effort to create a list of primitives that schools attempt to have all students
acquire.
Remember that an alternative approach is to have small group discussions and brainstorming on
the topic. Each group records their results on butcher paper, and these are posted at the front of
the room.
Note that just because our schools attempt to have all students gain a particular set of primitives,
this does not happen. As students progress through school, their diversity increases. You might
have students do some journal writing on the topic, "Things that my teachers assume that I have
learned how to do, but that I don't really know how to do."
3. Discuss the idea that through learning primitives, learning strategies, and learning to make
effective use of primitives and strategies, one can cope with a very wide range of problems. This
Preface LP1 Page 97
is a deep ideait is an underpinnings of our educational system. It is often part of the answer to,
"Why do I have to learn this?"
4. Make use of one calculator or a whole class set of calculators to discuss the idea of a calculator
primitive. If you have a whole class set of calculators, you may want to have a "contest" between
calculator equipped students and students working without calculators. Make up a set of
computational exercises that can easily be done on a calculator but which are a challenge when
done by hand. Have half of the class use calculators and the other half do the exercises by hand.
Compare speed and accuracy results. The contest can be run twice, using different exercises,
and having students switch from using to not using calculators, and vice versa.
5. Present and/or facilitate a careful discussion of the difference between understanding the
concept underlying a particular problem that one might want to have as a primitive (such as the
concept of square root) and a procedure for actually solving the problem (using by hand
methods or a machine).
6. Provide time for students to write in their journals on the difference between the concept
underlying a primitive and the processes needed to actually solve a primitive. Encourage them to
include several personal examples which clearly illustrate these differences.
7. The above ideas are among the most important to be covered in this course. After students have
had a chance to write about the ideas, again engage the whole class in a discussion on the topic.
Make use of Chapter 5 Overhead : Primitives: Concept and Process to do some whole class
sharing on examples that illustrate differences between concept and process.
8. Have students work on activity 2 at the end of the chapter. If time permits, also assign activities
3 and 4.
9. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and activities. You may want to make use of Chapter 5
Overhead Transparency 9: Chapter 5 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that they
felt was particularly important. As time permits, these ideas can be shared by the whole class, in
small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to do activities 6, 7, and 8 at the end of chapter 5. Students are to turn these in at
the beginning of the next class meeting.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students made written notes on possible answers to the discussion questions raised in
class.
All students spent time in class and outside of class working on the assignment.
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Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage your students to ask teachers in other classes for some of the building block
problemsthe primitivesfor the classes they teach.
Notes
Our educational system struggles with what primitives all students should acquire. For example,
should all students be able to quickly and accurately spell and define a particular list of words? We
have alternativessuch as providing the students with a dictionary.
This, of course, raises the issue of testing. When is it appropriate to allow students to use a
dictionary when taking a test? When is it appropriate to allow use of a calculator or a computer
Perhaps the simplest answer is that use of such aids to having primitives is appropriate whenever
the emphasis is on higher-order problem-solving skills. You might decide that this means that it is
almost always appropriate to allow use of such aids! Some states are beginning to experiment with
allowing full use of calculators, computers, and other aids to problem solving during certain types
of assessment.
Additional Activities For Chapter 5
1. This activity might be good for a class discussion.
Your teacher gives you a homework assignment. The assignment is to read a chapter and to
answer three questions at the end of the chapter. Here are two ways to break this homework
assignment problem into several subproblems:
Approach number 1
1. Read the entire chapter first.
2. Then read and attempt to answer the first question. If necessary, reread parts of the
chapter.
3 Repeat step 2 for the second and third questions.
Approach number 2
1. Read all three questions. Write yourself a brief note summarizing the topic of each
question.
2. Read the entire chapter. When you come to a topic that relates to one of the questions,
write the page number onto your notes.
3. Read and answer the first question. As necessary, reread the parts of the chapter that relate
to this question.
4. Repeat the step 3 for the second and third questions.
Probably you can think of lots of other ways to break down the task. In all cases the idea is to
get a number of smaller problems. The specific activity is to:
A. Make up another way of breaking the task into smaller tasks.
B. Decide which of the three approaches is best for you. Explain why it is best for you.
This is a good class discussion exercise. There are lots of strategies. If the goal is to "get the
right answer" then one may select a strategy that often does this. But this strategy may not be
good when faced by the goal "learn how to solve this type of problem as you work to get the
right answer."
Students are quite smart. If a teacher places great emphasis on "get the right answer" then many
students will develop strategies that are quite useful and effective in getting the right answer.
(Cheating is often quite effective.) But "get the right answer" is a poor goal for a teacher to set.
Preface LP1 Page 99
A much more appropriate goal is "learn how to solve this type of problem as you work to get
the right answer."
2. The first four chapters of this book illustrate a number of different strategies to aid in solving
the problem of learning the material in the book. Each of these can serve as the basis for a class
discussion or perhaps an assigned activity. Some of these strategies are given in the following
list:
1. Advance organizer. At the beginning of each chapter.
2. Journaling as an aid to learning.
3. Having and/or creating a brief summary of a set of materials as an aid to learning; the
summary box at the end of each chapter..
4. Draw a picture or a diagram to help you see what is happening in the problem. (The
human brain is very good at dealing with pictures.) Chapter 1.
5. Use brainstorming, either by yourself or in a group. (This is a good way to get some ideas
about a hard problem.) Chapter 1.
6. Make use of reference books. (A good way to solve a problem is to look up how to do it
in a book.) Chapter 1.
7. Set goals. (This is mentioned in a number of chapters, but perhaps the key place is chapter
3.)
8. Metacognition is a strategy for getting better at thinking and problem solving.
3. This chapter contains an activity on strategies for memorizing. More generally, what are some
good strategies for learning? This is a hard topic. What does it mean "to learn" something? One
way to approach this is through the example of primitives. To learn a primitive, one needs to
learn the concept and also a process. It may be very easy to learn a process, if a machine can
carry out the process. But leaning the concept is different. It is a mental activity, storing ideas in
one's head.
Thus, a good topic of discussion might be how to get better at learning concepts.
4. The idea of a computer primitive is very important. It is easily and powerfully illustrated in math
classes. It is clear that math spends much of its time teaching primitives. Math teachers estimate
that about 70 - 80 percent of the time in a math class is spent on having students learn the
processes in the primitives. Only about 20-30 percent of the time is spend in learning the
concepts and/or when and how to use the primitives. But a computer can do all of the processes
taught in math classes. So, it would be possible to make major changes in math classes. There
could be a major change in how the time is used. Much less time could be devoted to learning
processes. Instead, students could be given access to calculators and computers. Much more
time could be devoted to concepts and when/how to use the primitives.
This could be an excellent topic for discussion in a class. But it is a rather delicate topic. In
essence, it is a criticism of our current mathematics education system! You might want to divide
students into groups, choose up sides, and debate the two sides of this issue.
Preface LP1 Page 100
Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 1:
What Is Math?
1. A way of representing problems using numbers and
other symbols.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 2:
Math Strategies
1. You can usually tell if an answer is wrong if it doesn't
come out a whole number or a simple fraction.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 3:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
A strategy is a general plan of action for attacking a
problem. Some strategies are only useful in a specific
subject area or type of problem. A strategy for solving
science problems might not be useful in solving sports
problems. Other strategies are useful for a wide range
of problems. You can get better at problem solving:
By learning to use strategies designed to fit problems
in one subject, such as math strategies and business
strategies.
By learning to use a number of strategies designed to
be useful in many different problem areas.
By learning roles of computers in making use of
strategies.
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Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 4:
Memorization Strategies
1. Look at it and read it over and over again until I can
visualize it in my mind. I can see it in my mind's eye.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 5:
Top-Down Strategy
1. I do a big term paper assignment by:
A. Decide on a topic.
B. Find a number of sources of information.
C. Read the information and keep good notes.
D. Write the paper.
2.
3.
4.
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Preface LP1 Page 106
Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 6:
Bottom-Up Strategy
1. I decide which TV program to watch by flipping
through the channels until I come to one that happens to
interest me at the time.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 5 Overhead 7:
Primitives
A primitive is a building block problemone that you can
quickly, easily, and accurately solve. Thus, you can use
primitives as building blocks in solving more complex,
multi-step problems. Examples include:
1. Single digit additionuseful in doing larger addition
problems.
2. Spelling wordsuseful in writing.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 5 Overhead 8:
Primitives: Concept and Process
1. Communication at a distance problem. I make use of a
telephone. I don't know the details of building a telephone
or a telephone system. I just pick up the phone and key in
the number I want.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 5 Overhead Transparency 9:
Chapter 5 Summary
CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY
Strategies are plans of action. They are general ways to
attempt to attack a problem. Some strategies are very
specialized. Other strategies can be used on a wide
variety of problems.
1. The top-down and the bottom-up strategies are
very useful for many different problems.
2. Primitives are problems that you can solve easily
and accurately. You use them in the top-down strategy
and in the bottom-up strategy.
3. A primitive consists of both a concept of a problem
and a process for doing the problem.
4. A computer can carry out the process needed to
solve many problems. If you learn the concepts of these
problems, you will have gained them as primitives.
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LP12 - LP13 Chapter 6: Getting Better At
Thinking
Rationale and Overview.
Chapter 5 focuses on strategies and primitives. It takes the point of view that you can get better
at problem solving by:
1. Learn to solve a wide range of "building block" problems (primitives) that are appropriate to
dealing with a wide range of problems.
2. Learn strategies that can be applied to a wide range of problems.
3. Practice using your primitives and your strategies on a wide range of problems. Develop
confidence in your ability to cope with new and unexpected problem situations.
Each of these activities is to be done at a level that requires thinking and understanding.
However, the third activity is particularly dependent on thinking and understanding. It is relatively
easy to provide students with potentially useful primitives and strategies, and to have the students
memorize them. It is much more difficult to help students get better at thinking using the primitives
and strategies that they know.
Chapter 6 focuses on thinking, and on how to get better at thinking. The underlying assumption
is that all students are good at thinking. However, some are more effective (and efficient) thinkers
than others. Research on thinking has led to an understanding of more effective and less effective
thinking habits. We can help students to understand which of their thinking habits are relatively
effective, and which are relatively ineffective. We can help them to increase the effectiveness of their
thinking skills. This will help them to become better problem solvers.
Most of what goes on in the brain occurs at a subconscious level. The brain is a very complex
collection of perhaps 30-100 billion neurons. Billions of neurons may be engaged when we are
"thinking about" a problem. We now have non-invasive brain scanning devices that can help us
"see" brain activity and gain increased understanding of the brain activity going on when a person is
thinking about a problem.
However, "What is thinking?" remains a very difficult question to answer. Much of the thinking
process goes on at a subconscious level and we are not even aware that it is occurring. We know
that we can direct some of these subconscious activities by careful, conscious thinking efforts. We
know that we can automate some of these subconscious processes so that they will quickly and
accurately solve certain types of problems.
There are lots of ways to improve one's thinking skills. This chapter discusses twelve ways to
become a more effective thinker. These are organized into five groups. The first is some overall
considerations such as dealing with ambiguity and learning to see other people's points of view. The
remaining four groups parallel the four-step plan for attacking problems. The twelve basic ideas are
widely applicable. You want to help your students to identify their strengths and weaknesses. You
want your students to assume responsibility for working to improve in areas where they are
relatively inefficient thinkers.
This chapter of the Teacher's Manual contains two lesson plans. The first focuses on the
general idea of thinking and getting better at thinking. The second focuses on twelve areas where
students can their own levels of effectiveness through metacognition, and can work to improve their
levels of thinking effectiveness.
Many teachers have read chapter 6 and provided feedback that has helped shape it into its
current form. A number have commented that the chapter deals with a very delicate issue. Many
Preface LP1 Page 111
students are sensitive about how well they can thinkhow smart they are. You should be particularly
sensitive to this issue in dealing with the material of this chapter. It seems evident that some people
are better thinkers than others. However, all people can improve their thinking abilities. The focus in
this chapter is on self discovery and on self improvement.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
A computer is often referred to as a mechanical brain, usually with a strong hint that it is a
thinking machine. The branch of computer science known as artificial intelligence aims at
developing computer systems that can carry out human-like thinking processes in solving
problems. Within artificial intelligence, the field of expert systems has made significant progress in
recent years. This means that in some narrow domains of problem solving we are beginning to have
computer programs that can compete with and perhaps outperform human experts. This raises
many important issues that can be addressed in computer literacy courses.
Here are a few examples of types of questions you can explore with your class that will help
relate the chapter 6 materials to several general types of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. Select an application package that you know well. How "smart" is this software? That is,
to what extent does this software seem to contain a great deal of knowledge as well as the
ability to effectively apply this knowledge at an appropriate time?
For example, consider a spelling check that provides a list of possible alternative words
when it encounters a misspelled word. What type of logic or "thinking" is built into this
program? Compare two different spelling checkers on the same types of misspelled
words. Do they come up with the same suggested possible correct words? What would
make a spelling checker "smarter?" Would it be possible to personalize a spelling checker
so that it became smarter at detecting and correcting the particular type of spelling errors a
specific person makes? How could this be done?
B. Obtain an application package that makes use of some ideas from artificial intelligence.
This might be an interactive conversational program, a game playing program such as a
chess player, or a program embodying ideas from the field of expert systems. Use and
study the program to attempt to discover how it "thinks."
People have been working for many years to develop chess playing programs that could
compete at a world class level. The best such programs are now able to play chess at about
the same level as some people who are ranked in the upper 500 chess players in the world.
One cannot play good chess by a brute force, pure memorization approach. Rather, one
must learn and make effective use of strategies. One must have primitives that can
accomplish specific tasks. The best chess playing programs effectively combine the great
speed and memory capacity of computers with strategies designed to help solve the
problems that arise in a chess match.
2. Computer programming
A. A programming language compiler or interpreter is able to detect a wide range of errors.in
syntax. Indeed, some compilers or interpreters even offer suggestions on how to correct
the detected errors. Of course, some systems give much better error messages than others.
Examine the error messages produced by the computer programming system you are
using. How good are the messages? What would make them more useful? Why doesn't
the computer just go ahead and correct the errors that it finds?
B. Many of the errors that one makes in programming errors are errors of logicerrors in
meaning, or semantics. A truly intelligent computer system would be able to detect such
errors and then correct them. Discuss with your students the difficulties in developing a
computer system that can detect and correct semantic errors.
Preface LP1 Page 112
This activity can be extended by having students carefully study how they go about testing
and debugging a program. This self questioning and detailed analysis is the same type of
work that is done in developing expert systems.
C. Each programming language contains some aids to help programmers detect and correct
errors. The aids vary tremendously from computer system to computer system. What on-
line debugging aids are available in the programming language your students are using?
What facilities are available in other programming systems? What facilities would you
like to see added to your system?
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. Within the field of expert systems there are people who have learned to do "knowledge
engineering." They are skilled at interacting with a human expert in a field in order to
identify and extract the methods that the human expert uses to solve problems. At the
current time the expert systems that are being produced are very domain specific. That is,
they function well only on very narrowly defined categories of problems. An expert
system that solves medical diagnostic problems cannot solve problems dealing with where
to prospect for minerals or how to recover a broken bit in a deep oil well.
Have your students explore the field of expert systems. Help them to understand the
capabilities and limitations of such systems. Help them to begin to understand the
educational implications of such systems. We now have some expert systems that can out
perform the human experts who were involved in their development. It can take years of
schooling and experience to get good enough to begin to compete with such expert
systems. If a computer can solve or help solve a type of problem that students learn to
solve in school, what should students learn about solving that type of problem?
B. Reading and writing can be thought of as an aid to human thinking. A computer is a
different type of aid to human thinking. Our schools teach students to make effective use
of reading and writing in solving problems, rather than to compete with them. Will our
schools eventually teach students to work effectively with computers, rather than to
compete with them? How would education change if there was considerably increased
emphasis on having people work together with intelligent machines in solving problems?
C. As more and more artificially intelligent expert systems are put into place in business and
industry, how will this affect employment? Will people still be able to get jobs? What
types of jobs will they be able to get? In this discussion you might point out that the
machines that initially made industrial automation possible were not very intelligent. They
did not contain electronic digital computers. Computers are a relatively new and a very
powerful aid to automation and to increasing human productivity.
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LP12: Chapter 6 What Is Thinking?
Primary Goals
1. Students will increase their understanding of what it means "To think."
2. Students will learn that different people think in different ways.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have gained some skill in doing metacognition. They have
awareness of their own thinking processes and can, if they want, think critically about these
thinking processes.
2. (Specific) Students know that rote memorization in useful in getting better at solving problems,
but that getting better at the higher-order thinking skills is essential if one is to be good at
solving problems.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson is designed to fit into one class period. Allow students about 20-25 minutes to read
chapter 6 Getting Better At Thinking and to do some of the activities they encounter during this
reading. The Teacher's Manual contains two lessons based on this chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. You will notice that chapter 6 does not contain any new terms.
Use this respite to continue to practice the vocabulary introduced in the first five chapters.
You might want to think about the idea that a glossary term is a primitive. It is a building block
piece of knowledge that can be used in communication and in other problem-solving activities. In
some sense "thinking" is talking to one's self, inside one's head, using pictures and words. This
self-talk requires vocabulary.
Objectives
1. Students will do metacognition and brainstorming on what it means "To think."
2. Students will examine their own levels of persistence in problem solving.
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Description
Background
Thinking is a combination of conscious, purpose-directed activity and subconscious activity.
Thinking is a process of carefully and consciously communicating with one's self, using words,
pictures, and feelings within one's head.
Most students have not though much about thinking. Many have little understanding about how
their brains work when they are thinking and how to make more effective use of their brain's
thinking powers. Many do not realize that different people think in different ways, or that some
approaches to thinking more be more effective than others.
All students can become more effective and more efficient thinkers.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by displaying Chapter 6 Overhead Transparency 1: Organize Your Thinking. Tell your
class that today the focus will be on thinking about thinking about what thinking is.
2. Ask your class to do a group brainstorm to make a list of people who were (or still are) good
thinkers. Make use of Chapter 6 Overhead Transparency 2: Good Thinkers.
After a reasonable list is created, ask your class for common characteristics of the group. What
does a person have to do to be considered a good thinker? Do we recognize good thinkers only
by the activities that they do, the problems that they solve, and so on? Are there many equally
good thinkers who are not on the list?
2. Give students 15-20 minutes to read the first part of chapter 6 and to complete the journal
writing and discussion activity WHAT DOES THE WORD 'THINK MEAN?
You may want to provide each small discussion group with a piece of butcher paper and have
each group write its definition of the word think. Post these in the front of the room and use
them as a basis for class discussion.
4. Have students share some of their definitions of think. You want the discussion to bring out the
idea that different people think in different ways. Some people think in wordsthey talk silently
to themselves. Others think is picturesthey make a motion picture in their heads. Still others
may think with their whole bodiesa type of kinesthetic thinking. Your students may talk about
intuitions and feelings. Perhaps intuitions and feelings are produced at the subconscious level
and are then transmitted to the conscious brain.
5. Give students time to complete reading the chapter and to do activities 1 and 2 at the end of the
chapter. The next lesson plan focuses on twelve ideas for becoming more effective at thinking.
It will help if students have read these ideas and begun to think about them.
6. Raise the issue of persistence as being an important part of problem solving. Discuss this very
briefly, indicating that persistence is an important part of thinking. Use the example of Edison
who indicated that his success was due mainly to persistence.
Have your students do a mental exercise of thinking about someone they know who is very
persistent and someone else they know who is not persistent. Each student is to introspect on
their own level of persistence. Are they satisfied with their own levels of persistence? If not,
what could they do to change their levels of persistence? If time permits, have students write
about this in their journals.
7. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings.. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
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Student Activities
Students are to ask at least two different people to say what "To think." means to them. They
are to write a short report on how these results compare with the definitions produced in their small
group and whole class discussions.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words from this and previous chapters, and
provided positive reinforcement to students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; many contributed in the whole class brainstorming and/or
discussion activities.
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
Have students think about who are the very best thinkers they know and who are some not so
good thinkers that they know. In what ways are these people the same, and in what ways are they
different?
This can be made into a knowledge engineering activity. What are the characteristics of good
thinkers? The chapter contains a list, but this list might be totally inappropriate or inadequate in the
eyes of your students. Set them to work individually or in groups to come up with an appropriate
and useful list of characteristics of good thinkers.
Notes
Every student in your class is a good thinker. However, some are better thinkers than others.
Every student can become a better, more efficient, more effective thinker. One of your goals as a
teacher is to help your students to become better thinkers.
However, thinking and ways of thinking are very personal things. Thus, it is important that each
of your students learn how their minds workhow they think. They need to decide for themselves
whether they are satisfied with how they think, or if they wan to improve some aspects of their
thinking processes. Ownership is essential here!
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LP13: Chapter 6 Effective Thinking Practices
Primary Goal
1. Students will understand that some thinking practices are more effective and efficient than
others.
2. Students will gain increased skill in recognizing some of their more effective/efficient and less
effective/efficient thinking practices and will learn ways to improve their thinking skills.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read the first six chapters of the textbook.
2. (Specific) Students understand the role that strategies play in problem solving. They can name
some strategies such as top-down and bottom-up, and they can identify some of their own
strategies used in coping with the problems they encounter at school and outside of school.
This lesson focuses on some strategies for becoming a more effective and efficient thinker.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson can be done in one class period. However, it can easily be expanded to two or more
class periods. To do this, just expand the time spent on each of the twelve main ideas of what
constitutes an "effective/efficient" thinker.
Glossary
No new terms are introduced in chapter 6. Remember that it is very important to make frequent
use of the new vocabulary introduced in this book. As students internalize this vocabulary, they will
be able to communicate more effectively with themselves and others about problem solving and
thinking.
Objectives
1. Students will give examples of more effective/efficient and less effective/efficient thinking.
2. Students will identify some of their own areas or types of more effective/efficient and less
effective/efficient thinking.
3. Students will identify and practice actions designed to help them become more better thinkers.
Preface LP1 Page 117
Description
Background
Every student in your classes is a relatively efficient, effective, and successful thinker. However,
some are more efficient, effective, and successful than others.
Research strongly supports the contention that through proper training and experience every
person can get better at thinking. (Indeed, this is a fundamental supposition of our school system.)
This training and experience should be built into every aspect of school. However, it is also helpful
to specifically identify, name, and categorize types of thinking activities. Research has proven the
effectiveness of giving students specific instruction in identifying their own areas of relative
strength and relative weakness, and of providing them with help in working on their areas of relative
weakness.
You and your students should not expect magical, overnight success in becoming better
thinkers. Lifelong habits are difficult to change. However, they can be changed by a careful,
conscious effort applied over a significant period of time. The lesson given here is merely a starting
point.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to share very
brief definitions of what it means "To think." Then have students think about some good
thinking they have done in the past day. Student are to spend a couple of minutes writing in
their journals about the nature of this thinking and what it accomplished. Part of the focus
should be on how it felt to do good thinking.
2. Display Chapter 6 Overhead 3: Getting More Effective & Efficient. Lead the class in a
brainstorming effort to identify areas of human endeavor in which through study and practice
one can become more effective and/or efficient.
Help your students to understand what it means to be "more effective " and possible benefits of
this effectiveness. For example, I have learned a strategy for memorizing a list; when I use this
strategy, I can remember the list much better.
Help your students to understand what it means to be "more efficient" and possible benefits of
this efficiency. For example, "I am more efficient at making my bed than I used to be. I can do
it in about two minutes now, and it used to take about five minutes to make it look the way I like
it to look." Here efficiency refers to use of time. There are other ways to think about efficiency.
A painter may think about efficiency in terms of using fewer brush strokes or a less cluttered
design.
Remember that an alternative approach is to have small group discussions and brainstorming on
the topic. Each group records their results on butcher paper, and these are posted at the front of
the room.
Use the exercise to get students to start thinking about and talking about effectiveness and
efficiency of thinking. A more effective, efficient thinker can do more and do better in less time.
A person can get to be a more effective, efficient thinker by study and practice.
3. Display Chapter 6 Overhead 4: Some Thinking Habits. This and subsequent overheads contain
a list of important thinking habits. For each, you want your students to identify their own
strengths and weaknesses. You want them to accept ownership and personal responsibility for
their own habits. You want them to learn that it is possible to change their habits.
One way to do this is to display and briefly discuss a thinking habit, such as:
1. Dealing With a Lack of Clarity.
Preface LP1 Page 118
Brainstorm with the class on more effective/efficient and less effective/efficient ways to deal
with a lack of clarity. Then have your students write in their journals. They are to do a self
evaluation on how they deal with a lack of clarity. They are to identify specific instances in
which they dealt effectively/efficiently with a lack of clarity and other in which they dealt less
effectively/efficiently with a lack of clarity
If you take this approach, it will take at least 15-20 minutes to cover each of the twelve thinking
habits discussed in chapter 6. Thus, this lesson will be expanded into a number of lessons.
The particular approach that you take may be dependent on the nature of the course you are
teaching. If it is a general course on problem solving, you will want to devote a great deal of
time to this chapter. If it is a course that is mainly focusing on roles of computers in problem
solving, you will want to devote less time to this chapter.
4. As time permits, debrief the discussion and/or the class activity for each of the thinking habits.
The debriefing might cover a wide range of topics, such as how thinking habits are developed,
can they be changed, what role can schools play in helping students to change their thinking
habits, and so on.
5. .Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas
that have been covered in today's discussions and activities. You may want to make use of
Chapter 6 Overhead Transparency 9: Chapter 6 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to do activities 7 and 8 at the end of chapter 6. Students are to turn these in at the
beginning of the next class meeting. Activity 8 is one that a student may want to continue to work
on for several weeks. Encourage your students to do daily journal writing for a week or more on the
thinking habit they identified in activity 8.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students made written notes on possible answers to the discussion questions raised in
class.
All students spent time in class and outside of class working on the assignment.
Extensions and Follow-up
Encourage your students to pay attention to their other problem-solving and thinking habits.
They are to identify effective, efficient, productive habits, and less effective, efficient, productive
habits. They are to develop a plan for self improvement.
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Notes
It is difficult to change one's habits. How many times have you made a New Years Resolution
to change a habit? How many times have you been successful in accomplishing your resolution?
However, you are aware of changes that you have been able to make in your habits. All people
can change their habits. Some can do so with little external help, while others require a lot of help,
encouragement, and support. Help your students to understand that they can take increased
responsibility for themselves and how they function.
Additional Activities For Chapter 6
1. Can a cat think? How do we know? Can a fish think? How do we know? Can a fly think? How
do we know? Can an elevator think? How do we know? Can a handheld calculator think? How
do we know? Can a computer think? How do we know?
This is a metacognition exercise. It can be done as a homework assignment. Or, it could be used
to promote class discussion. It seems clear that different living creatures have different levels of
brain power or thinking ability. We can place different animals on an "ability to think" scale.
Can we do the same thing for machines? Or, is it a completely ridiculous idea to think of these
scales as being similar?
This is a very deep question. The living creature is self replicating. Much of the self replication
process occurs at a subconscious, instinctive level. Does the scale that we use for living
creatures overlap with the scale that we use for machines? For example, is the "smartest"
computer as smart as the least smart living creature?
2. Hand out a test that you have used in a course. (Or, if you like, hand out a sample of a
standardized test.) The goal is to have students analyze the test from a "thinking" point of view.
Which questions seem to require a lot of thinking? Which questions seem to require little or no
thinking? Could a computer program be developed that could do well on this type of test?
This is a good activity to use to start a class discussion. Some test questions test thinking. Other
test questions test memorization. Both thinking and memorization are important.
How can you test for understanding of a concept? (This relates to the concept and process ideas
in a primitive.) A good activity here is test question posing. Pick a primitive that students in
your class know. Ask them to create test questions that get at the concept. Ask them to create
test questions that get at a process for solving the primitive. Emphasize that testing
understanding of a concept tends to be a test of thinking.
3. The Merriam-Webster Pocket Dictionary, Cardinal edition published September 1951 66th
printing May 1962, contains the following definition:
think
1. To form in the mind; to have in, or call to, the mind the notion or image of something; to
imagine.
2. To have an opinion of something to believe.
3. To reason.
Compare and contrast this definition with the definition that you developed by brainstorming in
small groups and/or by the whole class discussion on this topic.
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Chapter 6 Overhead Transparency 1:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
This chapter discusses a number of things that you can do
to get better at thinking. As you get better at thinking, you
will get better at solving problems. To get better at thinking:
Learn what more effective thinkers do.
Understand your own more effective thinking skill
habits and your less effective thinking skill habits.
Develop more effective thinking skill habits and
practice them.
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Chapter 6 Overhead Transparency 2:
Good Thinkers
1. Marie Curie
2. Albert Einstein
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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Chapter 6 Overhead 3:
Getting More Effective & Efficient
1. I am getting more effective and efficient at brushing my
teeth. I brush faster, I get them a lot cleaner.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 6 Overhead 4:
Some Thinking Habits
General Considerations
1. Dealing With a Lack of Clarity
2. Seeing Other's Points of View
3. Valuing Education and Good Thinking
4. Attitude and Self Confidence
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Chapter 6 Overhead 5:
Some Thinking Habits
Understand the Problem: Developing Goals
5. Search for Goals
6. Revising Goals
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Chapter 6 Overhead 6:
Some Thinking Habits
Understand the Problem: Resources and Restrictions
7. Resources
8. Restrictions
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Chapter 6 Overhead 7: Some Thinking
Habits
Evaluating Possible Different Plans
9. Finding and Using Evidence
10. Anticipating Outcomes
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Chapter 6 Overhead 8:
Some Thinking Habits
Is the Problem Solved?
11. Have I Solved the Problem?
12. Unexpected Side Effects
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Chapter 6 Overhead Transparency 9:
Chapter 6 Summary
CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY
One way to get better at solving problems is to get better at
thinking. More effective and efficient thinkers make better
use of their brains. They have a number of thinking skill
habits that relate to the steps one follows in solving
problems. Some very important good thinking habits
include:
1. Valuing education and working to get a good
education.
2. Having good skills in developing and revising Goals.
3. Having good skills in developing Resources and in
knowing appropriate Restrictions.
4. Being good at thinking about possible outcomes from
carrying out a plan of action.
You can become a better thinker and problem solver if you
will identify your less effective/efficient thinking habits and
consciously work to improve them.
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LP14 - LP15 Chapter 7: Transfer of Learning
Rationale and Overview.
Chapter 6 focuses on thinking and on good thinking habits. Good thinking habits are useful in
attacking problems in many different disciplines. That is, they transfer from one discipline to
another.
Such transfer of learning, or of problem-solving habits, occurs more readily for some students
than for others. Also, it may occur more readily in one situation than in another. For example, a
student may have a good attitude and good self confidence in dealing with one type of problem but
not in dealing with another type of problem.
There is a great deal known about transfer of learning and it is a field of active research. Still,
transfer of learning remains a difficult topic.
The classical approach to discussing transfer of learning is to talk about near transfer and far
transfer. The idea here is that in some sense two tasks or types of problems are "near" to each other
or "far" from each other. Suppose that two tasks or problems are "near" to each other. Then we
expect that a student who has learned how to accomplish one of the tasks, or solve one of the
problems, can readily transfer the needed knowledge and skills to the other task or problem. You
have learned how to tie your left shoe when it has a new brown cotton shoelace. Most likely you
can tie a right shoe that has an old white nylon shoelace. Clearly these are not the same problem.
However, they are "nearly" alike.
The human brain is designed to easily deal with nearly alike situations. Human memory is an
intricate pattern matching system. The brain recognizes when the neural patterns of a new
situation are nearly the same as the neural patterns of a previously encountered situation. It
automatically, without conscious thought, deals with the new situation using previously learned
methodology.
Unfortunately, this general description and model for transfer begins to be less useful as we
examine more complex tasks and as we compare different students. In multi-step problem-solving
situations it is necessary for the brain to recognize a sequence of patterns. Careful, conscious
thought may be needed to direct the brain in this process. The research indicates that the nearness
or farness of a transfer is highly dependent on the individual attempting to do the transfer. What
one student accomplishes by a near transfer, without conscious thought, may prove impossible for
another who has had approximately the same training and experience.
In recent years, a number of theories of transfer of learning have been developed. This
increasing level of knowledge about learning theory can provide a basis for improvement in
teaching methodology and in how students approach learning. A very brief summary of some of
our current knowledge of transfer of learning includes:
1. Every student transfers learning, but not all students are equally good at transferring learning.
(Indeed, one measure of intelligence is how readily and how "far" a student transfers
knowledge.)
2. The ability for a student to transfer a particular learning episode to other situations is highly
dependent on the particular student.
3. Transfer can be increased by specific instruction designed to increase transfer and by having
students carry out activities designed to increase transfer.
4. It is possible to teach for automaticity of transfer. Many of the processes involved in driving a
car and other vehicles provide appropriate examples. One's automatic typing skills easily
transfer among different computer keyboards.
5. It is possible to teach for careful, conscious, reasoned transfer. As an example of this, a student
can learn the top-down strategy of breaking big problems into smaller problems. The student
can learn to verbalize this strategy and can practice using it in a wide variety of situations. The
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student can learn that this strategy is likely to be useful in dealing with almost any new complex
problem that is encountered. This type of problem-solving knowledge is apt to transfer to new
problems that a student encounters.
This chapter continues to take the approach that students need to have vocabulary that allows
them to talk about and think about the ideas that they are to learn. You don't have to be a graduate
student to talk about near transfer and far transfer. You don't have to be a graduate student to begin
to take responsibility for your own learning and how well this learning transfers. Instead, we know
that even grade school students can do this with proper instruction and guidance.
Chapter 7 focuses on transfer of learning and how to get better at transfer of learning. It
discusses near and far transfer. It discusses some brain theory that can help one understand transfer
and possibly how to increase transfer. (One can increase transfer by building richer or more varied
neural connections among the areas where one wants to transfer knowledge and skills.)
Chapter 7 places considerable emphasis on the difference between understanding a concept and
of understanding a process to carry out the ideas underlying the concept. For example, there is the
concept of a circle graph being used to represent data in order to help solve a problem. This is quite
different than knowing the details of how to take data and use paper, pencil, protractor, and a
compass to produce a circle graph.
Both concept and process are important. Both take time and effort to learn. Both may transfer to
other situations. However, suppose that the goal is to learn to use a circle graph to solve problems in
a wide variety of settings. Then specific instruction and practice in using a circle graph in a wide
variety of settings will contribute more to this transfer than will lots of practice in drawing circle
graphs by hand. However, lots of practice in drawing circle graphs by hand may transfer to doing
other tasks that involve manual dexterity and use of pencil, paper, protractor, and compass. Thus, it
is important to give careful consideration as to what one wants to transfer.
We can teach for the understanding and applicability of concepts, and we can teach for knowing
how to carry out the steps in a process underlying a concept. It is here that computers are bringing a
new dimension to education. In many instances a computer can carry out the steps in a process that
underlies a concept. A computer can produce a circle graph. It may take only a few minutes to learn
how to have a computer produce a circle graph.
This is a very important idea. To "know" something such as a circle graph, one needs to know
both the concept and an underlying process. In many instances the underlying process can be done
by hand or by use of very simple machines such as pencil, paper, protractor, and compass. It may
take a great deal of training and experience to learn to do such "by hand" implementations of a
process. Alternatively, we may make use of more complex machines such as a calculator and
computer. Then it may take only a modest number of minutes to learn to carry out a particular
process.
This chapter of the Teacher's Manual contains two lesson plans. The first focuses on the
general idea of transfer of learning, and of near and far transfer. This ties in nicely with some of the
ideas on increasing effectiveness and efficiency of thinking that are discussed in chapter 6. The
second lesson focuses on ways to increase transfer of learning. It also touches on the issue that
certain types of tests encourage certain types of learning. If we want students to put learning
energies into activities that promote far transfer, we need to design tests that reward such far
transfer.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
One of the main goals in a computer literacy course is for the student to gain general
knowledge, attitudes and skills that will be useful in other courses and in life outside of school.
Thus, transfer of the learning is very important. The teaching should be designed to promote
transfer.
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Here are a few examples of types of questions you can explore with your class that will help
relate the chapter 7 materials to several general types of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. Select two different versions/models/brands of a particular software application package,
such as a word processor. One should be selected because your students have learned to
use it. The other should be new to them. Give your students a chance to learn to use the
new software on their own; provide them with little or no instruction. Help them to
understand that the learning they have done easily transfers to the new software. Use this
as a basis for discussing transfer of learning and roles that a computer can play in helping
to make transfer easier.
B. In what ways are all computers alike? In what ways are they different? What knowledge
about using a computer readily transfers to using other computers? What changes to
computer hardware and software design would be a help in increasing transfer?
C. Suppose that you have learned to solve a particular type of problem by hand, perhaps by
organizing data into a card file database or organizing financial information into a table.
To what extent does this knowledge transfer to use of a computer to solve the same types
of problems?
Most of the problem-solving ideas in this book are not dependent on having computers
available for use.. A person who is a good at solving problem without the use of
computers can make very rapid progress in learning to make effective use of computers as
an aid to solving problems.
2. Computer programming.
A. All computer programming languages have certain features in common. Thus, learning to
consciously understand, name, and talk about these features can be helpful in learning a
second or third programming language. Data structures, control structu
.res, and error messages provide excellent example. Examine how you teach computer
programming and what your students are learning. Are they being taught in a manner that
promotes their learning other programming languages? What could be done to increase
the ease of transfer of their learning to other programming languages?
B. One way to increase transfer of learning in programming would be to have just a very
small number of programming languages, to have the data structure, control structure,
error messages, data types, etc. in all languages be nearly the same, and to make every
version of a particular language as nearly alike as possible. Why hasn't this occurred? Is
the diversity in programming languages good or bad for the field of computer science?
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. Our society has moved from the agricultural era to the industrial era to the information
era. Suppose one studies the change process and its effects, as a society moves from an
agricultural era to an industrial era. To what extent does the resulting knowledge and
understanding transfer to the situation of a society moving from an industrial era to an
information era? Is there a methodology for studying societies as they move from one era
to another, that transfers to the study of any such societal movement?
B. Is is possible to learn how to learn? To what extent do you emphasize learning to learn in
your teaching? Do you make some particular aspects of learning to learn particularly
explicit so as to increase the likelihood of transfer to other learning situations?
C. Explore with your students their ideas on transfer of learning among major categories of
courses they take. Do some of your students readily transfer knowledge among their
science courses, but not transfer this knowledge to social science or fine arts courses? Do
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some of your students transfer ideas from their music courses to social science and
science courses?
D. Transfer of learning is usually considered to be a process whereby a person takes
knowledge and skills learned in one situation, and applies them in another. Teaching can
be thought of as a process whereby knowledge and skills that have been acquired by
many people are "transferred" to students. One way to do this is to build the knowledge
and skills into machines, and merely teach the students to use the machines. Discuss this
view of transfer.
E. Computers can be used to help score and help analyze objective tests. To what extent is
our educational system being driven by such objective tests? Do these tests do an
adequate job of measuring higher-order thinking skills and encouraging teaching/learning
for transfer?
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LP14: Chapter 7 Near and Far Transfer
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn the meaning of transfer of learning.
2. Students will learn that they do both near and far transfer, and that both are important in
building on their previous learning.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that all students have an intuitive understanding of transfer of learning.
They can site examples of when they have transferred knowledge and skills gained in one
problem-solving situation to a different problem-solving situation.
2. (Specific) Students have read chapter 6 effective/efficient thinking habits and are consciously
aware of when they make use of this habit in a variety of different thinking situations.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson is designed to fit into one class period. It contains some follow-up of the previous
lesson on thinking habits. Allow students about 15 minutes to read chapter 7 Transfer of Learning
and to do some of the activities they encounter during this reading. The Teacher's Manual contains
two lessons based on this chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 7 contains three new terms:
far transfer situation
learning theory
near transfer situation
Objectives
1. Students will give personal examples of near and far transfer.
2. Students will give examples of when they have made use of one of their more effective and/or
efficient thinking habits in several different settings.
3. For one class period, students will pay careful attention to ideas that might transfer into or out
of that class.
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Description
Background
One of the most important ideas in problem solving is building on your previous work. This is
closely related to transfer of learning. If you can transfer your learning from one setting to another,
you are building on your previous learning efforts.
All students do both near and far transfer. All students can get better at near and far transfer.
Teaching for transfer, and learning for transfer, can increase near and far transfer.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by displaying Chapter 7 Overhead Transparency 1: Organize Your Thinking. Tell your
class that today the focus will be on a subject called learning theory. Explain that in the "good
old days" only university graduate students got to study transfer of learning. Now, they are
getting a chance to do so because it will help them to make more effective and efficient use of
their schooling.
2. Ask your students to think about one of their most effective and/or efficient thinking habits.
(Remind them of the thinking habits discussed in chapter 6.) Students are to spend time writing
in their journals about this thinking habit. They are to give several different examples of when
they have used this thinking habit.
3. Debrief by pointing out that they had to learn the thinking habit at some time and some place.
Now, they transfer this learning to other situations.
4. Make use of Chapter 7 Overhead Transparency 2: Near and Far Transfer to facilitate discussion
on the ideas of near and far transfer. Students are to give personal examples of near and far
transfer.
You may want to do this activity in small discussion groups. Provide each small discussion
group with a piece of butcher paper and have each group write good examples of near transfer
and good examples of far transfer. Encourage group discussion on whether something that is
near transfer for one person is near transfer for all people in the group. Post the group results in
the front of the room and use them as a basis for class discussion.
5. Give your students about 10-15 minutes to read chapter 7.
6. Discuss the text's brain theory ideas with your class. The neurons in one's brain are massively
interconnected. The process of learning something is a process of building neural
interconnections and the strength of these connections. Make use of Chapter 7 Overhead
Transparency 3: Everything is Connected to give your students practice in finding connections
in their own brains between relatively unrelated ideas and events. You can do this as a journal
writing activity or as a "stream of consciousness" oral activity with different class members
volunteering to participate.
7. If time permits, have students do the following activity as a journal writing exercise. (This is
from the Additional Activities section of the lesson plans for chapter 7.)
Open a dictionary at random and write down the first noun you come to. Next, open to a different
page and write down another noun from that page. Finally, write down some connections between
these two nouns. How are they alike? How are they different? Do they both relate to something
that you know?
8. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings.. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
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Student Activities
Students are to select one class (for example, next period's class). During that class they are to
pay careful attention to ideas that could transfer into that class from other classes, and ideas that
cold transfer out of that class into other classes. They are to make a list of these ideas and to turn in
the list as homework.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words from this and previous chapters, and
provided positive reinforcement to students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; many contributed in the whole class brainstorming and/or
discussion activities.
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
Have students think about and talk about whether what they learn at school is relevant to life
outside of school, and vice versa. Encourage them to look for examples of transfer of learning
between these two different learning environments.
Notes
As a teacher, you may want to pay more attention to your own transfer of learning. How often
do you bring ideas that you have recently learned outside of school into your teaching? How often
do you make use of what you are teaching to help you deal with problem situations outside of
school?
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LP15: Chapter 7 Increasing Transfer of Learning
Primary Goal
1. Students will understand that transfer of learning can be increased.
2. Students will learn some specific ways to increase their own transfer of learning.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read the first seven chapters of the textbook.
2. (Specific) Students can give specific examples of some of their thinking skill habits that they
use in a variety of settings.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson is designed to be done in one class period.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 7 contains three new terms:
far transfer situation
learning theory
near transfer situation
Objectives
1. Students will give examples of what a teacher can do to help them increase transfer of learning.
2. Students will give examples of what they can do to help themselves increase transfer of
learning.
3. Students will identify and practice one specific approach to increasing their own transfer of
learning.
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Description
Background
As we have said several times in this book, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it
drink." Learning and transfer of learning are quite personal things. School can provide an
environment that encourages and facilitates learning and transfer of learning. But a school cannot
do the learning for a student.
Research indicates that we can teach in a manner that encourages and aids transfer of learning.
One way to do this is to make students consciously aware of the need for and value of transfer.
Another way is to help students to develop their own particular ways that will help them to increase
transfer. This lesson focuses on these approaches.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to share
examples of knowledge and skills from one class they are taking being used in another class
that they are taking. Then ask for examples of what teachers do to encourage this type of
transfer. (Here you are looking only for positive examples. You are not soliciting comments
about teachers who don't seem to encourage such transfer.)
2. Display Chapter 7 Overhead 4: Learning For Near Transfer Lead the class in a brainstorming
activity that identifies a number of examples of Type 1 Learning that focuses mainly on near
transfer. The underlying idea is that of stimulusresponse, with quick and automatic recall or
response.
Remember that an alternative approach is to have small group discussions and brainstorming on
the topic. Each group records their results on butcher paper, and these are posted at the front of
the room.
Use the exercise to get students to start thinking about and talking about Type 1 Learning.
When is it appropriate, and why?
3. Display Chapter 7 Overhead 5: Learning For Far Transfer. Lead the class in a brainstorming
activity designed to produce examples of Type 2 Learning. Here the focus is on rich and varied
neural connections, no "right" answer, and building connections with other ideas that are
personally important. The latter point is of extreme importance. Learning is personal. The
neural connections that are built must tie in with what one already knows and with what one
already considers to be important. An emotional connection, such as "I cried when our cat ran
away." can be a very important connection when studying household cats.
4. Use Chapter 7 Overhead 6: What Teachers Can Do To Help Increase Far Transfer to solicit
your students' perceptions on what their teachers do that might help them to increase transfer.
Your students' comments will be giving you insight into what you and other teachers are doing.
Don't be defensive!
Notice the two examples provided on the overhead. Both focus on testing. Research strongly
supports the idea that students adjust to the testing situation. If teachers give tests that focus on
lower-order thinking skills, students will study for such tests and will get better at lower-order
thinking skills. If teachers give tests that require higher-order thinking skills, students will get
better at higher-order thinking skills.
Most teachers create tests that focus on Type 1 Learning. Gradually their students learn that
being educated means to having memorized a large number of facts that one can regurgitate at
an appropriate time. There are substantial differences among the educational systems of
different countries, with some countries focusing very strongly on rote memorization.
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5. Use Chapter 7 Overhead 7: What Students Can Do To Help Increase Their Own Far Transfer.
This activity is best done as a journal writing activity. Each student is to brainstorm on what
works best for them. They might do this for a particular subject, or them might do this for all of
the subjects they are studying. The goal is for students to increase their awareness of what
works for them.
6. If time permits, have students do activities 3 and 4 at the end of the chapter. Remind students
that higher-order thinking skill questions encourage drawing on one's total and personal
knowledge, rather than just inter relating ideas presented in class.
7. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and activities. You may want to make use of Chapter
7.Overhead Transparency 8: Chapter 7 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that
they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to select one course they are taking. For several class sessions they are to make a
list of the most important ideas that are presented. For each idea they are to do free
associationbrainstorming of related ideas. They are also to pay attention to related ideas that occur
in other courses they are taking. All of this is to be done in writing and turned in as a written
assignment.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students made written notes on possible answers to the discussion questions raised in
class.
All students spent time in class and outside of class working on the assignment.
Extensions and Follow-up
It is often suggested that the educational system in the United States is "run by" the testing
services that create and disseminate standardized tests that can be machine scored. Your students
could carry out a major project examining to what extent such tests impact their school and school
district. This study should also emphasize looking for alternatives. What problem situation is
addressed by standardized tests and what are alternative approaches to dealing with this problem
situation?
Notes
We know a great deal about teaching for transfer. Unfortunately, many teachers, as well as the
overall design of many school systems, encourage Type 1 Learning that does not readily transfer.
You can encourage your students to develop learning habits that promote transfer of learning.
Preface LP1 Page 139
However, you need to be aware that significant parts of our current educational system actually tend
to discourage this type of learning.
As your students gain better understanding of lower-order and higher-order skills, and as they
relate this to teaching for near and far transfer, they may begin to challenge some teachers. You will
want to discuss this possibility openly in your school. Use this as an opportunity to make a major
change in how your school approaches learning and testing!
Additional Activities For Chapter 7
1. Make a list of things that you can do to increase transfer of learning for you. Make a list of
things that your teachers could do to help you increase transfer of learning.
Transfer of learning is one of the most important ideas in helping students to get better at
solving problems. One measure of "intelligence" is how easily a person does such transfer. A
more "intelligent" person seems to be able to make far transfers more easily than other people.
But we can teach for transfer. We can help students to increase their ability to do far transfer.
Thus, we can help students to become more "intelligent."
2. Open a dictionary at random and write down the first noun you come to. Next, open to a
different page and write down another noun from that page. Finally, write down some
connections between these two nouns. How are they alike? How are they different? Do they
both relate to something that you know?
This type of activity helps to train the brain to do far transfer. In the brain, everything is related
to (connected to) everything else. But often the connection is rather tenuous. It is interesting to
see the connections that one comes up with in this type of activity.
This activity can be used in a whole class discussion. Have a student give a new word from one
of the classes they are taking. Then have another student give a word from a different class. Ask
students to give connections between the words. To what extent do most people in the class
come up with the same connections? Is this commonality of connections a product of students
having a lot in common?
3. What is a metaphor? Look up the word in a dictionary. How does it relate to near and far
transfer?
4. Name two different sports that are quite a bit alike. How are they alike? How are they different?
Now get together with another student in your class. You are to take their two sports, while they
take your two sports. Make a list of how you think/feel their two sports are alike. Then compare
your list with their list.
5. Which of the courses you take make use of essay tests? Which make use of open book tests?
Which make extensive use of objective tests? Which don't have tests? Relate your answers to
how this helps you to learn and your perceptions of the value of the courses to you.
6. How do you study for an objective test? How do you study for an open book test? How do you
study for an essay test? Relate your answers to Type 1 and Type 2 learning.
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Chapter 7 Overhead Transparency 1:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
Learning is a way to prepare for the future. You can learn
about a type of problem situation at one time and place.
You can then use this knowledge to deal with a problem
situation at a different time and place. When the two
problem situations seem nearly the same to you, this is
called a "near transfer" situation. When the two problem
situations do not seem much alike to you, it is called a "far
transfer" situation.
Near transfer is easy. Your mind does it automatically,
with little conscious thought.
Far transfer is harder. You can get better at far transfer
by study and practice. Getting better at far transfer will
make you a more efficient learner.
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Chapter 7 Overhead Transparency 2:
Near and Far Transfer
Near Transfer Situations:
1. Tying a new pair of shoes after learning to tie an old
pair of shoes.
2.
3.
4.
Far Transfer Situations:
1. Trying to tie a bow tie after learning to tie a bow in shoe
laces.
2.
3.
4.
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Chapter 7 Overhead Transparency 3:
Everything is Connected
I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.
(A poem and a tree are related in Joyce Kilmer's mind,
because they are both lovely.)
Here are some words or ideas. How are they related in your
mind?
1. A house and the earth.
2. An ocean and a cup.
3. Art and math.
4. Dogs and cats.
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Chapter 7 Overhead 4:
Learning For Near Transfer
Type 1 LearningLearning for near transfer: In learning
something new, focus your attention just on the new
material. Work to build just a few neural connections.
Practice using these connections over and over again, so that
you can do the new thing very rapidly and accurately. Build
a few, very "strong," well practiced, neural connections.
Examples:
1. Memorizing dates and events or people.
1492Columbus; America
1776Revolutionary War
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Chapter 7 Overhead 5:
Learning For Far Transfer
Type 2 LearningLearning for far transfer: In learning
something new, focus your attention both on the new
material and lots of different things that seem related. Work
to build a large number of neural connections. Connect the
new ideas to lots of different things that you already know.
Build a very large, "rich" set of neural connections.
Examples:
1. Many people have cats as household pets. Household
pets bring comfort and pleasure to their owners. There are
may different kinds of household pets. Cats and dogs can
live together as household pets. House cats are related to
lions, tigers, and panthers; these are very large animals that
live in the jungles of Africa and South America. There are
very ancient paintings that show Egyptians having cats as
pets. Some people think that cats have nine lives. "Curiosity
killed the cat." I cried when our cat ran away.
2.
3.
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Chapter 7 Overhead 6:
What Teachers Can Do To Help
Increase Far Transfer
1. Give essay tests.
2. Give open book tests.
3.
4.
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Chapter 7 Overhead 7:
What Students Can Do To Help Increase
Their Own Far Transfer
1. When a teacher presents an idea that I feel is important
enough to memorize, I do a free association until I link up
with something that is really important to me.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Chapter 7 Overhead Transparency 8:
Chapter 7 Summary
CHAPTER 7 SUMMARY
You can get better at far transfer by study and
practice. When you are learning how to solve a new
type of problem, think about:
1. What are the underlying concepts or principles?
2. How are these concepts related to other things you
already know? (Do metacognitive thinking that will
increase far transfer.)
3. What are the procedures needed to solve the
problem?
4. Can a computer or other machine help carry out
these procedures?
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LP16 - LP17 Chapter 8: Modeling
Rationale and Overview.
Chapter 7 focuses on transfer of learning. The idea is to increase your ability to build on your
own previous learning. Quite a bit of the discussion builds on a model of the human brain in which
information is stored in interconnected neurons, and thinking is a neural activity.. Learning is
building interconnections and strengthening interconnections. We encourage automaticity and near
transfer by concentrating our learning on a relatively limited number of closely interconnected
neurons. We encourage far transfer by concentrating on building widely varying interconnections
among the ideas that are being studied and other ideas that have been previously learned. We can
picture this as building and strengthening the neural links between pieces of information and ideas
that are stored in different parts of the brain.
This type of picture, description, or representation of the human brain and learning processes is
clearly a gross over simplification. It is a model that may help us in communicating with each other,
in teaching, and in learning. A model is not the same thing as the object being modeled. (The map is
not the territory.) However, models are essential in problem solving.
Computers are a powerful aid to modeling. They bring a new dimension to this field, thereby
making a major contribution to problem solving. One approach to understanding this is to develop
an understanding of the overall idea of modeling and the roles that modeling play in problem
solving. That is the approach used in this book.
In order to understand and to think about a problem, one must have develop a mental model for
the problem. Mental models are very useful because they can be easily manipulated in one's mind,
because they can be easily changed, and because they form a basis for communication with other
people.
Mental models can be "translated" or expressed via a combination spoken and body language.
That is, people can communicate with each other via verbal and non verbal (body) language. We will
call the results verbal models or verbal/body language models. Verbal models are an important
aid to problem solving because they help people to build on the previous work of others and they
facilitate group projects.
Reading and writing are a tremendous aid to problem solving because they facilitate the transfer
of verbal models over time and distance. The words of a verbal model can be written down, carried
to other places, and placed in a library. Notice that that it is more difficult to do this for a
verbal/body language model. That is, verbal modeling is inherently more expressive than written
modeling.
Reading and writing are also important because they are a major supplement to the storage,
processing, and retrieval capabilities of the human brain. (We include drawings, painting, etc. as part
of written models.) It is clear that written models are a useful aid to problem solving. A highway
map of a state is not the same as the roads and cities in the state, but it is a useful aid to solving
problems that have to do with driving between cities in the state.
Computer models combine certain characteristics of mental modeling, verbal modeling, and
written symbolic modeling. Computers can be used to help build, store, manipulate, and make use
of models as an aid to problem solving. Computers can be interconnected so that a number of
people can simultaneously share a computer model and work to build a model to help solve a
particular type of problem. This type of cooperative computer-mediated problem solving is, in itself,
quite revolutionary. Our educational system needs to prepare students to work in this world.
Chapter 8 presents an overview of modeling and its role in problem solving. The chapter builds
a case for the importance of computer modeling as a new type of aid to problem solving.
This chapter of the Teacher's Manual contains two lesson plans. The first focuses on the
general idea of modeling, moving from mental modeling to verbal modeling to written symbolic
modeling to mathematical modeling. The second lesson focuses specifically on computer modeling.
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The two lessons together are designed to help students have an increased understanding of how
they can learn to build and make use of a wide variety of models in problem solving. The lessons
provide some insight into the capabilities and limitations of different types of models as an aid to
solving different types of problems. For example, a mental model or a verbal model may be far
more useful than a computer model in dealing with an interpersonal problem.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
One of the main purposes of a computer literacy course is to help students learn about how
computers are affecting our world. Computer modeling has brought a unique new dimension to
problem solving. The cooperative building and use of models to help solve problems is of growing
importance and is adding still another dimension to attacking difficult problems. Thus, modeling,
and the roles of computers in modeling, is an important topic in a computer literacy course.
1. Computer applications.
A. A map is not the territory. A financial spreadsheet for a business is merely a modelit is
not the finances of the business. It is reasonable to argue that every model starts as a
mental model. It then can be represented in other forms, such as in a verbal model, a
written model, a mathematic model, or a computer model. You want your students to
understand this idea and how this helps in problem solving.
Select any generic computer such as a graphics package, word processor, or spreadsheet
that your students are learning how to use. Help your students to analyze how this tool is
used to build a computer model. For example, a word processor is used to build a
computer model consisting of words and pictures arranged in a sequential fashion. Then
have them compare and contrast the value of the computer model versus other forms of
models for the same information or task.
B. A hypertext or hypermedia system facilitates building a computer model of words,
pictures, and sounds that is designed to be viewed in a non-sequential fashion. Compare
and contrast a word processor and a hypermedia system as an aid to representing a mental
model.
C. A spreadsheet can be viewed as an aid to building certain types of mathematical models.
Think about the difficulties that students have in learning to use a spreadsheet. Are the
difficulties mainly syntacticallearning the symbols and what keys to press to put
characters into cells? Or, are the difficulties mainly model building and problem
solvingfiguring out how to build a spreadsheet model for a problem? In some sense,
instruction that is focused at the key press level is stressing lower-order thinking skills.
Instruction that is focused at the model building and problem solving level is stressing
higher-order thinking skills.
2. Computer programming.
A. A computer program is a model. It is a computer representation of data structures and
control structures that represent key aspects of a problem that is being addressed. When
you teach computer programming, do you use the vocabulary and ideas of model
building? Discuss these ideas with your students.
B. A programming language contains a great deal of vocabulary and special symbols or
notation. Instruction in the language can focus on learning the vocabulary, notation, and
primitives. In some sense, this is a focus on lower-order skills. Alternatively, the focus can
be on using the language to build computer models as an aid to problem solving. Examine
the compute programming course you teach. How much of the emphasis is on modeling
and other related higher-order thinking skills? What might you do to increase the
emphasis on this? Note that such higher-order skills readily transfer to learning other
programming languages.
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C. Why do we have so many different programming languages? One answer is that each
language is specifically designed to help build certain types of models. COBOL was
designed to help build business models, while FORTRAN was designed to help build the
types of math models useful in science and engineering. Compare and contrast several
different programming languages from this model building point of view. What are the
strengths and weaknesses of the language(s) you are teaching to your students? Are your
students learning these strengths and weaknesses?
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. What are the similarities and differences between a mental model and a verbal/non-verbal
model? What is gained and what is lost as one attempts to translate one into the other? Do
you think we will ever have a computer system that can do a good job of translating
between natural languages? Discuss this from your understanding of how verbal/non-
verbal models are representations of mental models, but are clearly not the same as mental
models.
B. One idea underlying hypertext is that all readers might comment on and contribute to a
text that they are reading. A hypertext document would thus become a living, growing,
changing document that is reflective both of the original author and also the readers.
Compare and contrast this with the static nature of printed materials. Discuss the merits of
having hypertext books in a library. What are the social, cultural, or historical implications
of having books that are changed over time by their readers?
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LP16: Chapter 8 Non-Computer Models
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn that they routinely make use of mental, verbal, and written models as an aid
to problem solving, and that model building is essential in problem solving.
2. Students will learn that skills in building and using models can transfer to a wide variety of
problem-solving areas.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that all students have a reasonable level of skill in translating their
mental models into verbal/non-verbal models, and also into written symbolic models. All
students have had experience in building and using math models, although they may have had
little or no formal instruction on such model building.
2. (Specific) Students have read chapter 7 and have thought about their transfer of learning habits.
They are consciously aware of the importance of transfer of learning and of learning in a
manner that increases transfer. They are beginning to think about transfer of learning as they
study and as they encounter new ideas.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson is designed to fit into one class period. Allow students about 15 minutes to read
chapter 8 Modeling and to do some of the activities they encounter during this reading. The
Teacher's Manual contains two lessons based on this chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 8 contains seven new terms:
computer symbolic model (computer model)
mathematical model
mental model
model; modeling
scale model
written symbolic model (written model)
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verbal model
Objectives
1. Students will recognize that when they are talking they are forming a verbal model.
2. Students will recognize that when they are writing, they are forming a written symbolic model.
3. Students will identify a variety of models that are used to represent the ideas in a class and/or
that are using to solve the types of problems that occur in that class.
Description
Background
There are many different ways to represent, or model a problem. Examples include mental
models, verbal/non-verbal models, written symbolic models, scale models, mathematical models, and
computer models. Each has certain advantages and disadvantages as an aid to problem solving.
The human mind naturally and automatically builds models and makes use of these models.
The development of reading and writing provided a powerful aid to the mind in model building and
in processing information contained in a model. It is clear that reading and writing, as an aid to
problem solving, changed the societies of the world.
Computers are a powerful new aid to building and using models. Moreover, in conjunction with
telecommunication access to the computer models, computer modeling gives a unique new way for
people to work together to solve certain types of problems. Through telecommunications, people
located in many different places can be examining and working to build the same model as they
work together to solve a problem.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by asking your students to build a picture in their headsa mental descriptionof a close
friend. The mental picture should include memories of pleasant times spent together and the
good feelings of having this person as a friend. Point out to your students that they have just
formed a mental model of their friend.
2. Now have your students write a description of their friend in their journals. The written
description should be a representation of their mental model. In debriefing this activity, point
out that it can be very difficult to translate a mental model into a written model. A poet may be
especially good at this. Did any of your students draw a picture of their friend? How does this
relate to the idea, "A picture is worth a thousand words."?
3. Now display Chapter 8 Overhead Transparency 1: ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING. Explain
that each student formed a mental model of a friend. The mental model is clearly not the same
as the friend. (A map is not the territory.) However, the mental model is a representation of the
friend and the friendship.
4. Display Chapter 8 Overhead Transparency 2: Types Of Models. Use this to facilitate a whole
class brainstorming approach to building a list of the types of models that people use to help
solve problems. For each type of model that is suggested by a student, have the student give an
example of a type of problem that it can help solve.
You may want to do this activity in small discussion groups. Provide each small discussion
group with a piece of butcher paper and have each group write examples of models and their
uses. Encourage group discussion on the wide range of uses of a particular type of model. Post
the group results in the front of the room and use them as a basis for class discussion.
Preface LP1 Page 153
Debrief by pointing out that there are many different types of models. Make sure that the list
that is developed includes mental, verbal, written, and scale modeling. Emphasize that a
particular type of model can be used to help solve a wide range of problems, and relate this to
transfer of learning. If one learns to build and use a particular type of model, they can transfer
this knowledge and skill to a wide range of problem-solving situations.
5. Give students about 15 minutes to read chapter 8 Modeling, making sure that all get through the
journal writing activity EXAMPLES OF USING DIFFERENT KINDS OF MODELS.
6. Do the Dream House modeling activity 5 that is given in the Additional Activities for Chapter 8.
Students are to think about an ideal house that they would like to have and to live in. They are to
form a vivid mental model. Then they are to make a list of all of the types of models that might
be useful in designing and constructing this house. Have each student work on this individually,
writing lists in their journals. Then debrief by building a whole class list. Make use of Chapter
8 Overhead Transparency 3: Models Used In Building A Dream House. The goal is to compile
a very large list of different types of models that are used in thinking about, designing, and
building a house.
7. After the list is completed, go through it carefully from the point of view of what problem each
model is designed to help solve. You want your students to automatically associate model
building with problem solving. You want them to understand that one overall problem (building
a house) may make effective use of a very large number of different models.
8. Finally, begin to raise the question of how the models are interrelated. For example, suppose
that the amount of money one has available decreases. This could occur, for example, if interest
rates go up and you can't afford to make larger payments. This means that you need to cut back
on certain features of the house, landscaping, and so on.
9. This leads naturally into the idea of which aspects of all of the different models might be
computerized, and how the computerization might interrelate the different models. This example
illustrates the real power of computer modeling in the building industry and why computers
have become indispensable to architects and builders.
10. If time permits, have students finish reading the chapter and do activities 1 and 2 at the end of
the chapter.
11. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings. Each student is to decide on one idea
that they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to select one class (for example, next period's class). During that class they are to
pay careful attention to the types of models that are used to represent the ideas and to solve the
problems that occur in that class. They are to make a written list of the types of models that are used
and how they are used. This list is to be turned in as a written assignment.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words from this and previous chapters, and
provided positive reinforcement to students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Preface LP1 Page 154
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; many contributed in the whole class brainstorming and/or
discussion activities.
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
Each academic discipline has its own special vocabulary and notation. Each makes use of
certain types of models to represent results and to help solve problems. However, few teachers talk
about modeling and few courses specifically teach the ideas of modeling. Have your students
inquire into this. Have them explore with their teachers the types of models that are most
appropriate to use within the disciplines they teach.
Notes
Modeling lies at the very heart of problem solving. To solve a problem one must understand the
problem. This means that one must be able to represent the problem (form a model of the problem).
Thus, each academic discipline can be examined from the point of view of the types of models it
uses and how it teaches students to use and create models.
However, most teachers do not think of their subject areas in terms of modeling as an aid to
representing ideas and as an aid to problem solving. You may want to explore this with your fellow
teachers. Your goal is to better understand what "modeling" means to them within their professional
disciplines.
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LP17: Chapter 8 Building and Using Computer
Models
Primary Goal
1. Students will understand that there are many different kinds of computer models.
2. Students will understand that computer models are very useful in solving a wide range of
problems.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that students have read the first eight chapters of the textbook.
2. (Specific) Students can give specific examples of where they have made use of mental, verbal,
and written models to help solve a particular problem.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson is designed to be done in one class period.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 8 contains seven new terms:
computer symbolic model (computer model)
mathematical model
mental model
model; modeling
scale model
written symbolic model (written model)
verbal model
Objectives
1. Students will give examples of mathematical models and will point out how the same model can
be applied to a number of different problems.
2. Students will give examples of models that can be represented on a computer.
Preface LP1 Page 156
3. Students will identify mental models that cannot be adequately and appropriately represented on
a computer.
Description
Background
Today's computer-based hypermedia combines text, graphics, and sound with the storage,
manipulation, and retrieval powers of a computer. In conjunction with telecommunication systems,
this gives us a powerful new aid to developing models that can help to solve a wide range of
problems.
If students are to learn to make effective use of computer models, they need to understand how
to build and use a full range of models (both on and off a computer) as an aid to problem solving.
This means that each course the students take needs to help the students to learn about the types of
models that are appropriate to that course.
Computer models are particularly useful because they can be easily changed, because
accumulated knowledge of one's self and others can be easily incorporated into a model, and
because the model can take advantage of the storage and computational powers of a computer.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by making sure all students have their books and a journal. Ask students to share
examples of models and modeling that they have witnessed in various classes they are taking.
2. Display Chapter 8 Overhead 4: Math Models. Part of the "beauty" of mathematics lies in its
concise notation and that one mathematical model can be used for a wide range of different
problems. Thus, A = LW applies equally well to finding the area of a table top and the area of a
farmer's field.
Talk about the sequence of examples in the overhead. Place considerable emphasis on what is
gained and what is lost as one develops and uses the concise notation of mathematics. A sterile
formula A = LW in no sense represents the beauty of a nicely finished table top or the farmer's
pride in growing a new pasture. Also, it takes a lot of schooling to learn to make use of
mathematical models.
3. This is also a good place to review the ideas of concept versus process. Area and perimeter are
concepts that apply to a wide range of two dimensional objects. For some of these objects there
are simple formulas that can be used to help carry out a process for computing area or
perimeter. (If you have studied math up through calculus, you realize that for most figures there
are no simple formulas and no simple procedures for computing area and perimeter. However,
computer programs have been written that can carry out the necessary computations for a wide
range of figures.)
4. Here we are assuming that all of your students are familiar with the use of a word processor. If
not you can adopt this piece of the lesson to some other piece of applications software familiar
to your students. Display Chapter 8 Overhead 5: Word Processor Models. Notice how the
overhead combines text and graphics. You might point out that clip art is now readily available
for use on a computer.
5. Now display Chapter 8 Overhead 6: Word Processor Models. Point out some of the changes
that have been made from the previous overhead. A computer is a tremendous aid to making
changes in a written symbolic model.
6. Display Chapter 8 Overhead 7: A Spelling Checker. The overhead is from use of the spelling
checker that comes with Microsoft Word 4.0. It finds the misspelling of the word "storie" and
Preface LP1 Page 157
makes a list of suggestions. None of the suggestions are the word "story" that the writer had in
mind.
Use the exercise to get students to start thinking about and talking about what computers can do
for a person in helping to build models, and limitations of computers. The major point to make
is that computers are a very versatile tool, but that we have lots of other tools that have proven
quite effective over the years.
7. Display Chapter 8 Overhead 8: Modeling Situations Where Computers Are Not Very Useful.
This activity can be done in small groups or in a whole class discussion. The goal is to identify
problem-solving situations in which one builds models, but where computer models are not
particularly useful or appropriate. For example, how do you use a computer to model a human
emotion as an aid to communicating to your friend that you are quite angry at your friend?
8. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and activities. You may want to make use of Chapter
8.Overhead Transparency 9: Chapter 8 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that
they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to do activities 6,7,8,and 9 at the end of chapter 8 as a written assignment to be
turned in.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words and provided positive reinforcement to
students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; at least half spoke at least once.
All students made written notes on possible answers to the discussion questions raised in
class.
All students spent time in class and outside of class working on the assignment.
Extensions and Follow-up
In what sense is a word a model for something? In what sense is a metaphor a model? Such
questions lead to the conclusion that models are everywhere, and that we cannot function with using
models.
It is clear that different representations (different models) for a particular think will emphasize
different attributes. Sometimes such differences are subtle. There is quite a difference between a
"print" (even if it is a signed and numbered print) as contrasted with an original painting. There is
quite a difference between hand lettered calligraphy and computer produced lettering that "looks"
the same.
You want to have your students become more aware of the subtleties inherent to different
representations of the same thing. You want them to think carefully and consciously of the
Preface LP1 Page 158
representational systems they are using (the types of models they build), and the advantages and
disadvantages of each.
Notes
It is clear that a written symbolic model and a verbal/non-verbal model for ideas in your head
will likely differ considerably. The development of written language has contributed greatly to the
societies of the world. However, this has led to a decrease in oral tradition, and thus a loss. As we
bring computers into routine and everyday use, we are making a significant change in our society.
Through this change we may gain in efficiency in solving a wide range of problems. At the same
time there is a loss.
Educators who are strong advocates of use of computer tend to deride other educators who
resist "computerizing everything." It is important to understand the deep seated and very important
ideas that underlie such resistance to computerization of the world. Find a person who you respect
deeply, but who has successfully resisted computerization. Talk about these issues.
Additional Activities For Chapter 8
1. It is not easy to describe someone or something so that another person will understand who or
what you are talking about. This is an activity that can be done in pairs or in the whole class. As
a whole class activity, consider the following example. The teacher is talking:
I am thinking about a teacher in this school. Write the name down as soon as you know it. Then
raise your hand.
A. The teacher is a man.
B. The teacher is kind of short.
C. The teacher has a big smile most of the time.
D. Etc.
As another example, consider the teacher talking again:
I am thinking of an object in this room. Write the name of the object down as soon as you
know it. Then raise your hand.
A. The object is bigger than a loaf of bread.
B. The object is located above the level of my desk.
C. Etc.
2. As listed below, this is an in class activity to be done in groups of three. This activity was given
earlier in the chapter as a small group activity. But it can be expanded to a whole class activity. It
can be expanded to a competition between teams. It is closely related to a variety of television
game shows.
Get together with two other students in the class. One person is to be the "sender" and the other
two are to be the "receivers." The sender thinks of (forms a mental model of) a person, place, or
thing. Then the sender begins to describe the object (give a verbal model of it) but without
naming it. The goal is to give a verbal model that is so good that the receivers can easily identify
the object. The "game" ends when each receiver is sure that they know the object.
The same activity can be used with the sender using symbolic modelingin this case, drawing a
picture.
3. In this chapter we have talked about the strategy of using different models for a problem.
Suppose that you are trying to solve a problem using just a mental model. If that doesn't work,
what other type of model should you use?
Preface LP1 Page 159
You should try a different model. Should you try a verbal model, a paper and pencil symbolic
model, a computer symbolic model, or what? It may be a lot of work to try just one of these.
Which is apt to be the best one to try?
This ties us back to chapter 5. It is easy to memorize a lot of strategies. It is much harder to
know when to use them. We know that a person can get better at making such decisions by
study and practice. Metacognition when practicing solving problems is very important. As you
work to solve a problem, ask yourself questions such as:
A. What strategy am I using right now?
B. Why am I using this strategy?
C. How well is it working?
D. Do I know any other strategies that I might use at this point in working to solve the
problem?
The point is, you are in school. You are learning to learn. You are learning to solve problems.
The goal is to learnto get better at solving problems. Seldom is the goal just to solve the
problem. Almost always the emphasis should be on what you are learning by trying to solve the
problem rather than on just solving the problem.
4. Brainstorm a list of problems that cannot be easily and usefully modeled in a computer. How
are all of these problems alike?
This would be a good activity for a class discussion. Can emotions be easily and usefully
modeled in a computer? How about beauty? What do we mean by "easily and usefully"
modeled in a computer? The goal is to take advantage of a computer's storage and processing
capabilities. Situations in which good use is made of both the storage and the processing
capabilities tend to be good examples of where a computer is a good aid to problem solving.
5. Dream HouseModels of a House: This material could be used for a class discussion. It
provides a good summary of many ideas in the chapter.
You already know that you can have different models for a problem. For example, you can have
a mental model, a written model, and a scale model. Each type of model helps you to think about
some aspect of the problem. In this section we give an example in which a large number of
different models are used.
Suppose that a person is thinking about building a house. Here are a number of ways that the
proposed house might be represented.
A. A mental model. The mental picture might include details of the rooms, the outside
structure, the landscaping, and the furnishings. It might include mental pictures of happy
children growing up in this house. It might include pride of ownership.
B. A architect's blueprint drawings (plans) of the house. These contain the detailed
information needed by the builder. Some specific models that might be drawn separately
include:
1. A wiring diagram. The electrician needs this.
2. A plumbing diagram. The plumber needs this.
3. views. These drawings or pictures show how the house will look from different
directions.
C. Scale drawings of the floor for each room. These show the details of how furniture will be
placed. They may include samples of fabric to be used in drapes and color swatches of
paint colors.
Preface LP1 Page 160
D. A financial analysis. This shows the cost of the house, the amount of the down payment,
the amount of the loan, monthly payments, and so on. This helps the banker solve the
problem of arranging a loan. It helps the owner figure out a budget.
E. A list of building materials. This is needed by the people who will buy the materials
F. A time schedule for the builder. This is needed for scheduling the arrival of building
materials and work to be done by specific groups such as plumbers and electricians.
G. A structural analysis. This type of mathematical analysis gives information about how well
the house will stand up to heavy winds, snow, earthquakes, and so on.
H. A landscaping plan. The landscaper needs this. It might also include a diagram of a
sprinkling system.
As you can see, there are many different ways to model or represent a house. Each different
model serves a different purpose. Each helps to solve some aspect of the problem of building a
house.
Now look back over the long list of models for a house. A computer can be very helpful in
creating all of these except the mental model. This is now becoming quite common. There are
two advantages in using a computer. First, it is easy to make changes. Second, the computer can
help do some of the work needed to solve a problem. For example, consider the problem of
whether the house will be strong enough. This is a type of problem that structural engineers
know how to solve. Computer programs have been written to solve this kind of problem.
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Chapter 8 Overhead Transparency 1:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
A model, such as a scale model, can serve in place of the
"real thing" to help you solve problems. There are different
ways to model (represent) a problem. One way is in your
heada mental model. A second way is by talkinga
verbal model. A third way is using writing and pictures. Still
another approach is to model a problem inside a computer.
You can get better at problem solving by:
Learn a number of different ways to model a problem.
Practice using different models. Learn when one is
better than another for you.
Learn to develop and use computer models of
problems.
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Chapter 8 Overhead Transparency 2:
Types Of Models
1. A scale model, such as a model of an airplane. Can be
used in a wind tunnel to help design a new airplane.
2. A wind tunnel. Can be used in place of a real wind in
testing the design of an airplane.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 8 Overhead Transparency 3:
Models Used In Building A Dream House
1. Blueprints.
2. Payment schedule for loan.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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Chapter 8 Overhead 4:
Math Models
The area of the table top is the length times the width.
The perimeter of the table top is twice the length plus twice
the width.
The area of the field is the length times the width.
The amount of fencing needed to enclose the field is twice
the length plus twice the width.
Area + Length x Width
Perimeter = 2 x Length + 2 x Width
A = LW
P = 2L + 2W
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Chapter 8 Overhead 5:
Word Processor Models
This is a story about a horse named Pat. Pat was a
beautiful horse with very pretty eyes.
Pat was raised to be a farmer's work horse, but instead
ended up in the movies. Let me tell you how this happened.
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Chapter 8 Overhead 6:
Word Processor Models
This is a story about a horse named Sam. Sam was a
beautiful horse with very big, pretty brown eyes.
Sam was raised to be a farmer's work horse, but
instead ended up in the movies. Actually, these were ads for
television. Let me tell you how this happened.
Preface LP1 Page 167
Chapter 8 Overhead 7:
A Spelling Checker
This storie contains for speling erors and sum othre
types of mistakes.
Can you find all of the errors? Will a spelling checker
find all of the spelling errors? Is there computer software
that will find the other errors?
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Chapter 8 Overhead 8:
Modeling Situations Where Computers Are
Not Very Useful
1. I'm mad at something my best friend did!
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 8 Overhead Transparency 9:
Chapter 8 Summary
CHAPTER 8 SUMMARY
Modeling is a key part of problem solving. Mental
modeling is most important. However, different types of
models are useful in working on different aspects of a
problem. A complex problem may require you to use a
variety of different models.
Many different kinds of models can be represented
inside a computer. Computer modeling may take
advantage of a computer's:
1. Storage capability.
2. Processing capability.
A well designed computer model is easy to change. This
helps in working on hard problems.
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LP18 Chapter 9: General Purpose Computer
Tools
Rationale and Overview
Chapter 8 focuses on modeling. You can think in terms of modeling using generic (general
purpose) applications tools such as a word processor, spreadsheet, graphics package, database, or
telecommunications network. You can think in terms of modeling using more specialized
applications such as a CAD/CAM (computer assisted design/computer assisted manufacturing)
system, desktop publishing, or a computerized music composition and synthesis system. Finally,
you can think in terms of special purpose and general purpose computer programming languages
as an aid to building models. Chapter 9 focuses on generic application tools, but lays groundwork
for the study of more specialized application tools. Chapter 10 discusses computer systems and
computer programming as aids to modeling
As mentioned earlier in this Teacher's Manual, there are three common approaches to computer
literacy. One is based on the study of social and vocational issueshow computer are changing our
world. A second is based on learning to use computer applications and integrating their use into a
variety of subject matter areas. The third is based on studying computer science and computer
programming. (Art Luehrmann, who coined the phrase "computer literacy" in the early 1970s,
placed the greatest emphasis on this third approach.) Many people argue that a computer literate
person has balanced knowledge among these three components of computer literacy. The nature of
the balancewhat receives the most emphasisshould depend on the particular interests of the
person and the types of fields that they are studying.
The first eight chapters of Getting Smarter At Solving Problems can be integrated into almost
any type of computer literacy course, or can serve as a basis for a self contained course on problem
solving. The ninth chapter focuses on general purpose computer application tools. This material
may prove redundant and duplicative of earlier efforts in many computer literacy courses. If a
computer literacy course focuses mainly on application tools, than essentially all of the ideas of
chapter 9 should have been covered long before students reach chapter 9. In that case, you may
want to use these materials strictly as a summary, overview, review that talks about applications
software in a unifying manner.
General and special purpose computer application tools will eventually lead to major changes in
the content of our precollege curriculum. It is possible for students to become proficient in use of a
variety of generic computer application tools by the time they finish elementary school. We have
lots of evidence that such students can become quite proficient in using a word processor, database,
graphics package, or telecommunications network.
Thus, we can begin to imagine an educational system in which all students become proficient in
use of these computer tools before them begin junior high or middle school. Junior high school and
middle school teachers who are subject matter specialists and who teach in their speciality areas
could begin to assume that all students were familiar with the generic software tools. A writing
teacher could expect that all papers would be word processed. A social studies teacher could
assume that all students know how to retrieve information from computerized databases, and know
how to create such databases.
This provides a foundation for a still larger change. In the worlds of business, industry, and
research we are seeing the development of highly specialized computer tools designed to increase
the productivity of workers. To use these tools effectively one needs to have a great deal of
knowledge about the types of problems being addressed. To effectively use a math tool such as
Preface LP1 Page 171
Mathematica you need to know a great deal of mathematics. The tools and the subject matter are
becoming woven together.
This suggests that eventually our schools will do the same thing. As students begin to study
specific subjects in secondary school, they will be studying subjects in which very powerful
computer tools exist. The study of the computer tools will be woven into the very fabric of the
subject matter, and students will not readily distinguish where the subject leaves off and the
computer begins.
Chapters 9 and 10 of the Getting Smarter At Solving Problems book focuses on generic
application tools and on computer programming. These two short chapters are not intended to teach
the use of a range of generic application packages and to teach computer programming. Rather, they
are intended to help summarize key ideas that underlie such computer software.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
Computer literacy is a balanced and functional knowledge of a number of different components.
Computer applications are one of these components. Nowadays it is hard to believe that a person
would think of themselves as being computer literate and not be reasonably familiar with several of
the generic computer application packages.
Chapter 9 of Getting Smarter At Solving Problems contains a summary of key ideas underlying
general purpose computer application packages. Here are some ideas on how to integrate this
material into different types of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. The basics of education include reading, writing, arithmetic, speaking, and listening. Five
of the most widely used computer application packages are word processor, database,
spreadsheet, graphics, and telecommunications/networking. Compare and contrast the
basics of education and these application packages.
B. There are two common approaches to making general purpose application packages
available. One approach is an integrated package, such as AppleWorks or Microsoft
Works. A second approach is via individual, self contained, pieces of software. What are
the advantages and disadvantages of each approach? Which is more appropriate to the
needs of students and our educational system?
C. Many educators think that a word processor is the single most important computer
application. This orientation has led to considerable emphasis on teaching keyboarding in
many elementary schools. Contrast this idea with the suggestion that databases and
computerized information retrieval are the most important computer application in
education. What changes would occur in education if all students were proficient in use of
a word processor and had good access to computers for this purpose? What changes
would occur in education if all students had good access to computerized information
retrieval systems and were proficient in the use of databases as an aid to problem solving?
Explore these ideas with your students.
2. Computer programming.
A. Every programming language contains some sort of an editor that allows one to type in
text and to edit text. Compare and contrast such an editor with a word processor. (This
discussion may be particularly interesting if your students have been using LogoWriter.)
B. A computer programming language contains data structures and control structures. That
is, the language contains provisions for representing and storing one or more types of data
and organized forms of this data (perhaps in an array or a list). The language contains
provisions for carrying out repeated actions on the data (loops, recursion). Select a general
purpose computer application package. Examine it from the point of view of data
Preface LP1 Page 172
structures and control structures. In what ways is the application package like a
programming language? In what ways is it different?
C. Pick an application package, such as a word processor, database, or spreadsheet. Using a
programming language that you have been studying, write a computer program that has a
number of features of the computer application package. As you work on this task, think
about the capabilities and limitations of the programming language for accomplishing
such a programming task.
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. Many students are learning touch keyboarding in elementary school, and many have very
easy access to word processor facilities both at home and at school. However, the great
majority of students lack both of these "advantages" Is this fair?
B. Should students be allowed to make use of calculators and computers while taking tests?
If a student has been given a lot of instruction in how to use a computer system to solve a
particular type of problem (for example, using a word processor to write) is it fair to make
the student take tests not using the computer system?
C. Do a survey of how many of your students have easy access to a computer at home. How
many make use of the home computer to do school work? Use this type of data as a basis
for discussion of computer equity issues.
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LP18: Chapter 9 General Purpose Computer Tools
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn that a word processor, database, graphics package, spreadsheet, and
telecommunications/networking package are all examples of general purpose computer tools.
2. Students will learn that all general purpose computer tools have a number of common
characteristics such as wide usefulness and user friendliness.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that all students have had some experience using one or more different
general purpose computer application tools such as a word processor and a database.
2. (Specific) Students have an introductory level of understanding of computer modeling. They
have read chapter 8 of Getting Smarter At Solving Problems.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson is designed to fit into one class period. However, it can easily be expanded to
several class periods. The Teacher's Manual contains only one lesson based on this chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 9 contains nine new terms. This is quite a bit of new
vocabulary to introduce in a single chapter. Make sure that you use these terms frequently during
the class time devoted to this chapter.
computer network (network)
database
desktop publication
electronic mail (E-mail)
graphics (computer graphics)
human-machine interface
hypertext
spreadsheet
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user friendly
Objectives
1. Students will state several features common to most general purpose computer tools.
2. Students will compare and contrast two different versions of a computer tool (for example, two
different work processors) on several criteria including their overall user friendliness.
3. Students will identify uses of general purpose computer tools that they could be making in the
courses they are taking if they had easy access to computers and encouragement from their
teachers.
Description
Background
Computer tool application packages can be considered as productivity tools. Some of these
productivity tools are useful over a wide range of problem areas. Examples include word processor,
database, graphics, networking/telecommunications, and spreadsheet. All but the latter are readily
learned by grade school students. A spreadsheet is an aid to a certain type of mathematical or
business modeling. Since this is a rather sophisticated type of modeling, learning to make effective
use of a spreadsheet is tends to be more difficult than learning to use the other computer tools in the
list.
Each of the general purpose computer tools is available as a self contained software package.
However, it is frequently useful to make use of several or perhaps all of these tools in dealing with a
single problem. Thus, software developers have worked on providing easy communication among
these tools. Sometimes this is done by integrating two or more of the tools into a single software
package. AppleWorks, DeskMate, and Microsoft Works are examples of integrated packages that
are widely used in education. In an integrated package, there is usually a consistent human-machine
interface. That is, learning to use one tool in the package helps one to learn to make use of a
different tool in the package.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by displaying Chapter 9 Overhead 1: ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING. Use this to
briefly review some of the most common general purpose computer tools. Help your students
to become more aware that there are lots of these tools and that a number are quite useful to
students.
2. Display Chapter 9 Overhead Transparency 2: User Friendliness. Use this to lead a whole class
brainstorming on a list of features that make a piece of software "user friendly."
You may want to do this activity in small discussion groups. Provide each small discussion
group with a piece of butcher paper and have each group write examples of features that make a
piece of software more user friendly. Post the group results in the front of the room and use
them as a basis for class discussion.
3. Debrief this activity by pointing out that the design of user friendly software applications makes
a significant contribution to education. Generally speaking, user friendly software is easy to
learn how to use because its use seems "natural" relative to what the user already knows. The
software is tolerant of user errors, so that a trial and error approach to learning while actually
using the software to solve problems will be successful.
Have your students think about such trial and error approaches to learning. Are there some
subjects where this approach is more appropriate than others? Do some teachers make more use
of this approach than other teachers?
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4. Use Chapter 9 Overhead Transparency 3 and 4: Features Of Good Software Tools. Select a
piece of applications software that all of the students know. For each of the four features listed
on the overheads, have students vote on their perceptions of an appropriate rating. When major
differences of opinion emerge, lead the class in discussion of these differences of opinion. In
some sense, the quality of a piece of software is dependent on the user.
5. Give your students about 15 minutes to read chapter 9. If you want to extend chapter 9 to
several lessons, you can spend considerable time discussing the general features and usefulness
of each of the major application tools mentioned in the chapter.
6. Assign as seatwork the evaluation of one or more pieces of applications software that students
have used. The evaluation can be done using the five point scale on the four features F1-F4. It
can also be done using the general criteria of how each piece of software is used as an aid to
modeling and problem solving. For example, a word processor is useful for:
A. Organize your thoughts.
B. Revision.
C. Mechanics.
D. Publication.
E. Making use of your previous writings.
Thus, you can rate a word processor on each of these criteria.
The software evaluation can be done individually, and then compared in small groups.
Alternatively, it can be done in small groups from the very beginning. The goal is to get your
students to become critical observers of good and bad features in the software they use.
7. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings. You may want to make use of Chapter 9
Overhead Transparency 5: Chapter 9 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that they
felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole class, in
small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Students are to select a general purpose application package that they have not used before.
They are to begin to learn to use it. As they learn, they are to keep detailed notes in their journals
about their perceptions of user friendliness for a beginner. A summary is to be written up to hand
in.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words from this and previous chapters, and
provided positive reinforcement to students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; many contributed in the whole class brainstorming and/or
discussion activities.
Preface LP1 Page 176
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
In this lesson we emphasized general purpose application tools that are useful across many
disciplines. Each discipline is developing special purpose software that is particularly valuable in
solving the specific problems of that discipline. Have students study these in contrast to general
purpose software. For example, how does a sophisticated desktop publishing program compare
with a word processor?
Notes
It is quite difficult to design applications software that is both easy for a beginner to learn to use
and to use, and meets the needs of a more experienced user. It is difficult to develop software that is
useful over a wide range of disciplines and has the depth of coverage needed by a professional in a
specific discipline. As computers get more powerful, more features can be incorporated into
applications software.
For these and other reasons, we can expect applications software to continue to get better and
better. However, already the user's manual for some pieces of applications software is many
hundreds of pages long. Entire college and business college courses are offered on a single piece of
software. It can take many hundreds of hours of study and practice to master a piece of applications
software. For some software, the level of effort required to learn the applications software is
comparable to that required to learn a general purpose programming language. Indeed, some
applications software includes a build-in general purpose programming language.
Additional Activities For Chapter 9
1. Suppose that you were going to invent a piece of general purpose applications software that
would be especially useful to students such as yourself, but was to be different than software
that you have used before. What would its features be? What types of student-oriented
problems would it help you to solve?
2. Do some writing using one word processor on a computer, and then attempt to transfer the
resulting document to another word processor on the same or a different type of computer.
What is easy and what is hard? What would make the overall process easier?
3. Compare and contrast the quality of a particular application in an integrated package with an
application package specifically devoted to this particular application.
4. Teachers: It is interesting to experiment with giving students access to a computer for test
taking. For example, the next time you give an essay test why not offer students the option of
using a word processor to take the test? If you have some experienced word processor users in
the class, encourage them to take you up on the challenge.
5. Teachers: How are you going to deal with term projects that are done in hypertext or in
hypermedia? This can be further complicated by having teams of students working on such a
project. Each may bring quite different resources to the project. For example, one student may
supply the art work, a second the music, a third the writing, and a fourth the overall leadership
needed to bring the project to completion. How do you assess the project and the students?
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Chapter 9 Overhead Transparency 1:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
Some of the basics of education include reading, writing,
and arithmetic. These are "tools" that help you to
understand and solve many different kinds of problems.
There are some computer tools that are useful in solving a
wide range of problems. Examples of these general purpose
tools include:
Word processor (modeling using writing).
Database (storing and looking up information).
Graphics (modeling using diagrams and pictures).
Spreadsheet (math modeling).
Networking (connecting computers with databases,
people, and
other computers).
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Chapter 9 Overhead Transparency 2:
User Friendliness
1. Doesn't wipe me out when I make a little mistake.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Chapter 9 Overhead Transparency 3:
Features Of Good Software Tools
F1. The software is useful in helping to solve many
different kinds of problems from many different fields.
It may be useful in every subject you study in school.
F2. The software is useful in working on the kinds of
problems in which one needs to make many changes.
The computer helps you to try different ideas and to
see the results of your trials.
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Chapter 9 Overhead Transparency 4:
Features Of Good Software Tools
F3. The software takes advantage of the power of a
computer to do quite a bit of work for you. Both the
storage and the processing power of the computer are
used.
F4. The software is easy to learn how to use and easy to
use. It is user friendly. You can easily learn how to use
the software to help solve the kinds of problems that
you are studying in school.
Summary Rating: Overall perceived quality as an aid to
modeling and problem solving.
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Chapter 9 Overhead Transparency 5:
Chapter 9 Summary
CHAPTER 9 SUMMARY
Some computer software is designed to help solve a
wide range of problems. This software can be used to
build computer models for a wide range of problems.
Key features of general-purpose software include:
F1. The software is useful in helping to solve many
different kinds of problems from many different fields.
F2. The software is useful in working on the kinds of
problems in which one needs to make many changes.
F3. The software takes advantage of the storage and
processing power of a computer to do quite a bit of
work for you.
F4. The software is easy to learn how to use.
Preface LP1 Page 182
LP19 Chapter 10: Computer Systems
Rationale and Overview.
Chapter 9 focuses on general purpose application tools as an aid to modeling and solving
problems. Gradually these application packages have become more and more powerful, and they
have become much more user friendly. Gradually they have been built into integrated packages, or
software has been provided so that individual packages can readily communicate with each other.
Thus, their capabilities have grown steadily.
Meanwhile, we have seen a marked decline in the teaching of computer programming and
computer science at the precollege level. It would appear that there is a causal relationship. It seems
clear that many people want to know how to use a computer as an aid to problem solving and to
increase their productivity. Historically, people were led to believe that this meant they needed to
learn how to write computer programs. The advent of personal computers and good quality
application packages has certainly changed that. Now, most people have little need to know how to
write computer programs in order to make effective use of a computer.
This last sentence bears repeating. A rapidly increasingly number of people make routine use of
computers on the job. Most have little need to be able to write computer programs for use on the
job. This does not mean that they would not benefit from having increased understanding of
computer systems and some of the ideas of computer programming.
Chapter 10 focuses on computer systems and computer programming. The information
provided is rather general. It can be integrated into any type of computer literacy course. If you are
teaching a computer programming-oriented computer literacy course, then most likely you have
already covered the main ideas from chapter 10.
The issue of who needs to learn some computer programming and what they need to learn will
continue to be debated far into the future. In the early history of computer programming, to become
reasonably decent at programming in machine or assembly language took a year or more of study
and practice. It took a particular type of mind and problem solving ability to get to be really good at
assembly language programming.
However, researchers and software developers gave a lot of thought on how to solve the
problem of helping a wider range of people learn to write computer programs. The result was the
development of higher-level programming languages. While there were a number of earlier attempts
to develop such languages, FORTRAN, developed during 1954-57, was the first really successful
higher-level programming language. A scientist or engineer could gain a useful, functional
knowledge of FORTRAN in a couple of weeks.
Initially FORTRAN was mainly taught to scientists and engineers who had both a substantial
background in mathematics and considerable skill in problem solving. They learned FORTRAN to
help them solve problems in the field where they were already a well qualified professionals.
Gradually, however, the teaching of computer programming spread to college undergraduate
courses and even into high schools. It soon became evident that students at all levels could learn the
syntax and semantics of a higher-level programming language. This was helped by the development
of BASIC during the mid 1960s. BASIC was specifically designed to be appropriate for college
undergraduates, and its use quickly spread even into elementary school.
As the teaching of programming spread two things became evident:
1. Almost anyone can learn to write simple computer programs that will do some simple things.
2. Most people find that it is quite difficult to learn to write programs well enough to solve
moderately difficult problems.
Preface LP1 Page 183
It is obvious why most people find programming to be difficult. First, most programming
languages are highly mathematical in nature. A programmer must be able to do a mathematical-like,
very precise type of problem analysis and thinking. Second, most students who are learning to write
computer programs are writing programs in areas where they had little professional knowledge.
They cannot draw on, professional knowledge to provide feedback, to help in error detection and
error correction, and to provide motivation or sense of purpose. Third, one writes computer
programs to solve problems. Most students have relatively poor skills in problem solving and have
had little formal training in problem solving.
The development of Logo in the late 1960s and its implementation on microcomputers in the
late 1970s provided educators with a programming language that could be used even with primary
school children. However, the three difficulties cited above remained. Such young children lack the
mathematical and precise thinking background that is helpful in learning to program. They have no
professional field of expertise in which they can apply their programming skills. Young children
have not had formal instruction in problem solving. A fourth difficulty soon became evident. Most
elementary school teachers are ill prepared to help young students learn a programming language
such as Logo.
Historically, that brings us up to date. Many precollege students receive some introduction to
computer programming. Many teacher training institutions require preservice teachers to have one
or two week introductions to BASIC and/or Logo as part of a course on Fundamentals of
Computers in Education. There are some very important intellectual ideas that have been developed
through the field of computer and information science and that could be taught to students. By and
large, however, our educational system is doing a poor job of this.
Perhaps the single most important idea to come out of the field of computer and information
science is that of an effective procedure.
Effective procedure: A detailed step by step set of instructions with the following characteristics:
1. The set of instructions is designed to accomplish a specified task (solve or help solve a
specified type of problem).
2. The set of instructions can be mechanically interpreted and carried out by a computer (or a
computerized machine, such as a robot).
The overall field of computer and information science studies a variety of aspects of effective
procedure. Here are some examples:
1. Computer engineeringbuild computers that are faster, more cost effective, able to store larger
sets of instructions and data sets, etc.
2. Analysis of algorithmsdetermine how long it will take for a particular type of set of
instructions to solve a particular type of problem. Develop faster algorithms. Determining what
types of problems are inherently not solvable by computer.
3. Artificial intelligencedevelop sets of instructions that are more intelligent-like, that are
"smarter." Out of this has come a subfield known as expert systems, and with it has come the
idea of knowledge engineering. Here the goal is to develop effective procedures that can
accomplish the same tasks as human experts within a problem-solving domain.
4. Human-machine interfacedevelop hardware and software systems that are more user friendly.
5. Graphicsdevelop computer hardware and software systems for effectively dealing with graphic
representations of information.
6. Programming languagesdevelop programming languages that are better suited to developing
effective procedures.
7. Software engineeringdeveloping a science of writing computer programs to solve hard
problems.
Preface LP1 Page 184
8. Information retrievaldevelop effective procedures for the storage, manipulation, and retrieval of
databases as an aid to problem solving.
9. Applicationsdevelop computer applications that are user friendly and that are powerful aids to
human productivity and problem solving.
10. Roboticsdevelop robots with appropriate sensors, visual systems, and manipulators that can be
used in a wide range of applications.
11. Computers in educationunderstand computers as an aid to instruction, as an object to be
studied, and as an aid to solving problems within every discipline. People are working on
effective procedures to help teachers teach and to help students learn.
12. Computers in (name any field of research)computers are affecting every area of human
intellectual endeavor. Effective procedures are being developed specifically for problems in each
field of research.
The list could be extended, but the current list should be sufficient to make the point that the
field of computer and information science is a very large, intellectually rich, and growing field. It is
impacting every area of research and of human intellectual endeavor. It is one of the most important
intellectual developments of humankind. It deserves to be an topic that all students learn about. as
part of their general education.
At the precollege level, the main purpose of a computer programming and/or computer science
course should be to introduce students to some of the key ideas in the field. Every student is
capable of learning about the idea of an effective procedure. Every student is capable of
experiencing some success in developing computer programs to solve problems. Every student is
able to learn some of the difficulties in writing computer programs and in learning to be a good
programmer.
Relatively few of your students will become professional computer programmers. A precollege
student's introduction to computer programming should not be designed primarily to lay the
groundwork to become a professional programmer. Instead, it should be an exposure to a very
exciting, delightful field of study and of human accomplishment. Students should experience joy in
discovering this field and in beginning to understand its capabilities and limitations. Students
should come to understand how this field fits in with their own interests, capabilities, and
limitations.
Chapters 10 of the Getting Smarter At Solving Problems book gives only a brief introduction and
overview of computer systems, some computer science, and computer programming. This chapter is
not intended to teach computer programming. Rather, it is intended to help summarize key ideas that
underlie computer hardware and software systems, and computer programming.
Coordination With Computer Literacy Courses
Computer literacy is a balanced and functional knowledge of a number of different components.
Computer hardware and software systems, and computer programming, are one of these
components. Nowadays it is hard to believe that a person would think of themselves as being
computer literate without having some understanding of computer hardware and software systems,
and the idea of effective procedure. Here are some ideas on how to integrate the chapter 10 material
into different types of computer literacy courses.
1. Computer applications.
A. Each application package can be viewed as an effective procedure designed to interact with
a person to solve some particular type of problem. Explain the concept of effective
procedure to your class. Then lead a discussion that analyzes various pieces of software
familiar to your students from an effective procedure point of view. For example, a word
processor does not solve the problem of doing writing for a student. Rather, it aids in
displaying one's writing in a form that makes it easy to read and easy to modify.
Preface LP1 Page 185
B. In some sense, every general purpose application package can be viewed as a quite limited
programming language. Each general purpose application package contains provisions for
giving a computer a set of instructions. In some cases the computer carries out each
instruction as soon as it is given. In other cases it is possible to give the computer a
number of instructions and then it carries out the instructions. For example, many word
processors allow the user to specify a variety of different printer options and then to
specify that a document is to be printed.
Select a general purpose computer application familiar to your students. Analyze it from
the point of view that it is a very special purpose programming language. What types of
data structures can it be used to create? What types of actions can one carry out on these
data structures?
C. Developing a spreadsheet model for a problem and writing a computer program for a
problem, have a lot in common. It is quite easy to develop a spreadsheet model that
contains bugs, so that it needs to be tested and debugged. It is also quite easy to make an
error when specifying a search strategy in a database. Discuss with your students how it
might be possible to detect errors one makes in using a spreadsheet, database, or other
applications software. To what extent do your students receive careful instruction in
detecting and correcting such errors?
2. Computer programming.
A. Every programming language contains some sort of an editor that allows one to type in
text and to edit text. Compare and contrast such an editor with a word processor. (This
discussion may be particularly interesting if your students have been using LogoWriter or
some other programming language that incorporates a rather general purpose word
processor.)
B. A computer programming language contains data structures and control structures. That
is, the language contains provisions for representing and storing one or more types of data
and organized forms of this data (perhaps in an array or a list). The language contains
provisions for carrying out repeated actions on the data (repetition, recursion). Select a
general purpose computer application package. Examine it from the point of view of data
structures and control structures. In what ways is the application package like a
programming language? In what ways is it different?
C. Pick an application package, such as a word processor, database, or spreadsheet. Using a
programming language that you have been studying, write a computer program that has a
number of features of the computer application package. As you work on this task, think
about the capabilities and limitations of the programming language for accomplishing
such a programming task.
3. Computer awareness, including exploration of social and vocational issues.
A. If a computer is to solve a problem, someone must develop an effective procedure that tells
how to solve the problem. It turns out that it is quite difficult to write an effective
procedure directing a computerized robot to do tasks that a person can easily learn to do.
Select a task such as going from one's desk to a pencil sharpener, sharpening a pencil, and
returning to one's desk. Have students write effective procedures (which are to be carried
out by other students who are pretending to be robots) to sharpen a pencil.
B. Do a whole class brainstorming activity on making a list of different types of problems
for which no effective procedure currently exists. Use this list to promote class discussion
on limitations of computers. Are there certain categories of problems that people routinely
solve, but which computers cannot currently solve and may never be able to solve?
C. What types of jobs will people have in the future? If a computer can solve a particular type
of problem (accomplish a particular type of task) in a cost effective manner, will such a
Preface LP1 Page 186
job be turned over to the computer? What does this mean in terms of the types of jobs that
will be available to people What are the educational implications of such issues?
Preface LP1 Page 187
LP19: Chapter 10 Computer Systems
Primary Goals
1. Students will learn a definition of effective procedure.
2. Students will learn that the computer field is continuing to change very rapidly due to progress
in developing both better hardware and better software.
Prerequisites
1. (General) It is assumed that all students have had at least a little exposure to a programming
language such as BASIC, Logo, or Pascal.
2. (Specific) None.
Materials Setup
1. (For the teacher)
Overhead projector, blank acetate, acetate pens.
Overhead projector slides from black line masters in Teacher's Manual.
(Optional) Butcher paper, felt markers, and masking tape for use by students. These can
be used in small group brainstorming and discussion sessions which lead to the creation
of summaries that are posted in the front of the room to facilitate whole class discussions.
2. (For students) It is expected that students have a journal, writing implement, and the book
Getting Smarter at Solving Problems.
Time Considerations
This lesson is designed to fit into one class period. However, it can easily be expanded to a
large number of class periods. The expanded time can be used to teach some computer
programming and/or to compare two different programming languages that students have
previously been exposed to. The Teacher's Manual contains only one lesson based on this chapter.
Glossary
One major goal of the overall course is to help students increase their working vocabulary. Each
chapter of the student text contains some words, phrases, and concepts that are highlighted in the
chapter and defined in the Glossary. Chapter 10 contains ten new terms. This is quite a bit of new
vocabulary to introduce in a single chapter. Make sure that you use these terms frequently during
the class time devoted to this chapter.
bug
central processing unit (CPU)
chip
computer system
debug
hardware
higher level programming language
integrated circuit
Preface LP1 Page 188
machine language
software
Objectives
1. Students will give examples of procedures that they carry out "almost without thinking" to solve
problems of personal interest.
2. Students will indicate how they detect errors in the types of personal procedures that they
routinely use to help them solve problems.
3. Students will practice procedural thinkingdeveloping personal procedures or effective
procedures.
4. Students will give examples of types of problems they have personal procedures to solve, but
for which there are no effective procedures.
Description
Background
A computer is a machine designed for the input, storage, manipulation, and output of symbols.
If a computer is going to solve a problem it is necessary to:
1. Represent the problem using a computer.
2. Develop or obtain an effective procedure that directs the computer to carry out the steps needed
to solve the problem. (The combination of the representation and the effective procedure is a
computer model for the problem.)
3. Have computer hardware of sufficient storage capacity and speed to carry out the needed
processing in a timely manner.
All people develop personal procedures that they eventually routinely use with little or no
conscious thought. It is much more difficult to develop effective procedures that a computer can use
(with no thought whatsoever) to solve problems. Procedural thinking refers to thinking about
problems in terms of developing personal procedures and effective procedures to solve the
problems. Procedural thinking is an important intellectual idea.
Teaching Procedures
1. Begin by displaying Chapter 10 Overhead 1: ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING. Use this and
Chapter 10 Overhead 2: Computer Hardware System, to briefly introduce (or review)
vocabulary such as hardware, software, computer system, CPU, and computer memory.
2. Talk about changehow the hardware components of computer systems are getting better.
Primary and secondary memory are getting larger and more cost effective. The CPU is getting
faster. I/O units are getting more versatile. As a very rough estimate, the cost effectiveness of
computer hardware has improved by a factor of a million since the first mass produced
computers began to be produced in 1951.
The idea of an improvement by a factor of a million in the cost effectiveness of a useful product
is hard to imagine. You might have your students think about developing a car or a ball point
pen that is a million times as cost effective as early, mass produced versions of these objects.
3. Display Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 3: Effective Procedure. The overhead contains
three examples of effective procedures. Have class members suggest other effective procedures
that might be good primitivesgood building blocksin writing programs to solve more
complex problems.
Preface LP1 Page 189
4. Display Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 4: Personal Procedure. Lead a whole class
brainstorming activity in identifying a long list of personal procedures.
You may want to do this activity in small discussion groups. Provide each small discussion
group with a piece of butcher paper and have each group write examples of personal
procedures. Post the group results in the front of the room and use them as a basis for class
discussion.
5. How do you detect when you have made an error with a personal procedure? For example, you
might use the wrong personal procedure or you might make a mistake in carrying it out. Have
your students do journal writing on this question.
6. Use Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 6: Errors in Using Personal Procedures to debrief the
journal writing activity. Focus on the idea that with personal procedures, one knows a lot about
the problem that is being solved and can easily recognize when one's actions are not helping to
solve the problem. Compare and contrast this with computers, especially with complex
computer programs that are being used to solve complex problems.
7. Give your students about 15 minutes to read chapter 10. If time permits, assign activity 1 and 2.
8. Closure. Near the end of the period, get students to think about some of the important ideas that
have been covered in today's discussions and readings. You may want to make use of Chapter
10 Overhead Transparency 6: Chapter 10 Summary. Each student is to decide on one idea that
they felt was particularly important. As time permits these ideas can be shared by the whole
class, in small groups, written down, or merely thought about at a personal level.
Student Activities
Give students an assignment of writing a brief essay that gives arguments for and against
requiring all students to learn to write computer programs. Their essay should summarize
arguments for and against this requirement, and then give their own, personal opinions on the
subject.
Student Learning Indicators
1. Formative evaluation (for the teacher).
Students were actively engaged and had fun.
An atmosphere of discovery-based learning was created and maintained.
You made frequent use of the Glossary words from this and previous chapters, and
provided positive reinforcement to students using these words.
You were satisfied with how well the class went.
Your learned some new things about your students and/or yourself.
2. Assessment of student performance.
All students were engaged; many contributed in the whole class brainstorming and/or
discussion activities.
All students wrote in their journals.
Extensions and Follow-up
This lesson covers the idea of effective procedure and makes use of personal procedures to help
illustrate effective procedures. Procedural thinking is thinking that leads to developing personal and
effective procedures to solve problems. Have your students do daily journal writing on procedural
thinking and how it might apply to the classes that they are taking. This activity should extend over
several days.
Preface LP1 Page 190
Notes
There are some people who claim that effective procedure is perhaps the most important
intellectual idea that has been developed in the 20th century. At one level it is a quite simple idea.
For what problems can we write computer programs that will solve or help solve the problems?
However, at deeper levels we get to questions such as, "Can a machine think?" and "Will we
eventually have computer systems that are smarter than people?" Secondary school students can
begin to explore such difficult questions, and they can continue to work on them for the rest of their
lives!
Additional Activities For Chapter 10
1. Why do we have computer programming languages? Why not just use English to tell a
computer what to do? Discuss this question. If you know a programming language, make use
of examples from that language to help in the discussion.
2. Can computers teach better than teachers? Write an essay that explores this question.
3. What ideas from computer programming readily transfer from learning one programming
language to learning another programming language? What ideas don't readily transfer?
4. What ideas from computer programming seem to transfer to solving problems without use of a
computer? Give specific, personal examples.
5. Why can't computer scientists write a program that can solve any problem that is posed to it,
provided only that the problem is solvable?
Preface LP1 Page 191
Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 1:
Organize Your Thinking
ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING
A computer system consists of hardware and software.
Hardware is physical machinery. Software is computer
programs.
The computer field is changing quite rapidly. Each year,
computer systems improve quite a bit. Both the hardware
and the software get better.
To use a computer, you must "communicate" with the
machine. You must tell it what to do. Modern computers
are much easier to use than older computers because it is
easier to tell them what to do. Rapid progress in continuing
in this area.
Preface LP1 Page 192
Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 2:
Computer Hardware System
Each of the hardware components of a computer system is
being substantially improved over a period of a few years.
Preface LP1 Page 193
Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 3:
Effective Procedure
Effective procedure: A detailed step-by-step set of
instructions with the following characteristics:
1. The set of instructions is designed to accomplish a
specified task (solve or help solve a specified type of
problem).
2. The set of instructions can be mechanically interpreted
and carried out by a computer (or by a computerized
machine, such as a robot).
Some effective procedures that are often used:
1. Sort a list into alphabetical order.
2. Sort a list into numerical order.
3. Search through a list to see if it contains a particular
item.
4.
5.
6.
Preface LP1 Page 194
Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 4:
Personal Procedure.
A procedure that you carry out routinely, almost without
thinking, to help you solve a problem. Examples:
1. Tying a bow in your shoelace.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Preface LP1 Page 195
Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 5:
Errors in Using Personal Procedures
1. If I make a mistake in tying my shoe, I can see that I
have a knot or that the shoe is not tied.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Preface LP1 Page 196
Chapter 10 Overhead Transparency 6:
Chapter 10 Summary
CHAPTER 10 SUMMARY
Each year sees continued rapid progress in computer
hardware and software. This progress is occurring in
three areas:
1. Developing hardware that is faster, more reliable,
and cheaper.
2. Developing software that is easier to learn how to use
and easier to use.
3. Developing packages of applications software that
can solve or help solve the problems in a particular
discipline.
Preface LP1 Page 197
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Appendix: Model Lesson Plan
(6/2/90)
Title of Lesson Plan
Primary Goal(s)
Typically a specific lesson has one or two specific goals. Here are several examples of specific
goals.
1. Students learn that they are quite smart and that they can get smarter.
2. Students learn that there are many different aids to helping the human mind to solve
problems.
3. Students learn to make use of the Top Down Analysis Strategy.
4. Students learn to identify strategies that they commonly use in coping with everyday
problems..
In each of these example, the key phrase is "Students learn ..." Other possible key words or
phrases include that students:
construct
discover
explore
increase their skills at
investigate
learn about
learn another way to think about
learn how
learn to apply
learn to devise
learn to express
learn to identify
learn to predict
learn to specify
make use of
use
Prerequisites
All knowledge is built on previous knowledge. The teacher needs to think carefully about some
of the key pieces of previous knowledge that are being assumed. This can be particularly
Preface LP1 Page 201
challenging in instruction about problem solving where the student is expected to draw on a wide
background of problem-solving ideas and experiences, and to apply new knowledge in a wide
variety of situations.
Generally, most prerequisites are not stated. For example, students need to be able to read in
order to read the chapter. They need to be able to carry on a conversation in order to engage in a
conversation-type activities. They need social skills to appropriately interact with the teacher and
their fellow students in the classroom.
In a long sequence of lessons, the prerequisite for one may be an understanding of the previous
one, and so on. This strongly suggests that a new lesson begin with a review of key ideas from the
previous lesson.
Materials Setup
Almost every lesson assumes that students have their texts, journals, and a pencil or other
writing tool. Many lessons assume the teacher has an overhead projector; blank acetate, and acetate
pens. Generally it is redundant to repeat the need for such materials in every lesson plan.
Some lessons will require access to computers and particular pieces of software. Other lessons
may require access to films or video tape players. These facilities may need to be scheduled well in
advance of the class.
Many lessons require that a page or two be duplicated and handed out to students.
Time Considerations
Occasionally there may be a lesson that takes a particular block of time. However, usually a
lesson is flexible enough so that it is not "destroyed" by a fire drill or other interruption.
Glossary
This is a listing of the terms that are to be emphasized. One goal of the course is to have the
students acquire a substantial number of new words as part of their working speaking and writing
vocabulary. The teacher must role model this as well as give the students lots of practice in using
the vocabulary.
Objectives
These are more specific and more detailed than the Primary Goal(s). These are measurable
behavioral, performance, and process objectives. The teacher should be able to determine if a
student is able to accomplish an objective Typically there are a couple of objectives for each
Primary Goal in a lesson. Some examples include:
1. Students will identify the Given(s) and the Goal in a written statement of a clearly defined
problem.
2. Students will be able to give a variety of personal examples of near and far transfer.
3. Students will recognize when they are making use of the top-down and bottom-up
strategies in attacking a problem.
4. Students will pose a variety of problems from a given initial situation by stating different
possible goals that relate to the given situation.
5. Students will write a short essay in which they make use of the vocabulary of modeling in
a manner that displays understanding of the meaning of the terms.
6. Students will use the book's glossary and rewrite several definitions into their own
language.
7. Students will use a four step process of problem solving.
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8. Students will display a positive attitude as they participate in a group brainstorming
session on a specific problem topic.
Description
Background
This usually consists of several paragraphs containing a summary of the key ideas to be taught.
This is a combination of a summary of the key ideas and the narrative overview from the NSF
lesson plans.
Teaching Procedures
This is a detailed, sequenced set of directions of what the teacher is to do. It is the heart of the
lesson plan.
1. Review ...(Do an advance organizer; engage the students.)
2.
3.
4.
5. Etc., Etc., Etc.
6. Closure (Bring the lesson to a close.)
Student Activities
Specific assignment to be done in and outside of school, with specific due date.
Student Learning Indicators
This is also called Evaluation or Assessment. It is a key part of the lesson plan. You will assess
the Performance Objectives. Informal and formal interview, test, observe behavior, individual and
group projects, class discussion. These are general suggestions as to how one might evaluate. How
about the idea of formative evaluation to the teacher versus grade-producing evaluation of the
individual student.? What can the teacher observe or measure that indicates the lesson has been a
success in achieving its Primary Goals?
1. Formative (for teacher)
2. Self evaluation
3. Short term factual recall and use (by individual student)
4. Long term factual recall and use (by individual student)
Extensions and Follow-up
Ideas on extending the material covered in this lesson. Extensions can be used to make another
lesson, review and extend ideas in the current lesson, and so on. There may be two distinct parts.
One is ways of building on, or extending, the lesson. The other is activities that reinforce or review
the lesson.
Notes
This is the final "catch all." Anything that doesn't fit elsewhere can be stuck in here. It can
include references and sources of additional information and ideas.