2016-17 Innovative Teaching Showcase
Ideas
IDEA #13: Ill-Structured Problem Solving
“Solving complex, ill-structured problems is a critical intellectual skill and the most important ‘learning outcome’ in human life.”3
Learning Intention
Most of the problems we actually face in life are complicated and ambiguous, including social and political issues, economic problems and scientific questions. Learning to make decisions when the problem itself, let alone its potential solutions and the process for solving it, is unclear is an important skill.
Overview
While clear, well-structured case studies, experiments and simulations can help students arrive at designated conclusions that may help them master content, the problem-solving skills students develop are context dependent and may not transfer well to new situations.3 Instead, carefully designed ill-structured problem-solving exercises can help students develop or enhance their critical thinking skills.3
Characteristics of Ill-structured Problems 2,3
● Real World: It is authentic and relevant.
● Unclear Goals: There is no obvious or single right answer.
● Open Process: There is no formula, rules or designated principles for finding the solution.
● Complex: The problem or issue and its potential solutions can be viewed from a variety of perspectives and may require multiple (potentially competing) approaches to find a solution.
Instructions
- Provide domain knowledge. Scaffold students' progress by arming them with some background information on the subject matter, issue or context as well as where to find additional resources and data when they encounter new questions.3
- Provide a framework. While the specific process for solving the problem is open-ended, research suggests that complex problem solving begins with understanding the problem itself, then generating criteria for solutions, followed by brainstorming possible solutions and assessing them against the criteria to come to a decision. Students will have to use critical thinking to determine what elements of the problem are key to understanding it, which values and priorities should form the criteria for the solution, and then generate a select solution.3
- Grade the process, not the product: Assess student performance by focusing on the strategies and approaches they adopted, rather than the solution itself. Give credit for providing a wide range of perspectives, a wealth of diverse options, and a depth of insight about the problem itself rather than evaluating the solution they provide.
Considerations
- What do I need to be aware of?
- What other resources might be helpful?
1. Lahiri, M. (2016). Effective of expert modeling on ill-structured problem solving in an undergraduate general education honors course. Wayne State University Dissertations, Paper 1456. Available online: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2455&context=oa_dissertations .
2. Shin, N., & McGee, S. (2003). Identifying questions to investigate: Designers should enhance students’ ill-structured problem-solving skills. Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA Classroom of the Future. Available online: http://www.cotf.edu/vdc/entries/ILLPS.html .
3. Toy, S. (2007). Online ill-structured problem-solving strategies and their influence on problem-solving performance. Retrospective Theses and Dissertations, Paper 15916. Available online: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=16915&context=rtd .