Observations on Chapter 8

Dewey rocks! Ok, I'm not sucking up to Dr. Theodore, but I think it's amazing that his view on problem solving, something that's been around 80-90 years, is still the basis of the "modern model" as put forth by the text. In fact, I like Dewey's model better than the one in the text! Why? Well, as an employee of the Science Center, I like how the text describes Dewey's problem solving model using scientific methodology terms.

"Identifying a problem is one of the most difficult and challenging aspects of problem solving because it requires creativity and persistence yet a willingness to ponder a problem for a long period of time without committing to a solution too early in the process." (Bruner, 164) I think the important, well at least the most provocative, word is "creativity." I've always known that solving a problem might require creativity, but it never occurred to me that you would need it to just identify it (academically, they are too often identified for you)! I have to wonder though if one could become too creative and create a problem. In terms of "importance," I really think persistence is key to problem solving, and combined with the last chapter, it really reinforces the idea that intelligence is mainly a matter of persistence.

I also base this on my experience at the Science Center: it surprises me how quickly kids give up on a problem. For example, we have a "hamster wheel" where the kids have to figure out how to get a very large, heavy wheel moving. It's mainly a matter of figuring out where to place your feet/weight to get it to go. You can tell by where the kid's eyes go and how the parents' distance from the wheel to see how persistent the kid will be. The further the parent is away and the more the kid looks forward/down at the wheel the odds of success go up. If they cannot figure it out, then they'll either reflect/pause, and/or they'll ask me for help. The ones that give up easily, usually have a parent telling them how to do it, and/or they look at you or the parent without putting much effort into solving the problem. To be fair to these kids who might not have built the appropriate schema (low self-efficacy for hamster wheels), I, according to the text, guide them along the process without giving them the answer. Although, since there's a line to try out the wheel, I sometimes need to tell them outright how to do it, but I make sure I represent the problem, tell them why the strategy worked so well as they power the wheel, ask them if there could be a better technique, and invite them to come back again to try something different!