What is the Problem-Solving Approach?

      As most people know, I've worked at a local pet store since I was a junior in high school. Its a tricky job to become effective at because there is a certain degree of "content knowledge" you need to possess in order to work there. Unlike most entry-level jobs, I can't just be trained in a single video on how to do my job. I can't just read a manual to know about what products we sell, how they work, and how well they work. It takes years of interacting with a variety of pets and their owners to develop even a basic idea of how to care for them. I've learned how the nitrogen cycling of a fish tank works- because I've had to cycle plenty of fish tanks. I've learned how reptiles use UVB wavelengths of light to process calcium, because I've seen what metabolic bone disease can do to someone's beloved bearded dragon. I've even learned about pseudo ruminant coprophagy from working with guinea pigs and rabbits. My job offered a lot of real world applications of what I was learning in my agriculture classes throughout high school and into college.


What is Problem Solving?

      In the classroom, we can define problem solving as a set of skills and dispositions in which students apply what they have learned to a real-world situation to develop a solution. It is an approach to learning that teachers can use to teach content to students by providing a way to apply that content to a problem a hand. Problem solving is a learned skill, and one that must be applied to any subject in order to enhance learning of that subject. This process involves a continual loop of being presented with a problem, researching solutions to that problem while drawing on past experiences, and testing that solution to solve the problem. If the solution succeeds, then what has been learned can be applied and modified in similar problems to come. If the solution fails, the plan needs adapting and retrial must occur until the problem is solved.

      When this approach is employed within the classroom, problems must be well-structured and have clear goals to achieve. When teaching using a problem solving-based approach, teachers need to be aware that their students may not have many past experiences or prior knowledge on which to build for a solution. In the real world people face problems everyday, and when students learn how to solve problems, they will be more successful in their post-secondary lives.


How is Problem Solving related to Project-Based Learning?

      Project-based learning is an approach by which a "felt need" is created by offering an engaging question or situation to students. Students demonstrate what they know by applying it in the context of creating a product. For example, this spring I plan on teaching poultry and will have the students hatch eggs and rear the chicks. They cannot accomplish this task without understanding the material which creates a need for them to learn the material. Their success in raising the chicks is a real-world problem based project by which they can apply what they've learned and demonstrate their understanding.

      One of the most important things I believe a teacher needs to remember is that we are in this profession to teach students how to think and apply what they've learned. We live in the age of Google, where all of mankind's collective knowledge is held in our pocket. Agriculture is just the bus that carries those critical STEM skills. Problem solving and project-based learning are what drives that bus so that students can value their learning and translate it into other facets of their lives.