A Case Study on Improving Problem Solving Skills of Undergraduate Computer Science Students

Every human being should possess problem solving skills in order to reach one’s desired goals in life. Problem solving skills become even more important when sustainable solutions are desperately needed to cope with twin problems of growing scarcity of resources and increasing populations. Practical problem solving skills, with clear economically viable, timely and implementable solutions are highly valued. Unfortunately the traditional curricula of most Universities, does not teach these skills up to the level which is desired by employers. The immediate and short term purpose of this research is to study and improve the problem solving skills of undergrad Computer Science (CS) students. In this paper, the long term objective is to learn the tools and techniques by which it can be achieved and then employ those in other disciplines also. The paper highlights three main folds of the research areas, firstly problem solving skills play a significant role in technical capabilities of people in general but more so for students studying in applied science and engineering areas, such as CS, secondly, problem solving skills can be “measured” and thirdly, problem solving skills can be improved with exercising and training.