Learning Methods of Problem Solving

There is an old well-known story about a novice truck driver driving a tall truck who misjudged the clearance below an overhead railway bridge. In trying to pass through, the truck got stuck under the bridge and thereafter would not drive in either forward or reverse gear. With the traffic blocked, a crowd began to gather around, and many people tried to help by pushing the truck but could not dislodge it. Suggestions poured in from the crowd, such as calling in a bulldozer, an army tank, or a herd of elephants to push the truck out. As time went by, calls for help were made to the traffic police, the city transportation engineers, and the railway engineers, but to no avail. The crowd began to offer more drastic ideas, ranging from breaking down the truck and digging up the road to dismantling the bridge. People laughed when a schoolboy came forward and said he might be able to help, and they dared him to try. So he walked up to the truck, and let the air out of the tires, which lowered it enough to drive out. One lesson deducible from the story is that problems can usually be solved in multiple ways, some more efficient than others. In order to come up with an efficient method for the solution of a problem, one must first be aware of the alternative ways for solving a problem. The present article is concerned with outlining and illustrating some commonly used methods of problem solving, and with ways of helping students acquire awareness of such methods. In particular, it suggests incorporating in the classroom work multiple methods of problem solving, and a deliberate and explicit discussion of the problem solving methods employed for problem solving, as opposed to focusing solely on the solutions to particular problems. Among other potential benefits, such an approach could lead to a greater awareness of the process of problem solving among the learners. Such learning is particularly pertinent to engineering, which is a profession of problem solving, and to engineering education, which relies heavily on problem solving as a vehicle for learning, and for numerous other purposes including learning assessment and content management, as described in [1]. The importance of problem solving skills is universally recognized, but teaching them remains a challenge in engineering education. For as long as anyone can remember, new instructors have always been surprised by the students’ inability to solve simple problems, while experienced instructors concerned about the students’ problem solving skills have Madhu S. Gupta is with San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA. [email protected] © M A S T E R S E R IE S