Problem Solving Step 6

Problem Solving: The ability to find a solution to a situation or challenge.

Step 6: I explore complex problems by identifying when there are no simple technical solutions

Outcomes

To achieve Step 6, learners will be able to identify complex problems, which are those without simple technical solutions.

Steps 0-3 of Problem Solving focus on simple problems – those with a simple correct answer. Steps 4-5 focus on complicated problems – those where there is a technical solution, but there might be a range of options which have to be considered in turn. This step introduces complex problems – those without a ‘correct answer’.

Learners need to be able to:

Identify complex problems
Understand how to work with complex problems

Introduction

A complex problem is a problem where we cannot entirely know what the correct answer is, because it depends on a lot of different things, only some of which we can know.
Complex problems are much more difficult to work with than simple or complicated problems, because even when we have done lots of work on them, we might never know if we have come up with the best answer. Instead, we just have to try to come up with as good an answer or solution as we can.

Skill Starter

Sort it, Score it

Place two different goals to represent a 'simple' problem and a 'complex' problem. Then, pick a statement to read to the learners:

There is an increasing amount of litter in the street outside your home.
The tyre on your bicycle keeps getting a puncture and going flat.
There is no milk left to have with your breakfast cereal.

Learners take turns kicking a ball into the goal they think matches the problem. Add up the number of balls in each goal and ask a few to give a reason for their choice.

15 mins

Individual activity

Active

Teach & Apply

Complex problems are very difficult to solve completely, but we can make some good progress if we work hard on them:

1. Accept that it is a complex problem, and that you are not going to come to one correct answer that everyone understands.
2. Take time to understand the problem – try to build a deep appreciation of the problem and what the different links are between this problem and other issues in the world.
3. Try to break the problem down into smaller questions – so that the big, complex problem becomes more manageable.

Optional Activity

Healthy (Re)solutions

Choose a complex problem to focus on, for example how can we encourage more people to eat healthily and exercise more.

Ask learners:

What would the effect be?
What would success look like?
What ideas could improve the situation?
How can they break down the problem into smaller questions?

15 mins

Group activity

Discussion

Reflection & Assessment

Embed these strategies across your teaching and coaching to help learners apply what they’ve learnt.

Model and encourage learners to identify complex problems that are facing/have faced in other areas of their lives. Remind learners to break down the problem into smaller questions.

Use these ideas for ways of assessing this skill step to help you check learners’ understanding and confidence.

Learners could choose a complex problem and think about how they would go about starting to solve it, and what some of the different questions were that they would need to answer.
Ask learners these key reflection questions:
- What do you think complex problems are? Can you give any examples?
- How can we solve complex problems?
- What should we do? What should we not do?