Problem Solving Step 8

Outcomes

To achieve Step 8, individuals will show that they can understand that complex problems often have causes and effects. 

Earlier, in Steps 6 and 7, individuals have been exploring complex problems by being able to recognise them and then carry out appropriate research to understand them better. This step builds on this by breaking down complex problems into causes and effects.

Learners need to be able to:

• What causes and effects are 

• How causes and effects affect our understanding of complex problems

Introduction

• One of the key things about complex problems is that they are not self-contained. Instead, there are links between those problems and other problems – that one thing might affect something else – sometimes quite unexpectedly. 

• A key part of understanding complex problems is, therefore, to think about causes and effects: 

  • Causes: This is the factor, or factors, that lead to something happening. ‍ 

  • Effects: This is the result of the causes – the thing that happened as a result.

• For example, a cause of litter in a park might be that the park has picnic benches that encourage people to eat their lunch in the park, but there are no litter bins available, so people leave their rubbish out. A further effect of the litter in the park might be that wildlife sometimes eats some of the rubbish which can be harmful, or it encourages rats who eat the remaining scraps of food.

Teach & Apply

• Causes and effects can join together in a range of different ways. 

• The main three are: 

  • Static: One cause leads to one effect, which is self-contained. For example, more watering leads to the grass to grow faster. 

  • Linear: The causes and effects join together in a line – one thing causes something else which causes something else. In this way, we can follow one line of thinking all the way through. For example, more rainfall might lead to higher rivers which leads to flooding. 

  • Circular: The causes and effects are circular, and so become self-reinforcing. For example, cheaper technology leads more people to want to buy that technology which means that more of that technology is produced, which makes it cheaper for the manufacturer. This lowers the prices again so increases the demand further.

Reflection & Assessment

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

• When when talking about sports-related concepts, such as how much training can impact performance of an athlete, learners can map out what the different causes and effects are around these.

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

• This step is best assessed through a structured assessment. For example, asking learners to show the causes and effects linked to a complex problem they are given and to share their ideas and rationale.

• Ask learners these key reflection questions:

  • What are causes and effects? 

  • Why are causes and effects a critical part of understanding complex problems? 

  • How can causes and effects join together?