Teaching problem solving through jigsaw puzzles

These are my notes for a class I’d like to teach high school aged kids on problem solving techniques. The set up for the class is 8-10 kids, a big table, and jigsaw puzzles that we work on while we talk, couple of hours per class, 2 classes a week for 6 weeks. I’m putting them here so anyone who is home schooling their kids can use the ideas. I would be using different puzzles chosen to show the techniques that were going to be done that day.

One of the things that talking about problem solving while doing puzzles does is add a kinesthetic mnemonic to the learning. Any time in the future, if faced with a problem that is being difficult to figure out what to do next, doing a puzzle will bring the techniques back up into their mind. Notes from classes get lost, but kinesthetic mnemonics stay in the brain, and come back up when triggered by the same activity. Because of that I’d not encourage note taking, just have one board we write on, that as things are identified are written on it for all of us to look at while we talk.

Because of the age range this class is designed for examples that would be used include searching for a job,  test taking techniques, and dealing with complex tasks at a job. This is a conversational, not lecturing style class, so sections would be started by a question that we work out the answer, and then I tell them what that answer is called. I’m trying to decide how to write it out, feel free to ask me to expand on any parts, as I’m trying to make this write up not too long.

Define the parameters of the problem
Make all data easy to work with
Organize your data
Identify patterns in the data
Look for a previous solution that might provide a framework
Find the keystone/blockage
Low hanging fruit
Eliminate extraneous data
Exclude negative results
Rearrange your data and look again
Clearly define differentiating details
Linear focus
Categorical focus
Obtain more data as needed
Adjust expectations

Hi Pearl,

I am impressed by what you have developed.  To come at this from a different direction (and to address my own biases),  I am trying to figure out how to incorporate the element of fun as this list is worked through.

well, we'd be doing puzzles, laughing and talking, and incidentally learning.

For some of us puzzles (and I immediately assumed Pearl meant "picture puzzles") are fun, social activities. That may not be everyone's experience. The difference in approaches to building from different people can be *really* enlightening. Most people build the edge first. Some will realize it when they hit a puzzle that just does not respond well to that approach, and change tactics, some will persevere despite the difficulty using that approach because that's how they've always done it, but some people seriously struggle with changing to a new approach even when it's suggested or encouraged. We're all different!

Jay Angler wrote:For some of us puzzles (and I immediately assumed Pearl meant "picture puzzles") are fun, social activities. That may not be everyone's experience. The difference in approaches to building from different people can be *really* enlightening. Most people build the edge first. Some will realize it when they hit a puzzle that just does not respond well to that approach, and change tactics, some will persevere despite the difficulty using that approach because that's how they've always done it, but some people seriously struggle with changing to a new approach even when it's suggested or encouraged. We're all different!

Exactly. And when you learn different approaches to solve puzzles besides starting at the edges, and have them extrapolated out into things like job hunting, so you understand how techniques can cross over, jigsaw puzzles are a great teaching tool for problem solving techniques. People resist what they don't understand, and what is not familiar to them. Sneaking in new things this way and making sure they are understood, gives a kid quite a toolbox for coping through their lives. That's why I want to teach it as classes, instead of the informal way I have in the past.

This reminds me of when I was kid about 6 or 7. A very cool old neighbor lady gave my sister who was a year older and I a box of candy for Christmas. In the box though there wasn't much candy, just enough to obscure a bunch of little pieces of wood. We figured out pretty quick it was a puzzle but it didn't make any sense, the pieces didn't fit together at all, too many different shapes. So we sorted them out and figured out it was two puzzles but nope that didn't work either.

So after a little more figuring, we discovered it was 4 puzzles, two spheres and two squares which actually had interchangeable  parts, so you could make weird looking things from them. But still there was a bunch of extra parts that were not interchangeable with the spheres or squares and nor did they fit with each other. Turned out they were two more puzzles, an elephant and a turtle.

Remembering it I suppose we used some of your steps but we didn't know it. We just had great fun that evening sitting on the floor in front of the wood stove putting them all together.