• engages the learner in reasoning skills
• involves selecting relevant information and understanding its relationship to the problem
• boosts the learner's confidence
• encourages learners to share ideas and learn from each other
• gives teachers the chance to see how learners think and how they apply their knowledge and skills

If you would like to read the reflections of a teacher who came up with a local problem at her school and managed to investigate it with her Grade 8 learners, have a look at the site. They called it "Something in the air".  The questions they came up with were:

• Why were people at the school always getting throat ailments?  and
• Why were the CO₂ counts at the school so much higher than at other schools?

To read all about it, go to: http://www.wested.org/tales/01air01.htm

"The Internet played a pivotal role in all of this. My students got excited when they compared their CO₂ readings with readings emailed from other schools. I don't think they would have been as involved if they began by comparing their readings to an esoteric chart or set of standards. Communication with a worldwide peer group was crucial--it made the problem real and important."

Some problem-solving strategies 

You may want to use the brainstorming or concept mapping techniques just to help clarify (make clearer) your thinking on what the problem is, to start with.   Look at these two problem-solving strategies.  Try to think how one might apply them to your problem.

The first is the Big Six strategy.

The second is the problem-solving  Define, Design and Select method. It is important to go over these steps slowly and review them as you go along.

Often problems are complex and sometimes too big to implement long term solutions.  When using problem solving strategies in your classroom, try to focus on more easily managed problems, where solutions can be devised, implemented and then evaluated.