Monday, March 30, 2009
how would you solve a problem that you've never had to solve before?
This seems to me to be a question that is very open ended. First solving a problem involves having a problem. Therefore, it only seems right to start by addressing the problem. Solving the problem involves admitting there is a problem and focusing on what type of problem has evolved. Different problems call for different solutions and different ways to obtaining that solution. We asses this type of situation constantly. Take for example, "should I stop for breakfast and risk being late for class". After finding the problem I normally weight the pros and cons in looking for which has more pros than cons. My thought process on this particular problem would go something like... Pros of getting breakfast: more attentive and not focuses on hunger, healthy to eat breakfast, breakfast supplies needed nutrients to get through the rest of the day. Cons to getting breakfast: it is rude to be last to class, it is disruptive at some times to eat, the teacher or students might get distracted by the food, possibly being marked absent for only missing a few minutes. Once the pros and cons are established I would go back through and place a hierarchal system to the each pro and con. This is because some may be more important that others. Once this is done I would have established which option would be better and the problems is resolved. I take this same approach to most problems I face.
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This sounds like a problem you have faced before, although admittedly the solution may not be the same in each case. What would you do if you were traveling abroad and lost your passport? Or if you were driving in an unfamiliar city and got a flat tire? Or lost your cell phone? Maybe you've had to solve these problems as well -- what I was hoping to demonstrate to you with this question is that solving unfamiliar problems has a lot in common with designing a research strategy: identifying the problem (or question), naming it, and coming up with a plan to solve it (or study it), with certain measurements added in to check your progress/solution/findings.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are talking about, Kaitlyn, and I generally go about solving problems the same way.
ReplyDeleteDr. Fathman, if I were in a foreign city and lost my passport (which, I guarantee has never happened because I have never been abroad) I would first look in all the places I may have left it. If this failed, I would call whatever form of Welcoming place the city had, and ask if anyone had returned a passport. If no one had, I'd probably report it lost/stolen to the local police and issue a request for a new passport, just in case.
Again, though, I don't have a passport and don't know how any of this really works.
Every problem you encounter has to be done on a step-by-step process. You are right, sometime we do not even realize that we have a problem until someone else notices first. I find myself doing the whole pro/con scenario a lot with breakfast in the morning. It usually is..do I have enough time to sit down and eat or do I have to eat in the car? well honestly, I never chose to eat in my car. I always take the time to sit down and eat, so that I enjoy my morning and start my day off right. It is almost like I use eating breakfast as an excuse to be late for class in the morning. Somehow I am always a couple minutes late for my first class in the morning because I decided to sit down and eat that breakfast.
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