The topic I chose was problem solving, because problem solving has been something I have struggled with since I was a kid. I have trouble with well-defined problems which are problems that usually have a correct answer and certain procedures or rules that will lead to this answer. The problems I have trouble with are math related. Some would think that a well-defined problem may be easier to solve because you know there will be a specific answer but that is not always the case.
I have had a few periods from middle school to college where I needed tutoring for math . I can remember being in 6th grade and staying after to work on math problems and writing the steps out on paper while I tried to solved them. I had trouble with this because I had trouble setting the problem up. I was seeing the problem wrong in my mind and that had me focusing on the wrong information. The tutoring I received helped me because it showed me a different way of working thought of the problem. One of the ways I could confirm that staying after and practicing different math problems was when I was learning new ways to approach and solve the problem and come up with solutions. Also, along with the well-defined problems there are other problems that need solving and these can be a bit stressful too.
I am a worry wart and an overthinker, so when it comes to things such as deciding on what summer courses to take, my personal relationships, or paying bills, I have a hard time focusing he rest of the days on other things, if I can’t figure out a solution to these problems. These types of problems don’t have a specific solution but they require thinking. I usually come up with different ways I can fix these problems and then hard part is choosing the best one to execute it. For example, after weeks of contemplating what courses to take I finally chose one that I thought would be appropriate to fill some math credits I had left. Normally I would take longer at figuring out which classes to take on my own rather than my academic advisor choosing some for me.
I am glad I had the opportunity to learn about problem solving in depth. I now have a better understanding of the reason why I may have struggled in areas such as solving math problems. Hopefully now when I struggle with a problem I will come up with some better strategies after learning about problem solving in this lesson.
I admire that you solved your problems. A Problem is a hurdle standing between an Initial State – the way things are, and Goal State – the way we want them to be, a solution. Like your math quandary, mine was time management.
Since I felt I was doing everything quickly enough and still did not have enough time, I obviously had a Mental Set – a predetermined formulaic style, about how my day should go. I needed a course of problem-solving action, like establishing Subgoals – smaller goals leading closer to the goal state, producing Intermediate states – the condition of a problem after each met subgoal, requiring Means-End Analysis – thought production closing the initial and goal state gap, and finally, Operators –tools used to move actions toward their goal state, all within my Problem Space – the canvas on which to draw a solution (Goldstein, 2015, pp. 336-342). This was how I was going to streamline my day.
Subgoal 1 was to shorten kitchen/house cleaning. Subgoal 2 was to track adherence with a time-log. Subgoal 3 was to set an alarm for regulation. Subgoal 4 was to avoid addictive media. Subgoal 5 was to delegate tasks to experts like accountants.
I initially had Fixations – focuses on usual usages preventing me from seeing more efficient means. Then in a lightbulb of Insight – the moment of solution realization, I mentally Restructured my enigma representation (Goldstein, 2015, p. 337): After staying in hotel due to repairs, the new setting sprang novel ideas. One was to run my own dishwasher more often which would save time and water; this was Operator 1. Operator 2 was the timesaving ways I saw Housekeeping clean.
As in the Tower of Hanoi (Goldstein, 2015, p. 341), I used subgoals and operators to reach desired status, and reach it I did.
References:
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Goldstein, E. B. (2015). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience (4th ; student ed.). Cengage Learning.