Online Resources on Problem-Solving Methods and Brain-Based Learning

I know I am very practical and methodical when it comes to approaching a problem or anything new.  But usually the methodology is just my careful approach in a manner that I deem logical.  So, coming across actual methods is a welcome change and I had fun exploring the different models.  The first model is referred to as the LIBRE Stick Figure Tool (LSFT).

This tool can be found through Walden’s library database at http://isc.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/content/44/4/229.full.pdf+html

This particular model is a graphic organizer, it is meant to “Foster Self-Regulated Social Cognitive Problem Solving” (Guerra).  The tool is a fun graphical interface, this visual representation of the roadmap to problem-solving helps to see and identify with the problem more clearly.   It is meant to be followed in a sequence of steps that encourages discussion and elaboration of a particular problem the student is facing.  “The LSFT is intended to provide supportive, problem-solving visual cues which allow for the teaching of problem-solving skills while the associated prompts facilitate skill acquisition” (Guerra).  The steps that outline this method are; Listen, Identify, Brainstorm, Reality Test and Encourage.

http://www.agpa.uakron.edu/p16/btp.php?id=metacognition is another website that I found interesting.  This website has a number of different approaches to problem-solving.  This is helpful as not all problems can be solved in the same way, so depending on the problem and student you can pick the method that may work best for you.  There are explanations for each method, for example, metacognition; “Regardless of how much experience or knowledge a problem-solver has, each new problem situation is in some ways unique, requiring creative application of strategies for posing, solving, and resolving the problem at hand.  Metacognition is awareness and understanding of one’s self as a thinker” (Helfer).

This next website is about learning and the brain.  http://www.acteonline.org/uploadedFiles/Publications_and_Online_Media/files/files-techniques-2008/Research-Report-September-2008.pdf

This article discusses the science behind learning.  More information is offered on how to create a learner centered rather than teacher centered environment, focusing more on the development of the student’s experience and learning.  Different strategies are offered such as; “Creating certain patterns, contexts and relevance for the content being taught.  Chunking information into sizeable and understandable units” (Kaufman, Robinson, Bellah, Akers, Haase-Whittler, & Martindale, 2008).   The Brain/Mind Learning Principles section offers advice to teacher’s “to engage students in conscious and unconscious processing” (Kaufman, Robinson, Bellah, Akers, Haase-Whittler, & Martindale, 2008).   The information presented in this article provides the teacher with the knowledge on how to engage the students and enhance their experience.