Limitations in Solving Complex Problems

This week in CEP 812 we read James Paul Gee’s book, “The Anti-Education Era” to find out reasons that hold humans back from solving complex problems. This is valuable information for educators to know and think about when approaching teaching. Gee explains that we must use educational technology and critical thinking skills to teach students to solve extremely complex problems. Gee describes many schools that are merely involved with standardization and grades. He is very critical of this model of educating and does not think this will create life-long learners capable of succeeding in our ever-changing world. 

In my essay, I explain the limitations that prevent us from solving big, complex problems smartly. I focus primarily on chapter 7, “Pitfalls along Our Search for Status and Solidarity”, professional experience relating to this concept, and teaching solutions applicable to creating 21^st century learners based on my understanding of this limitation. I will explain a key problem with solving problems is our inability to value empirical fact and truth over our value of fitting in with social structures. I will explain this further in my essay. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MY ESSAY

Enjoy and feel free to respond!

 

REFERENCES:

Gee, J. P. (2013). The anti-education era: Creating smarter students through digital learning.  NewYork, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Solving Educational Problems with “Poll Everywhere”

This week in my CEP 812 class, we looked at three problems in education: well-structured, ill-structured, and wicked problems. Well-structured problems are problems that are well defined and have one correct answer. Ill-structured problems are complex problems that involve many variables and are often “open-ended”. These problems can be seen in writing, reading, creating artwork, and in projects. The last types of problems are wicked problems. These problems do not have a clear right or wrong answer and are often times unsolvable.

This week, we were asked to think of well-structured and ill-structured problems that we experience in our teaching profession. We were then tasked with finding a technological tool to help solve these problems. The tool I chose to use was Poll Everywhere. “Poll Everywhere” helps address well-structured problems for students. Students may answer true/false and multiple-choice questions. Students may also answer “open-ended” (free response) questions using “Poll Everywhere”. The software works with any cell phone, tablet, computer, or Twitter.

This solves an ill-structured problem for teachers of formatively checking for student knowledge. This is an ill-structured problem because there is not one correct way to check for understanding. It can depend on the type of course, subject, previous lesson, and student age. It also can depend on teacher preference.

I have found that this solves the formative check and participation issue I sometimes experience in the classroom. It allows the teacher to see if all students comprehend the lesson and if they are retaining knowledge from previous lessons. It allows for instant feedback during the lesson and gives students an opportunity to participate who might normally be too shy. Another great feature is that students may only answer one time and the responses are anonymous so no one will be embarrassed if they get an answer wrong. And finally, the best feature…it is completely FREE!

Here is my SCREENCAST explaining this problem and solution further.

 

And here is a demonstration of Poll Everywhere.