Thank you to Nogah Kornberg and Christopher Federico of Rotman School of Management who provided ideas for this lesson.
Whenever the topic of 21 Century Fluencies arises, embedded in the discussion is the need to promote critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Part of the problem about teaching students to solve problems is that the problems they are asked to solve in a school environment are generally linear and have predetermined correct answers.
Students may have to demonstrate some critical thinking to accomplish these tasks, but are not required to engage with their learning in a way that forces them to contend with complexity. The kinds of problems they face outside of school, however, are complex. How do we teach for complexity? How do we teach students to devise innovative solutions to complex problems. Where do we begin?
Today my grade 7s were introduced to Causal Modelling as a way to map complex problems and find innovative solutions.
We began by learning about types of problems: simple, structurally complex and wicked.
Simple: If gas costs $1.31/L and I have a 50L tank that is 2/3s empty, how much will it cost to fill the tank? (There is only 1 right answer)
Structurally Complex: How do I get from Dundas Central to the Hamilton Airport (several possibilities, but not infinite possibilities)
Wicked: How do we solve traffic problems in the GTA?
Wicked problems are what students need to be working with. They are meaningful because they have application outside of the classroom; they are challenging; they have infinite possibilities for creative solutions and are fun to play with and think about.
We then reminded ourselves that when people engage in debate and problem solving, they tend to begin at the point that conclusions have already been drawn.
Solutions cannot be found because parties have already gone up the Ladder of Inference.
Students were asked to discard assumptions, conclusions, beliefs and decisions and to frame the problem differently.
We changed the question: "What causes gun violence?" and then began mapping causes of gun violence.
I showed students the causal model my group had created for this problem during the I-Think day at Rotman where I was first introduced to Integrative Thinking.
Mapping causality allows problem solvers to ignore the overwhelming larger problem that is seemingly insolvable and instead find solutions to parts of the problem. In the above example, we found that dealing with mental health issues would allow us to solve part of the problem of gun violence.
Students then paired up and created causal maps for the following.
How does a book become a best seller?
How does someone become a celebrity?
How does homework not get done?
How does a student earn a Level 4?
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What I noticed was intense focus and sustained conversation as students created their maps. Students were extremely positive about the experience and the approach. They loved the idea of mapping a problem in its complexity and then thinking about parts of the problem. All but one thought it would be an extremely useful tool.
Whenever the topic of 21 Century Fluencies arises, embedded in the discussion is the need to promote critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Part of the problem about teaching students to solve problems is that the problems they are asked to solve in a school environment are generally linear and have predetermined correct answers.
A + B = C
or
Follow this format to construct an essay.
Today my grade 7s were introduced to Causal Modelling as a way to map complex problems and find innovative solutions.
We began by learning about types of problems: simple, structurally complex and wicked.
Simple: If gas costs $1.31/L and I have a 50L tank that is 2/3s empty, how much will it cost to fill the tank? (There is only 1 right answer)
Structurally Complex: How do I get from Dundas Central to the Hamilton Airport (several possibilities, but not infinite possibilities)
Wicked: How do we solve traffic problems in the GTA?
Wicked problems are what students need to be working with. They are meaningful because they have application outside of the classroom; they are challenging; they have infinite possibilities for creative solutions and are fun to play with and think about.
We then reminded ourselves that when people engage in debate and problem solving, they tend to begin at the point that conclusions have already been drawn.
Solutions cannot be found because parties have already gone up the Ladder of Inference.
Students were asked to discard assumptions, conclusions, beliefs and decisions and to frame the problem differently.
We changed the question: "What causes gun violence?" and then began mapping causes of gun violence.
I showed students the causal model my group had created for this problem during the I-Think day at Rotman where I was first introduced to Integrative Thinking.
Mapping causality allows problem solvers to ignore the overwhelming larger problem that is seemingly insolvable and instead find solutions to parts of the problem. In the above example, we found that dealing with mental health issues would allow us to solve part of the problem of gun violence.
Students then paired up and created causal maps for the following.
How does a book become a best seller?
How does someone become a celebrity?
How does homework not get done?
How does a student earn a Level 4?
.jpg)
What I noticed was intense focus and sustained conversation as students created their maps. Students were extremely positive about the experience and the approach. They loved the idea of mapping a problem in its complexity and then thinking about parts of the problem. All but one thought it would be an extremely useful tool.
As someone who works with undergraduate students, I found this blog post quite inspiring! Many of the students I see (particularly those overwhelmed by the enormity of a too-broad paper topic) could really benefit from this.
ReplyDeleteMy sense is that causal mapping is different from brainstorming in that it's more focused. Brainstorming might help a person outline the terrain of a given problem, but causal mapping seems to emphasize potential solutions. For this reason, it seems like a good exercise to engage in *after* a more general brainstorming session. I've written more about the distinction I see between them, and how they might both be useful to undergrads, at my blog:
http://capitalideas.weebly.com/1/post/2013/03/march-28th-2013.html
Or would you consider causal mapping to have a similar function to brainstorming? Maybe I'm getting overly picky about the language.
Hi Krista,
DeleteThank you so much for your very thoughtful post. Several of my grade 7 students independently made the distinction between brainstorming or creating a web and causal modelling. What they found fascinating about causal modelling was that it forced them to think about connections and how one aspect of a problem influences another. I do think that each tool has a different purpose.
I would love to see the one for how does a student get a level 4. Does it simply say, do exactly what the rubric/teacher/success criteria asks for? Play the "school" game well? I'm very curious.
ReplyDeleteOnce again I love your post. Wishing I could integrate more of these ideas myself.
Not one student selected that option! It would be fascinating to know how they would map a level 4. Perhaps I'll put that to them next week.
DeleteHeidi, this morning I sat in on an on-line session that has me wanting to "fix" the education system that I now work in. Yes, not a small task at all but what this post has done for me, is provide me with a framework to break down the problems I see from my point of view. I realize that I don't know all the answers, and even if I did (which VERY CLEARLY I DON'T) I still can start at one small part of the project and work from there. Needless to say today has been a brain spinning day for me. Thanks for sharing. :-)
ReplyDeleteKaren,
ReplyDeleteI had the same kind of reaction when I was introduced to integrative thinking. Here is a set of tools that I can use to see the larger picture, break down problems and find solutions. By looking at problems differently, anyone can begin to find multiple innovative solutions!