Effectively Assessing (and Developing) Your
Students' Problem-Solving Skills
Featuring: What are the important steps in problem solving in your field?
Respond below with the textbox tool (4 th icon on the vertical toolbar to the left) Amy Godert
Associate Director of the Center for
Teaching
Excellence, Cornell
University
Jared
Danielson
Director of Curricular and Student
Assessment and
Associate Professor of
Veterinary Pathology,
Iowa State University
Session begins at 1PM ET/12PM CT/11AM MT/10AM PT. Please configure your audio by running the Audio Set Up Wizard: Tools>Audio>Audio Set
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• (Describe) novice & expert problem solvers
• (Identify) common steps in STEM problem solving
• (List) methods to develop problem solving skills
• (Select) methods to assess problem solving skills www.cirtl.net

• “Memorize” patterns
• Focus on surface elements
• Have less confidence and are more likely to give up
• Start the problem without fully thinking through
• Memorize principles
• Identify principles rather than surface elements
• Persevere and have confidence
Plan their approach and check their work
A view from inside a corn maze near Christchurch, New Zealand, Creative Commons @
Hugho226
Woods et al. (1997) Developing problem solving skills.
Novice v. expert problem solvers, McGraw Center for Teaching & Learning
Maislabyrinth in Delingsdorf CC BY-SA 3.0 Karsten Eggert www.cirtl.net

• Preparation phase
– Read the question, identify the problem
– Analyze the problem, gather information, leverage prior knowledge
– Generate potential solutions to solve the problem
• Working phase
– Select and test solution(s), get “the answer”
• Checking phase
– Analyze and evaluate the results, reflect on “deadends”, conduct sanity-checks
Mourtos et al. (2004) Defining, teaching and assessing problem solving skills Bolton & Ross (1998) Developing students physics problem solving skills www.cirtl.net

• Preparation phase
– Read the question, identify the problem
– Analyze the problem, gather information, leverage prior knowledge
– Generate potential solutions to solve the problem
• Working phase
– Select and test solution(s), get “the answer”
• Checking phase
– Analyze and evaluate the results, reflect on “deadends”, conduct sanity-checks
Mourtos et al. (2004) Defining, teaching and assessing problem solving skills Bolton & Ross (1998) Developing students physics problem solving skills www.cirtl.net

• Preparation phase
– Read the question, identify the problem
– Analyze the problem, gather information, leverage prior knowledge
– Generate potential solutions to solve the problem
• Working phase
– Select and test solution(s), get “the answer”
• Checking phase
– Analyze and evaluate the results, reflect on “deadends”, conduct sanity-checks
Mourtos et al. (2004) Defining, teaching and assessing problem solving skills Bolton & Ross (1998) Developing students physics problem solving skills www.cirtl.net

• Preparation phase
– Read the question, identify the problem
– Analyze the problem, gather information, leverage prior knowledge
– Generate potential solutions to solve the problem
• Working phase
– Select and test solution(s), get “the answer”
• Checking phase
– Analyze and evaluate the results, reflect on “deadends”, conduct sanity-checks
Mourtos et al. (2004) Defining, teaching and assessing problem solving skills Bolton & Ross (1998) Developing students physics problem solving skills www.cirtl.net

In which phase do your students typically struggle the most when solving problems?
A) Preparation phase
B) Working phase
C) Checking
• Preparation phase
– Read the question, identify the problem
– Analyze the problem, gather information, leverage prior knowledge
– Generate potential solutions to solve the problem phase
• Working phase
– Select and test solution(s), get “the answer”
• Checking phase
– Analyze and evaluate the results, reflect on “deadends”, conduct sanity-checks
Mourtos et al. (2004) Defining, teaching and assessing problem solving skills Bolton & Ross (1998) Developing students physics problem solving skills www.cirtl.net

In which phase do you typically provide the most feedback to students?
A) Preparation phase
B) Working phase
C) Checking
• Preparation phase
– Read the question, identify the problem
– Analyze the problem, gather information, leverage prior knowledge
– Generate potential solutions to solve the problem phase
• Working phase
– Select and test solution(s), get “the answer”
• Checking phase
– Analyze and evaluate the results, reflect on “deadends”, conduct sanity-checks
Mourtos et al. (2004) Defining, teaching and assessing problem solving skills Bolton & Ross (1998) Developing students physics problem solving skills www.cirtl.net

www.cirtl.net

• Model the steps or strategies
• Be an active listener
• Encourage independent work/non-expert group work
• Positive reinforcement
• Emphasize process and patience
• Don’t just tell them how to do it
• Have them talk through or write down their process
Teaching Problem Solving, https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/problem-solving/ www.cirtl.net

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• Walk around and listen
• Brainstorming notes
• Two column solution (with time spent)
• Think aloud (video/audio recording)
• Concept map
• Flow chart
• Cause and effect diagram
• Rubrics or checklists to track strengths/weaknesses www.cirtl.net

“ . . . solving a problem simply means representing it so as to make the solution transparent.”
- Simon, H.A. (1981, p. 153) www.cirtl.net

• Are great ways to get your students to clearly articulate the way they view the problem and its solution (problem space).
• If you want to turn that into more formal assessment, you need to identify a process to document a disciplined (careful/planned) analysis of the solution and/or solution process.
• This will vary from discipline to discipline (and, sometimes, from problem to problem) www.cirtl.net

A detailed case correlation report (problem solving) assignment in Vet Med with a rubric www.cirtl.net

• A case analysis example , with a unique recognition-style assessment www.cirtl.net

A
C
B
Select the best location for a dry cleaner:
D
E
F
G H
I
Concept: Larry Michaelsen, Team Based Learning Team-based Learning: A Transformative
Use of Small Groups in College Teaching. Eds. Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta Bauman Knight, L.
Dee Fink. (2004) Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. www.cirtl.net

Example 4: A Script Concordance Test (Case
Analysis/Clinical Reasoning)
From: Bursztejn, AC, Cuny, JF, Adam, JL, Sido, L, Schmutz, JL, de Korwin, JD, Latarche, C, Braun, M. and
Baraud, A. 2011. Usefulness of the script concordance test in dermatology. JEADV 25, 1471-1475 www.cirtl.net

Upcoming cross-Network Events
February 3 CIRTLCast: Using Collaborative Writing for Instruction and Assessment
Chad Wayne, University of Houston
February 8 TAR Capstone Event: What to Expect from My TAR Project? Reflections on the TAR
Experience from a Panel of CIRTL TAR Alumni
Featuring a panel of Teaching-As-Research alumni
February 10 CIRTLCast: Working with First-Year STEM Students
Featuring Pamela Bowen Smith, Bloomsburg University
February 10 CIRTL Reads Journal Club: How People Learn
Featuring Robert Linsenmeier, Northwestern University www.cirtl.net

• Bolton, J. & Ross, S. (1998) Developing students’ physics problem-solving skills. Physics
Education. 32(3). 173-185.
• Novice v. expert problem solvers, McGraw Center for Teaching & Learning http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-students/problem-solvers/
• Whimbey, A., and Lochhead, J. (1980). Problem solving and comprehension. Philadelphia: The
Franklin Institute Press.
• http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/p4_5
• Polya, G. (1957). How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method 2 nd ed. Doubleday &
Company. Garden Ctiy, NJ. Retrieved from: http://math.hawaii.edu/home/pdf/putnam/PolyaHowToSolveIt.pdf
• http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-students/problem-solvers/
• For k-12 but still good http://homepages.wmich.edu/~chenders/Publications/Czuk2005.pdf
• Woods D.R., Hrymak, A.N., Marshall, R.R., Wood, P.E., Crowe, C.M., Hoffman, T.W., Wright, J.D.,
Taylor, P.A., Woodhouse, K.A., Bouchard, C.G.K., Developing problem solving skills: The
McMaster problem solving program. ASEE J of Engng Educ., 86, 2, 75-91 (1997).
• Zwaal, W. & Otting, H. (2012). The Impact of Concept Mapping on the Process of Problem-based
Learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning. 6(1). 104-128.
• Simon, H.A. “Studying Human Intelligence by Creating Artificial Intelligence.” American Scientist,
1981, 69(3), 300-309.
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