Blog Post #3- Ill-Structured Problems
According to Spiro, Coulson, Feltovich and Anderson (2004) , an ill-structured problem is a complex problem that involve many variables and require you to consider a variety of contexts. One ill-structured problem in my field is that teachers can be isolated within their classroom or within their grade level team. I have worked in so many buildings where teachers are focused on the strenuous curriculum requirements and can isolate themselves from the rest of the staff. When I thought about why, what if and how questions, the first thing that came to mind was these could be act as the conversation starter needed to bring a staff together.
One way that you might use these questions, is in a staff or grade level meeting. By using questions as sentence starters, you might spur conversations that will challenge or extend individuals’ thinking. From my experience, when a group of people get together and brainstorm ideas, it encourages unity and gives the participants ownership over the proposed solution. It also allows the individuals involved to hear alternative solutions and opens their mind to new ideas. For example, during a staff meeting last year, we tried this “question conversation,” and each person listened to each other and let their ideas build. When we finally arrived with a “plan” we were all completely invested in the seeing the plan through. Maybe if schools used this method when introducing a new idea, they could encourage more “buy in” across the district and allow teachers to collaborate with one another; creating a plan/solution that they believe in are willing to implement.
I also reflect on my own practice of using why, what if and how questions to drive my thinking. As previously mentioned, I have used this on rare occasion in my school. But recently, I used this process with the Makers project and the Wicked Problem project. I loved the idea of creating a “questioning document,” where we could collaborate and share our thought process. It allowed me to feel connected to my peers and think about elements of a problem that I hadn’t thought of before. In his book, A More Beautiful Question, Berger (2014) references a zen master Shunryu Suzuki. This individual discusses the differences between an expert and novice. “The mind of a beginner is empty, free of the habits of an expert” (p81). As educators, we understand that a novice and expert bring different points of the view to the “table.”When you connect this idea to questioning, it is easy to see the value in hearing others thoughts and ideas. Each educator that comes to the discussion, has a different level of expertise, this causes them to see things through various “lens.” By using questions like why, what if and how, it encourages everyone involved to think critically about an issue and listen to the unique viewpoints of others.
I’ve often wondered how I get students to think critically about an event or topic. After using why, what if and how questions, I realized how much deeper I dove into my own analysis of a problem. Instead of simply looking for a black or white answer, I attempted to understand the foundation that made up that question. For example, when I was working on my Wicked problem project, my partner and I took on the roles of various stakeholders; attempting to understand how this problem would affect them. This allowed us to dive deeper into the problem and brainstorm potential solutions that would benefit all the individuals involved. After having a chance to practice asking questions like why, what if and how, I understand the benefits and the potential frustrations. In my eyes, the benefits far outweigh the constraints.
Resources
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Spiro, R.J., Coulson, R.L., Feltovich, P.J. & Anderson, D.K. (2004). Cognitive flexibility theory: Advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-structured domains. In R.B. Ruddell, N.J. Unrau (Eds). Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (5th Ed., pp 640-659). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.