Activity 6.2 Videos on Problem Solving

Activity 6.2 Videos on Problem Solving

After watching the two videos, I made a personal connection with the second, The Marshmallow Challenge. I took the geometry seminar MA 501 in the spring of 2013, current or future teachers of mathematics, taught by Dr. Lee from the math department.  I struggled the entire semester, working hard, asking for much needed help from the professor, fellow students, and my son who was in graduate school getting his PhD in mathematics at the University of Iowa. For my Rank 1 teaching certification in STEM, I had to declare an area of emphasis. Since my adviser's specialty is math, she declared my content area to be secondary mathematics, thus, I am required to take classes in my content area. I do not have a BA or MA in mathematics, I took basic math classes in high school, and general education and math education classes as an undergraduate. Being a novice, I was terrified that I was in way over my head, since all of my classmates were getting math degrees and/or were currently, math teachers in middle and/or high school. One student, Jane, an expert, could answer any of the questions in class and was so confident that she often worked on her weekly lesson plans. Jane sat in front of me and would often check to see if I understood the concepts. I felt intimidated by her, but appreciated her help. The class worked in pairs or small groups often. We spent much of our time problem solving using various manipulatives. I realized that I was good at building the various structures because they were concrete models rather than abstract theorems. Jane was better with the abstract theorems. I was able to show her and explain how to construct the models rather than the abstractions. I was surprised that this was difficult for her, but I felt good about being able to help her and about my abilities and strengths. I have more of an engineering mind, and can often build things, and fix broken systems and small or large appliances because I "see" how things work. My father was an engineer and so is my brother, I never received the formal training, that is why I choose the STEM field of study. 

It was interesting to me that the architects and engineers (experts) did the best on the “Marshmallow Challenge,” because I think I would do well with that challenge. Pretz, Naples & Sternberg (2003) discuss the differences between novices and experts when looking at solving problems, noting that researchers, Frencsh & Sternberg, found that “experts' entrenched strategies interfered with rather than facilitated their performance” (p. 15). I think that is why I, a novice, compared to Jane, an expert who has “developed such a highly specialized body of knowledge” (p. 15), am able to see the forest for the trees when it comes to simple concrete problem solving. In the case of the Marshmallow Challenge, kindergarteners (novices) outperformed all groups except the architects and engineers (experts). Engineers and kindergarteners, often share and work together with their peers, spending much of their time in cooperative groups, solving problems, whether it be putting away toys, or designing the next great solution to an important global issue.