Teacher Toolbox
Learning Strategies - Problem Solving

Reflect

After the process is completed, the student will need to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies and the thinking processes.  The reflection process helps the student register the strategies in memory for future use.

Review

  • Take time once the process is completed to review what was learned with the students. This can be done through discussion.
  • Give a novel task where the student must use the same problem solving techniques to assess understanding.
  • Encourage students to make a list of new questions they thought of after solving the problem.  Use the questions to guide additional exploration into a topic or area.
  • Ask students to create a problem and solve it by using the technique.
Transfer

  • Provide many opportunities across academic subjects for students to use the strategies.
  • Directly relate the ideas to things that happen every day.
  • Respond to student’s use of strategies in other settings. Specifically point out what they used.  This will encourage the student to continue to use similar techniques to solve problems.
    For example, if a student compared a familiar word to an unknown word in order to read the word, say to the student, "Great, you used something you already knew to figure out the new word."