By: One of the major challenges in an unpredictable and ever-changing world is the ability to creatively solve problems.
Technology is one of the most useful platforms to not only create the solutions that will be broadly useful but also to simultaneously build the problem solving muscle with practice.
Through repeated interaction and engagement with hardware and software platforms, we’ve found that our students gain an abundance of problem solving experience.
Whether through the creation of Minecraft Mods, building 3D models or constructing robots; all of our platforms enable our students to hone their problem solving skills while building with technology in our studios.
Below, we have outlined the number of problems solved/hour, most frequent types of problems solved, and as well problem solving tips for helping students get unstuck.
Problem Solving Strategies
- Inspection
Often, when we are faced with an issue within our code base, we are quite sure what went wrong. In these scenarios, the best strategy is to have a peer go back through the lines of code and inspect them to see if they can find a logic or syntax error.
Sometimes, the process of reviewing someone else’s code and thinking about what they were trying to do will help identify where things went wrong.
Those who are working directly often find it more challenging to find the error in a similar ways that someone proofreading their own paper will keep missing the same grammar and spelling errors over and over again.
When a peer not only can write code for their own project but also can inspect that of a peer, they are able to improve their overall problem-solving capabilities.
2. Iteration
While developing a solution to an issue, we know how we would like our code to perform. However, when we execute the program, it doesn’t always quite function as intended.
If faced with this challenge, it can be helpful to try and write the code a different way to see if the approximate expected output is achieved.
By going through a few different iterations that approximate the expected solution, not only do you gain a better understanding of how your overall program works. But, you can see how changes within the code impact the desired output.
3. Deconstruction
Despite your best efforts, you are finding that your program is still not performing as expected. Before you delete every line of code, it can be helpful to deconstruct the different areas of the project and test those areas independently.
By isolating program function through deconstruction, you can see where exactly the program is failing or the logic isn’t sound.
As you independently test key areas, you can rebuild your program function by function until you achieve the overall desired outcome.
Conclusion
These are just some of the problem solving strategies our students develop on a weekly basis when building their hardware and software projects. Depending on the topic area they are working on not only will they gain practice with improving their syntax but also their logic.
And if they are working on robotics and 3D modeling, they will enhance their ability to develop structurally sound hardware objects and computer aided design models.