Puzzle-based learning

Prof. Zbigniew Michalewicz

School of Computer Science, University of Adelaide

Thu Jul 19 11:00:00 NZST 2007 in A5 Lecture Theatre

Abstract

What is missing in most curricula - starting from elementary school all the way through to university education - is coursework focused on the development of problem-solving skills. Most students never learn how to think about solving problems in general - throughout their education, they are constrained to concentrate on textbook questions at the back of each chapter. So, without much thinking, they apply the material from each chapter to solve a few problems given at the end of each chapter (why else would a problem be at the end of the chapter?). With this type of approach to "problem solving", it is unsurprising that students are ill prepared for framing and addressing real-world problems. When they finally enter the real world, they suddenly find that problems do not come with instructions or guidebooks.

To address this gap in the educational curriculum, I have created a new 1-level course that is aimed at getting students to think about how to frame and solve unstructured problems (those that are not encountered at the end of some textbook chapter ...). The idea is to increase the student's mathematical awareness and problem solving skills by discussing a variety of puzzles. The seminar presents the case for such a course and encourages participants to introduce it in their educational units.