problem solving activities in teaching english

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Problem-solving skills are necessary in all areas of life, and classroom problem solving activities can be a great way to get students prepped and ready to solve real problems in real life scenarios. Whether in school, work or in their social relationships, the ability to critically analyze a problem, map out all its elements and then prepare a workable solution is one of the most valuable skills one can acquire in life.

Educating your students about problem solving skills from an early age in school can be facilitated through classroom problem solving activities. Such endeavors encourage cognitive as well as social development, and can equip students with the tools they’ll need to address and solve problems throughout the rest of their lives. Here are five classroom problem solving activities your students are sure to benefit from as well as enjoy doing:

1. Brainstorm bonanza

Having your students create lists related to whatever you are currently studying can be a great way to help them to enrich their understanding of a topic while learning to problem-solve. For example, if you are studying a historical, current or fictional event that did not turn out favorably, have your students brainstorm ways that the protagonist or participants could have created a different, more positive outcome. They can brainstorm on paper individually or on a chalkboard or white board in front of the class.

2. Problem-solving as a group

Have your students create and decorate a medium-sized box with a slot in the top. Label the box “The Problem-Solving Box.” Invite students to anonymously write down and submit any problem or issue they might be having at school or at home, ones that they can’t seem to figure out on their own. Once or twice a week, have a student draw one of the items from the box and read it aloud. Then have the class as a group figure out the ideal way the student can address the issue and hopefully solve it.

3. Clue me in

This fun detective game encourages problem-solving, critical thinking and cognitive development. Collect a number of items that are associated with a specific profession, social trend, place, public figure, historical event, animal, etc. Assemble actual items (or pictures of items) that are commonly associated with the target answer. Place them all in a bag (five-10 clues should be sufficient.) Then have a student reach into the bag and one by one pull out clues. Choose a minimum number of clues they must draw out before making their first guess (two- three). After this, the student must venture a guess after each clue pulled until they guess correctly. See how quickly the student is able to solve the riddle.

4. Survivor scenarios

Create a pretend scenario for students that requires them to think creatively to make it through. An example might be getting stranded on an island, knowing that help will not arrive for three days. The group has a limited amount of food and water and must create shelter from items around the island. Encourage working together as a group and hearing out every child that has an idea about how to make it through the three days as safely and comfortably as possible.

5. Moral dilemma

Create a number of possible moral dilemmas your students might encounter in life, write them down, and place each item folded up in a bowl or bag. Some of the items might include things like, “I saw a good friend of mine shoplifting. What should I do?” or “The cashier gave me an extra $1.50 in change after I bought candy at the store. What should I do?” Have each student draw an item from the bag one by one, read it aloud, then tell the class their answer on the spot as to how they would handle the situation.

Classroom problem solving activities need not be dull and routine. Ideally, the problem solving activities you give your students will engage their senses and be genuinely fun to do. The activities and lessons learned will leave an impression on each child, increasing the likelihood that they will take the lesson forward into their everyday lives.

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Speaking skills: Speaking matters

• 1 Speaking skills: Speaking matters
• 2 Speaking matters: Developing fluency
• 3 Speaking matters: Developing and dealing with accuracy
• 4 Speaking matters: Assessing speaking
• 5 Speaking matters: Personalization
• 6 Speaking matters: Problem-solving
• 7 Speaking matters: Role-play
• 8 Speaking matters: Pairwork

Speaking matters: Problem-solving

By Adrian Tennant

• No comments

This article looks at problem-solving activities and what they are like. It covers how to set them up, why it's good to use them, the disadvantages and what you should do after the activity.

Introduction

Students need a reason to speak in the classroom. Many speaking activities seem to have no aim other than to get students to talk to each other, but for what reason? By doing the activity what will they achieve? Some activities, like pairwork activities, try to create a purpose by creating an information gap - i.e. where one student has some of the information and another student the rest and, only by speaking to each other can they complete the task. However, this simple transference of information only replicates a small part of what speaking in real life is used for.

Role-plays are another favourite classroom activity designed to get students speaking, but these often focus on creating scenarios or situations where students practise functional language such as giving directions, asking for information, etc. Although this is realistic, it is still often on a level of one student having information that another student doesn't. In real life, we often speak about something when we both, or all, share a lot of the same information. This can take the form of a discussion or a debate where we have opinions, but it can also take the shape of a discussion based on having to solve a problem. In this article, we'll take a closer look at problem-solving speaking activities.

What are problem-solving activities like?

There are a number of types of problem solving activities. For the sake of simplicity I'll split them into three types:

1. The opinion problem-solving activity.

In this type of activity students are given information to discuss where there is not necessarily one right or wrong answer. This type of activity differs from a normal discussion in that there is a built-in problem within the information.

You and three friends rowed out to a small island in the middle of a lake. When you landed you forgot to tie the boat up properly and it has drifted away. Night is now approaching. It is 3km back to the shore, but one of your friends can't swim. You do not have any food with you and you don't know if anyone knows where you are. What do you do?

Students are then expected to discuss the problem and come up with a solution. To help students you can provide a set of ideas/options for them to choose from. You can also make the activity more complicated by giving each student a 'role card' with an extra piece of information on it (that might be a problem) i.e.

There is no wood on the island so you can't build a fire. At night the temperature drops to freezing .

2. The logical thinking problem-solving activity.

In this type of problem-solving activity there is usually one correct solution. To arrive at the solution the students need to discuss information they are given and logically work out what the solution is. There are two ways in which the information can be given, either split between a number of students so that they don't have the same information and they must share it, or where they all have the same information and simply have to discuss things together. In the later version a set of questions can often help students work out the answer. (See activity 2 in the 'Practical ideas' section below for a logical thinking activity).

3.The information gap problem-solving activity.

How does this differ from a normal information gap (i.e. a pairwork information gap where one student has information that the other student doesn't)? Well, the main difference is that in a normal information gap activity it is simply a matter of transferring the information, i.e. two students have a profile of a person. Student A knows the person's age and nationality, etc. Student B then asks 'How old is he?' and fills in the missing information they obtain in the correct space, etc. In a problem-solving information gap, getting the missing information is not the ultimate aim, but merely a stepping stone on the way to solving a problem.

Why use problem-solving activities?

Apart from the fact that these kinds of activities can be a lot of fun they are also very stimulating. They usually require students to communicate information to each other where the focus is on expressing ideas and opinions and not simply repeating phrases. In many ways, problem-solving activities replicate 'real' speaking in that people have a need to speak. Problem-solving activities can also be an effective way of practising language items that have been taught, i.e. both grammar and vocabulary. They are also a great way of developing students' cognitive abilities helping them to process language in a meaningful way.

Are there any disadvantages to problem-solving activities?

Yes, there are. One of the major problems is that stronger students often dominate the discussions, taking over and giving the less able students little opportunity to contribute. Often, this is due to the need for one person to organize and collate information and ideas. One way around this is to give certain students specific tasks, i.e. someone to 'chair' the discussion, someone to make sure everyone has a turn, etc.

Another disadvantage of this type of activity is that students may become frustrated when trying to solve the problem and, especially if they don't have the language skills in English, will switch to their L1. To avoid this it is important that you, the teacher, consider what language they are likely to need in order to complete the task and to pre-teach any necessary phrases, expressions or vocabulary you think they do not possess. Remember, using a problem-solving activity is not the main focus of your lesson/teaching but simply a way in providing students with a forum for using the language they have learnt.

How do you set up a problem-solving activity?

As with other speaking activities, how you set up the activity will often be the difference between a successful activity and one that doesn't work. The first thing to consider is whether the activity uses the language you want the students to practise. If not, then ask yourself why exactly you are using it. Then, it is important to look at the language that is needed and make sure that you pre-teach any new language before they start the activity. This will help the activity run smoothly with the focus being on solving the problem rather than working out the meaning of any new language. Finally, think about whether you want students to work alone to begin with and then discuss the problem with other students or whether you will start with pair or groupwork. Whenever you decide to use pair or groupwork think about who you get to work together so that there is a balance in each group.

What should I do after the activity?

Just as with roleplays, don't just move onto a different activity. If you move on immediately after the activity and don't at least discuss what happened, then students will often lose interest in problem-solving activities, or at least won't benefit to the full. There needs to be an obvious outcome and a rounding-up of the activity. Opening up the activity to a class discussion where you compare solutions is an obvious follow-up. It is also important that during the activity you note down any mistakes students made with the language and think about how you will tackle these either after the activity or in a subsequent lesson.

Some practical ideas

An opinion problem-solving activity

Here I am going to use the idea I mentioned earlier but give a few variations to show how it can be run in a number of different ways.

Variation 1

Put students in groups of 3-5 and give each group a copy (or copies) of the following handout:

Ask students to talk to each other and make a list of possible solutions. Ask them to also think about what problems they might face/encounter with each solution. i.e. If they stay on the island, where will they sleep and what will they eat? What if there is no food on the island? etc.

Variation 2

Give the students the same handout, but also give them the following options (either as part of the handout or written on the board).

• One of you swims to the shore to get help.
• Try and make a fire on the island to attract attention.
• Find somewhere to sleep for the night and then try and get off in the morning.
• Look for the boat and get one person to try and swim to it and bring it back.
• All swim back to the shore taking it in turns to help the person who can't swim.

Variation 3

Give the students the same handout, but also give each one a role card with extra information. i.e.

  A logical thinking problem-solving activity

A new teacher starts working at school. In her class there are a set of triplets, Ana, Bryan and Carl. Unfortunately, the teacher can't remember which one is which, but she has some notes about the three kids.

She knows that two of the triplets are boys and one is a girl.

Carl, one of the boys, is always calm and patient.

• One of the triplets likes playing football and he has a tattoo on his arm.

One of the triplets has red hair, one brown and one blonde.

• The triplet who doesn't get angry easily has short blonde hair.

The triplet with red hair has an earring and she likes to sing.

The triplet who has a tattoo gets angry easily.

Can she work out who is who?

Students should be able to work out the answer simply with the information provided, but, if you want to help them you could also give them a set of questions to answer. e.g.

• Should the teacher have known which triplet was Ana? Why?
• Which triplet likes to sing? How do you know?
• What colour is Ana's hair?
• What else do you know about Ana?
• What kind of person is Carl?
• Does he have a tattoo?
• How do you know?
• What colour is Carl's hair?
• Does Carl like football?
• Which triplet likes football?

These questions guide students through step-by-step, enabling them to work out the answer.

An information gap problem-solving activity

A simple example of this would be to use the same worksheet as above but cut the information about the triplets into strips, put students in small groups and give each student one or two strips. Tell students they have the information between them but that they must not show their information to the other students in their group.

A new teacher starts working at school. In her class there are a set of triplets, Ana, Bryan and Carl. Unfortunately, the teacher can’t remember which one is which, but she has some notes about the three kids. Can she work out who is who?

One of the triplets likes playing football and he has a tattoo on his arm

The triplet who doesn’t get angry easily has short blonde hair.

• British English

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LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

Problem solving.

Level: Upper-intermediate (B2-C1)

Type of English: Business English

Tags: problems at work problems and solutions declaring and diagnosing a problem making suggestions Situation based

Publication date: 09/09/2011

In this lesson, students learn useful language for handling and solving problems at work. Vocabulary for describing different types of problems and solutions is studied. Students then listen to several dialogues and study the expressions used by the speakers to declare and diagnose a problem as well as make suggestions and take action. At the end of the lesson, there is a role play activity in which the language from the lesson is put into practice. There are two animated videos which can be played instead of the dialogue or given to the student(s) as material to take away.

Problem-solving-Ex3

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In this lesson, students learn useful language for handling and solving problems at work. Vocabulary for describing different types of problems and solutions is studied. Students then listen to several dialogues and study the expressions used by the speakers to declare and diagnose a problem as well as make suggestions and take action. At the end of the lesson, there is a role-play activity in which the language from the lesson is put into practice.

ProblemSolvingAE-Ex3.mp3

COURSE PLANS

This comprehensive course plan covers the full range of language needs – listening, role play, vocabulary development.

Worksheets in English for Work and Life course plan

Type of English: Business English Level: Upper-intermediate (B2-C1)

Type of English: General English Level: Upper-intermediate (B2-C1)

Worksheets in English for Business course plan

Type of English: Business English Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)

Make your lessons unforgettable

Did you know that your students can review the target language from our worksheets with our Expemo flashcard app? To let your student know, just enter their email address below (multiple emails can be separated with a comma).

Problem solving speaking activity

Students work in pairs or small groups trying to find solutions to 5 different problems. It is a good opportunity to practice the second conditional ( I would…, If I were in this situation …), modal verbs    ( should, might, mustn’t etc.) and negotiating (agreeing/disagreeing/expressing your opinion/asking about your partner’s opinion).

To practice agreeing and disagreeing please see Problem Solving Part 2 ,  School Problems ,  Moral Dilemmas , Workplace Dilemmas  and Parental Decisions activities.

Personal Experience

I have used this activity both with adult and teenage students, levels intermediate – advanced. It works well as a warm-up (giving the students just one problem) to a regular class, and may also be used during conversation classes (takes around 20 mins.) Make sure to allow some time for the groups to present and compare their ideas at the end of class.

Problem Solving

I am teaching a fifth semester, Modern Languages Program, course at the university level and I found these activities are excellent to have my students speak more and more fluently. Thanks so much for posting them.

Wonderful news, Jhon! I’m so glad to hear my ideas worked out with your students as well.

I would like to take the time and THANK YOU for the ideas and for sharing this material. I am going to use it for sure. I work with teenagers who need to practice the language a lot and when given the proper topic, get engaged in a good discussion. I find your material very useful. Thanks!

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I just discovered your website, it’s amazing. Thanks so much for sharing !

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Unleashing the Power of Creative Thinking in the ESL Classroom

• Linda D'Argenio
• June 6, 2023

The role of an English language teacher is multifaceted. Of the many responsibilities that fall to you as an instructor are to keep education fun, fresh, and encouraging and to incorporate important transferable skills in your lessons so students succeed beyond the classroom. One way to do all of this is to find methods that inspire creativity and imagination within your students, regardless of their age or experience level. It’s time to hit the refresh button and build confidence in your students . Here’s how to light that spark and promote creative thinking in the ESL classroom .

What is creative thinking in English language learning?

Creative thinking is the ability to devise innovative, inventive approaches and solutions to problems. Creative thinking overlaps in some crucial respects with critical thinking . They both engage new and preexisting knowledge. They are also both often involved with problem-solving and decision-making. Finally, both creativity and critical thinking can be triggered by the individual’s curiosity about a specific topic. A 21st-century skill, or “soft skill,” creative thinking is now considered an important feature in education,  valued by employers, and necessary to prepare students to enter the workforce . These 21st-century skills are sometimes referred to as the Four C’s: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. But, what does it mean to promote creative thinking in ESL, specifically?  

Both inside and outside the classroom, creative thinking requires open-mindedness, the ability to think outside the box, enough imagination to consider alternative solutions, and combining new and preexisting knowledge in original ways. These are all skills that teachers can foster in the English class. If creative thinking means responding creatively and imaginatively to a challenge, whatever its nature, then it can certainly be taught in EL classes.

Explore more 21st-century skills in these Micro-credential courses that will modernize your teaching and prepare your learners for the future.

How do you promote creative thinking in the classroom?

Implementing creative thinking in English language learning requires teachers to move away from the standard modality of instruction with its right vs. wrong polarity and be willing to relinquish some control in favor of a more learner-centered model. There are several ways teachers can bolster creative thinking in the ESL classroom and create the right environment to integrate creative thinking into their lessons.

Use open-ended questions

Often, students are expected to respond to questions either with a correct or a wrong answer. Instead, teachers can use open-ended questions that foster independent thinking and learning. Allow for conversations to flow and the lesson to develop organically whenever you can. This will help give your students a sense of ownership and responsibility over their learning process. Try to promote in-depth thinking with these questions. When students ask questions, encourage them to think more deeply and arrive at their own conclusions instead of giving them a single, straightforward answer. Some examples you can use are:

• How would you recap our last lesson in your own words?
• If you could have a conversation with anyone in history, who would you talk to and what would you talk about?
• You notice your classmate is struggling with a grammar concept. How would you approach them and how would you help?

Encourage collaboration

Collaborative learning  is another effective way to set up your classroom environment for creative thinking. Collaborative activities like think/pair/share, peer review, and group problem-solving are great places to start! These activities require students to share their knowledge, compare notes, and bounce ideas off each other. If set up correctly, collaborative activities provide space for independent thinking while providing opportunities to solve problems creatively. Whenever possible, allow students to resolve disagreements among themselves by having them verbally identify their frustrations. At the root of all problem-solving is critical thinking!

Curiosity and a sense of wonder are often at the base of creative thinking. You can encourage curiosity and inquiry by selecting interesting and engaging activities that make your students want to know more.

Embrace cultural and personal differences

Because ESL classes are often made up of students with diverse cultural backgrounds , it is essential to first create an environment of mutual respect where cultural differences can safely emerge and be mediated through conversation. When students can express their opinions without fear of being sanctioned by the teacher or their peers, cultural diversity can become a powerful tool to fuel creative thinking. Students will develop different solutions/responses depending on their backgrounds and feed on each other’s ideas.

Consider learners’ personal interests if you want to stimulate your students’ creative thinking. Students will be much more motivated to think creatively about a topic if it resonates with them. Encourage students to bring in a favorite book, toy, or cultural item to share with the class. A show-and-share experience will benefit conversation and public speaking skills and build confidence through a less structured approach. Another idea is to let the students plan a class party from start to finish. They can choose what to celebrate and what activities to include, and they can engage in healthy debate. The end result is a fun and tangible experience for all of their hard work.

Here are 8 strategies for fostering good relationships with your students!

How do you teach creative thinking to ESL students?

You can test the following activities to promote creative thinking in the ESL classroom. Some of them are more suitable for beginners, others for intermediate-level students, and others for advanced students. Use these ideas for inspiration, but get creative with them and feel free to tweak them!

For even more ideas, take a Micro-credential course in Promoting Creative and Innovative Thinking in the ESL Classroom.

Creative thinking activities for beginners

• Practice storytelling or story reading with a twist. Tell or read a story to your students , but in the process, stop periodically and ask them to make predictions about the direction the story will take. Urge them to use their imaginations to envision original or improbable scenarios. A variation in this activity is to ask students to write a different ending to the story.
• Train your students to think outside the box by asking them to imagine as many uses as possible for an object , for example, a bottle (to hold water, to send a message, as a rolling pin, as a hot water bottle in bed when it’s cold, etc.). To scale this up for intermediate students, ask them to create a selling pitch for an ordinary object in the classroom, for example, a pen or a notebook.

Creative thinking activities for intermediate learners

• Engage students in role-playing. This is a collaborative activity in which students write a script, peer review it, and act it out. The teacher’s role is limited to preliminary activities such as setting a topic suitable to the learning objectives , scaffolding vocabulary , and reviewing the scripts after the initial peer review. In selecting the topic, the teacher should keep the students’ interests in mind and, if possible, choose the topic accordingly.
• Have students create sentences or create a story. In this activity, students sit in a circle and decide on a direction (left to right or right to left). One student says a word, e.g., I, Mom, John, etc. The following student continues the sentence by adding a grammatically appropriate word, e.g., wanted, said, was, etc. The following student continues the sentence until completion. In a variation of this activity, student one says a sentence, e.g., “Mary went to the doctor.” Student two supplies the following sentence, e.g., “It was raining outside.” Student three continues the story, e.g., “Mary forgot her umbrella,” and so on, until a story has been created. Allow students to be as silly and creative as they wish within the limits of propriety.

Creative thinking activities for advanced learners

• Play the alibi game.  One activity that can help encourage creativity is this popular ESL game in which you pair students up and tell them that a crime has happened. Give them some details (when, what, where, etc.), and then let them work with their partners to come up with an alibi. Afterward, take turns questioning each partner on their own to find out if the pair of students’ stories match. This encourages students to come up with all kinds of possibilities as to what they could be asked and to get specific with details. It’s also a lot of fun!
• Employ reverse brainstorming. Instead of looking for solutions to a challenge, in reverse brainstorming, students are prompted first to identify possible impediments to achieving a goal. “What could go wrong?” is the key question here – identifying problems before solutions helps eliminate ideas that are impractical or not applicable to the situation. You can use reverse brainstorming in the ESL classroom to generate original ideas from an unusual perspective.

Creative thinking is a valuable life skill, with applications that go far beyond the ESL classroom. Adopting creative thinking activities can increase students’ interest and engagement during lessons. By embracing creative thinking and establishing teaching practices that promote it, teachers can cultivate this skill in their students and give them a competitive edge in their lives and careers. 

Ready to grow your expertise in teaching the 21st-century skill of creative thinking? Take Bride’s Promoting Creative and Innovative Thinking in Your Classroom Micro-credential course.

Linda D'Argenio

Linda D'Argenio is a native of Naples, Italy. She is a world language teacher (English, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese,) translator, and writer. She has studied and worked in Italy, Germany, China, and the U.S. In 2003, Linda earned her doctoral degree in Classical Chinese Literature from Columbia University. She has taught students at both the school and college levels. Linda lives in Brooklyn, NY.

• Professional development
• Knowing the subject
• Six types of task for TBL

This is the second in a series of four articles which will explore how to integrate a task-based approach into a typical textbook to maximise learning opportunities for your learners and to save teacher preparation time.

• Criteria for identifying tasks for TBL
• From priming tasks and target tasks to language focus and grammar
• Making time for tasks and still covering the syllabus

In this article we look at different types of task, and see which kinds are most often used in textbooks. I also suggest ways of adjusting them so that they stimulate more opportunities for meaning-focused interaction, and encourage learners to give longer responses. Finally I show how a graded set of tasks can be developed on a theme.

Identifying task-like activities

In my first article,  Criteria for identifying tasks for TBL , we looked at six questions that gave us criteria to help us identify tasks and 'upgrade' potential task-like activities into tasks. So now we can identify activities in a textbook unit that could become tasks and form the basis of a task cycle with;

• Pre-task activities,
• Task - Planning - Report cycle,
• Post-task activities as illustrated in the activity Planning a class night out .

However, tasks tend to come in various disguises. Some textbooks contain quite a few task-like activities, but very few use the word 'task' to describe them. They often come under section headings like: Speak out! Listening challenge, Think … then compare ideas, Reach a decision, With a partner …, In groups …, It's your turn, Questions and answers, Discuss ..., Tell your partner …, Writing, Reading or even under Grammar or Vocabulary .

For example, in Total English , a textbook for beginners, the activity 'Who is your favourite 20th Century icon? Tell your partner about the person.' comes at the end of a Grammar section on was / were  which follows a reading activity.

There are several ways to turn this into a more rewarding task – as illustrated in Criteria for identifying tasks for TBL – and you can also build up a graded set of tasks around this theme, as illustrated below.

Three types of task

Activities like the following generally have the potential to become effective tasks:

Listing and/or brainstorming

You can list people, places, things, actions, reasons, everyday problems, things to do in various circumstances, etc.

• (1) In pairs, agree on a list of four or five people who were famous in the 20th century and give at least one reason for including each person.
• (2) Can you remember your partner's busiest day? On your own, make a list of all the things he/she did. Then check with your partner. Were there any things you forgot?

Ordering and sorting

This can be sequencing, ranking or classifying.

• (3) In pairs, look at your list of famous people. Which people are most likely to remain popular and become 20th century icons? Rank them from most popular to least popular, and be prepared to justify your order to another pair.
• (4) Look at the four pictures. They are mixed up. Work in pairs. Put the four pictures in a sequence so that they tell a story. Prepare to tell your story to another pair.

You can match captions / texts / recorded extracts to pictures, short notes or headlines to longer texts, e.g. news items, etc.

• (5) Read the texts – each is about a famous person but the person is not named – and look at the photos. Match each text to a photo. Then talk to your partner, and say how you were able to match them. Prepare to tell the class how you did it.
• (6) Read the four headlines A to D. Match two pieces of information (given in 1-8 below) to each headline. Explain to your partner how you did this. What clues did you find? Did you both use the same clues?

Do you have any tasks like these in your textbooks? Sometimes textbooks use listing, ordering and matching activities at the beginnings of units, to introduce or revise useful words and phrases to prepare for the main topics. The outcomes are usually clear (e.g. a completed list, a set of matched information). But although they give valuable exposure to relevant topic-based language in the form of reading texts or recordings, they rarely stimulate much learner interaction as they stand.

Stimulating more interaction

All the examples I have given above are based on activities from real textbooks, but in each case I have added a further step or two to stimulate additional meaning-focused language use.

• In 1 and 3 learners are asked to give reasons for or justify their decision.
• In 2, 5 and 6 they do the tasks individually then explain to their partner how they did them.
• In 3, 4 and 5 they are asked to prepare to explain how they did the task or tell their story to another pair or to the whole class.

Three more task types

Comparing: finding similarities and differences

Comparison tasks can be based on two quite similar texts or pictures (a classic example is 'Spot the Differences') or places or events, etc., that learners have experience of. Learners can also compare their own work with that of another learner or another pair or group.

• Compare your list of possible 20th century icons with your partner's list. Did you have any people in common? Tell each other why you chose them. How many reasons did you both think of? Finally, combine your two lists, but keep it to five people.
• Tell your picture story to another pair and listen to theirs. Compare stories and make a list of the main similarities and differences.

You will by now have noticed that many of these tasks carry on the same themes as in previous tasks. It is possible to build up a set of tasks on the same theme, each one arising out of the previous one. This is an excellent way to build learners' confidence – once they are familiar with the basic vocabulary for the topic, they can then do a range of activities recycling the topic language and using it for different purposes in a set of tasks.

Problem-solving

Textbooks often contain activities based on common problems – pollution, relationships, noisy neighbours and so on. But sometimes problem-solving tasks are over too quickly – learners agree on the first solution that comes to mind, using minimal language, e.g. 'Noisy neighbours? OK – so call police'. The instructions for the town centre traffic problem in the example below incorporate six or seven ways of generating richer interaction. Which of these ways might you use with your classes?

• Think of a town centre where there is too much traffic. In pairs, think of three alternative solutions to this problem. List the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. Then decide which alternative would be the cheapest one, the most innovative one and the most environmentally friendly one. Report your decisions to another pair / group / the class, and discuss with them which solution would be the best one to put forward to the local government.

More complex tasks like comparing and problem-solving sometimes involve processes found in simpler tasks, like listing – see previous examples. The task above involves listing and quite a lot of comparing and evaluating.

Sharing personal experiences and story telling

Activities where learners are asked to recount their personal experiences and tell stories are valuable because they give learners a chance to speak for longer and in a more sustained way. And it is something we often do in real life. However, as we saw from the 'Grandparents' activity in Criteria for identifying tasks for TBL , the instructions for activities where learners are encouraged to relate things from their personal lives are often rather vague and open-ended. In order to encourage richer interaction, we usually need to add a clear goal, make instructions more precise, and give clear completion points. See Criteria for identifying tasks for TBL which gives several ways to adjust activities like these.

So far we have identified and commented on six types of task that sometimes appear in textbooks or that can be adapted from task-like activities. We have seen that a set of tasks can be built up around one topic. We have looked at ways of stimulating richer learner interaction and giving more opportunities for genuine meaning-focused language use and maximising learner responses.

Other activities like quizzes, questionnaires and projects can also generate rich interaction if set up in such a way as to maximise learner participation. Tasks can also be based on reading and listening texts. For three examples of task-based lessons such as these that you can download, see http://www.willis-elt.co.uk/taskbased.html

In my next article, I will show how we can exploit textbook material to help structure a task sequence, incorporating pre-task activities, a task-cycle, leading on to language focus and form focused work.

The tasks in this article are based on activities from:

• Face2face Pre-intermediate by Chris Redstone & Gillie Cunningham (Cambridge University Press 2005)
• Total English Starter by Jonathan Bygrave (Pearson Longman 2007)

Further reading

For more on task types, see Chapters 4 and 5 of Doing Task-based Teaching  by Dave Willis & Jane Willis (Oxford University Press 2006)

Next article > From priming tasks and target tasks to language focus and grammar

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• Establishing Community Agreements and Classroom Norms
• Sample group work rubric
• Problem-Based Learning Clearinghouse of Activities, University of Delaware

Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning  (PBL) is a student-centered approach in which students learn about a subject by working in groups to solve an open-ended problem. This problem is what drives the motivation and the learning. 

Why Use Problem-Based Learning?

Nilson (2010) lists the following learning outcomes that are associated with PBL. A well-designed PBL project provides students with the opportunity to develop skills related to:

• Working in teams.
• Managing projects and holding leadership roles.
• Oral and written communication.
• Self-awareness and evaluation of group processes.
• Working independently.
• Critical thinking and analysis.
• Explaining concepts.
• Self-directed learning.
• Applying course content to real-world examples.
• Researching and information literacy.
• Problem solving across disciplines.

Considerations for Using Problem-Based Learning

Rather than teaching relevant material and subsequently having students apply the knowledge to solve problems, the problem is presented first. PBL assignments can be short, or they can be more involved and take a whole semester. PBL is often group-oriented, so it is beneficial to set aside classroom time to prepare students to   work in groups  and to allow them to engage in their PBL project.

Students generally must:

• Examine and define the problem.
• Explore what they already know about underlying issues related to it.
• Determine what they need to learn and where they can acquire the information and tools necessary to solve the problem.
• Evaluate possible ways to solve the problem.
• Solve the problem.
• Report on their findings.

Getting Started with Problem-Based Learning

• Articulate the learning outcomes of the project. What do you want students to know or be able to do as a result of participating in the assignment?
• Create the problem. Ideally, this will be a real-world situation that resembles something students may encounter in their future careers or lives. Cases are often the basis of PBL activities. Previously developed PBL activities can be found online through the University of Delaware’s PBL Clearinghouse of Activities .
• Establish ground rules at the beginning to prepare students to work effectively in groups.
• Introduce students to group processes and do some warm up exercises to allow them to practice assessing both their own work and that of their peers.
• Consider having students take on different roles or divide up the work up amongst themselves. Alternatively, the project might require students to assume various perspectives, such as those of government officials, local business owners, etc.
• Establish how you will evaluate and assess the assignment. Consider making the self and peer assessments a part of the assignment grade.

Nilson, L. B. (2010).  Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors  (2nd ed.).  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

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Teaching problem solving.

Print Version

Tips and Techniques

Expert vs. novice problem solvers, communicate.

• Have students  identify specific problems, difficulties, or confusions . Don’t waste time working through problems that students already understand.
• If students are unable to articulate their concerns, determine where they are having trouble by  asking them to identify the specific concepts or principles associated with the problem.
• In a one-on-one tutoring session, ask the student to  work his/her problem out loud . This slows down the thinking process, making it more accurate and allowing you to access understanding.
• When working with larger groups you can ask students to provide a written “two-column solution.” Have students write up their solution to a problem by putting all their calculations in one column and all of their reasoning (in complete sentences) in the other column. This helps them to think critically about their own problem solving and helps you to more easily identify where they may be having problems. Two-Column Solution (Math) Two-Column Solution (Physics)

Encourage Independence

• Model the problem solving process rather than just giving students the answer. As you work through the problem, consider how a novice might struggle with the concepts and make your thinking clear
• Have students work through problems on their own. Ask directing questions or give helpful suggestions, but  provide only minimal assistance and only when needed to overcome obstacles.
• Don’t fear  group work ! Students can frequently help each other, and talking about a problem helps them think more critically about the steps needed to solve the problem. Additionally, group work helps students realize that problems often have multiple solution strategies, some that might be more effective than others

Be sensitive

• Frequently, when working problems, students are unsure of themselves. This lack of confidence may hamper their learning. It is important to recognize this when students come to us for help, and to give each student some feeling of mastery. Do this by providing  positive reinforcement to let students know when they have mastered a new concept or skill.

Encourage Thoroughness and Patience

• Try to communicate that  the process is more important than the answer so that the student learns that it is OK to not have an instant solution. This is learned through your acceptance of his/her pace of doing things, through your refusal to let anxiety pressure you into giving the right answer, and through your example of problem solving through a step-by step process.

Experts (teachers) in a particular field are often so fluent in solving problems from that field that they can find it difficult to articulate the problem solving principles and strategies they use to novices (students) in their field because these principles and strategies are second nature to the expert. To teach students problem solving skills,  a teacher should be aware of principles and strategies of good problem solving in his or her discipline .

The mathematician George Polya captured the problem solving principles and strategies he used in his discipline in the book  How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method (Princeton University Press, 1957). The book includes  a summary of Polya’s problem solving heuristic as well as advice on the teaching of problem solving.

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Tag: problem solving

Another desert island task.

Saw this shared on facebook and just had to repost it, should cause some interesting debates.

Desert Island Problem Solving Speaking Activity

Follow me on twitter  @ RobbioDobbio

Before you use these materials… We’ve created a new podcast aimed at B2+ level English students and teachers alike. You can listen for free at our SoundCloud page below. We have released 5 episodes so far and you can download teacher’s notes to accompany them from our Facebook page or from this blog. All comments and feedback welcome! Give us a like and a share 😉

https://www.facebook.com/2tspodcast/

Task handout:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!503&authkey=!ABjaGRY8sNM-iRU

Language handout:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!504&authkey=!AICWqGyfQ2DTrCE

It’s an old classic but as they say, the old ones are the best!

Warm up questions

What’s the most remote place you’ve ever visited?

Did you spend the night there?

Do you like camping?

Have you ever slept under the stars?

Would you consider it?

What’s the most dangerous natural environment you’ve been in? Jungle? Desert?

What things do you always take with you on holiday?

Give out desert island and language handouts and explain the situation.

You have been selected to take part in a social experiment. You and your group will be taken to a desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. You will have to survive there for a year without contact with the outside world. The island has:

• Fresh water
• Banana trees
• Coconut palms

The climate is mild (not too hot, not too cold) first individually make a list of 8-10 things you think you will need to survive. Then, as a group you will have to decide on 8 things, list them in order of importance.

Students think of their own personal lists first.

In groups they first list all the possible problems they will encounter, then decide on a list of items that will help with these problems.

Students present their lists to class explaining their decisions.

Students must go into more depth about how their island will work.

Students must decide on:

• Roles and responsibilities
• Division of labour
• Justice / punishment / laws /rules
• Decision making

Students present their system to the class, other groups can ask questions.

We’re definitely going to need ________________

__________________ will be vital / essential / extremely useful / completely useless / a waste of space

I can’t live without ____________________

Making Suggestions

I think we should……………….

I reckon we ought to…………………

Why don’t we………………………..

How about / what about + gerund………………………….

Agreeing / Disagreeing

The €100,000 question, conversation topic

Put your students in groups of 3 and ask them the following question:

What would you do with €100,000?

Give them 2 minutes to share their ideas, then have them report each other’s answers to the class. (each person reports someone else from their group’s answer)

Did anyone give it to charity?

Give out the following handout:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!452&authkey=!AB2H6x3IinOC6wE

In their groups students discuss the problem and then present their ideas to the class.

As a wrap up ask the students which suggestions they thought were the best, see if they can come to an agreement as a class on how to give the money away.

A long lost aunt that you didn’t know you had has recently passed away. In her will she left your group €100,000 with a note saying it should be given away to “make the world a better place.” Decide in your groups who you are going to give it to.

I think we should……………….

I reckon we ought to…………………

Why don’t we………………………..

How about / what about + gerund………………………….

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Problem-Solving

Jabberwocky

Problem-solving is the ability to identify and solve problems by applying appropriate skills systematically.

Problem-solving is a process—an ongoing activity in which we take what we know to discover what we don't know. It involves overcoming obstacles by generating hypo-theses, testing those predictions, and arriving at satisfactory solutions.

Problem-solving involves three basic functions:

Seeking information

Generating new knowledge

Making decisions

Problem-solving is, and should be, a very real part of the curriculum. It presupposes that students can take on some of the responsibility for their own learning and can take personal action to solve problems, resolve conflicts, discuss alternatives, and focus on thinking as a vital element of the curriculum. It provides students with opportunities to use their newly acquired knowledge in meaningful, real-life activities and assists them in working at higher levels of thinking (see Levels of Questions ).

Here is a five-stage model that most students can easily memorize and put into action and which has direct applications to many areas of the curriculum as well as everyday life:

Expert Opinion

Here are some techniques that will help students understand the nature of a problem and the conditions that surround it:

• List all related relevant facts.
• Make a list of all the given information.
• Restate the problem in their own words.
• List the conditions that surround a problem.
• Describe related known problems.

It's Elementary

For younger students, illustrations are helpful in organizing data, manipulating information, and outlining the limits of a problem and its possible solution(s). Students can use drawings to help them look at a problem from many different perspectives.

Understand the problem. It's important that students understand the nature of a problem and its related goals. Encourage students to frame a problem in their own words.

Describe any barriers. Students need to be aware of any barriers or constraints that may be preventing them from achieving their goal. In short, what is creating the problem? Encouraging students to verbalize these impediments is always an important step.

Identify various solutions. After the nature and parameters of a problem are understood, students will need to select one or more appropriate strategies to help resolve the problem. Students need to understand that they have many strategies available to them and that no single strategy will work for all problems. Here are some problem-solving possibilities:

Create visual images. Many problem-solvers find it useful to create “mind pictures” of a problem and its potential solutions prior to working on the problem. Mental imaging allows the problem-solvers to map out many dimensions of a problem and “see” it clearly.

Guesstimate. Give students opportunities to engage in some trial-and-error approaches to problem-solving. It should be understood, however, that this is not a singular approach to problem-solving but rather an attempt to gather some preliminary data.

Create a table. A table is an orderly arrangement of data. When students have opportunities to design and create tables of information, they begin to understand that they can group and organize most data relative to a problem.

Use manipulatives. By moving objects around on a table or desk, students can develop patterns and organize elements of a problem into recognizable and visually satisfying components.

Work backward. It's frequently helpful for students to take the data presented at the end of a problem and use a series of computations to arrive at the data presented at the beginning of the problem.

Look for a pattern. Looking for patterns is an important problem-solving strategy because many problems are similar and fall into predictable patterns. A pattern, by definition, is a regular, systematic repetition and may be numerical, visual, or behavioral.

Create a systematic list. Recording information in list form is a process used quite frequently to map out a plan of attack for defining and solving problems. Encourage students to record their ideas in lists to determine regularities, patterns, or similarities between problem elements.

Try out a solution. When working through a strategy or combination of strategies, it will be important for students to …

Keep accurate and up-to-date records of their thoughts, proceedings, and procedures. Recording the data collected, the predictions made, and the strategies used is an important part of the problem solving process.

Try to work through a selected strategy or combination of strategies until it becomes evident that it's not working, it needs to be modified, or it is yielding inappropriate data. As students become more proficient problem-solvers, they should feel comfortable rejecting potential strategies at any time during their quest for solutions.

Monitor with great care the steps undertaken as part of a solution. Although it might be a natural tendency for students to “rush” through a strategy to arrive at a quick answer, encourage them to carefully assess and monitor their progress.

Feel comfortable putting a problem aside for a period of time and tackling it at a later time. For example, scientists rarely come up with a solution the first time they approach a problem. Students should also feel comfortable letting a problem rest for a while and returning to it later.

Evaluate the results. It's vitally important that students have multiple opportunities to assess their own problem-solving skills and the solutions they generate from using those skills. Frequently, students are overly dependent upon teachers to evaluate their performance in the classroom. The process of self-assessment is not easy, however. It involves risk-taking, self-assurance, and a certain level of independence. But it can be effectively promoted by asking students questions such as “How do you feel about your progress so far?” “Are you satisfied with the results you obtained?” and “Why do you believe this is an appropriate response to the problem?”

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