Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with solving

Help me develop topics for a high school course on problem solving.

etc. — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:29:00 -0800

Help me develop topics for a high school course on problem solving. I am a high school teacher (previously) with hopes of creating a problem-solving course. I've not found good materials online for a course like the one I am conceiving, nor have I taken one of this sort (except for a small-group excercise I participated in in 5th grade), but here's what I have in mind:

1) Break students into groups of 4 or 5 students of mixed ability (my school has a fairly broad range of students, but they are mostly centered at a bit below grade-level expectations).

2) Assign a problem that is fairly specific though also fairly open ended.

3) Then, my role as teacher is to guide the groups over the course of, say, 2 to 3 weeks toward a creative, collaborative and somewhat viable answer by asking students to refine and challenge their own group work. Meanwhile, I will provide materials (mainly related readings) that guide students to these viable answers.

4) Ultimately, students will present their findings/solutions to a panel (probably a group of teachers and students, though maybe invited experts).

5) Move on to next problem...

I've wanted to post this question for a while, but didn't quite have my head wrapped around a good sample topic, but now that I think I have one, let me show you what I mean:

Problem: Devise a one-time, one-way communique to be transmitted to an extraterrestrial intelligence.

I would then pass out markers and paper and ask students to put together their message, which would probably consist of a paragraph written in English saying, "Hi. We're from Earth and we would love to meet you. When you get here we'll take you to McDonalds. Love, Earthlings."

We would then critique our messages and begin the formal study of the problem and look at related readings:

--Aliens won't understand our writing (readings on hieroglyphics, the Rosetta Stone and/or cryptography)
--How has this problem been approached before? (Pioneer, Voyager, Arecibo)
--Problems associated with previous attempts (like this)

In other words, assign a tough problem that requires creative solutions to which a constructivist, pursuit-based approach is manageable for the teacher. With the alien message example above, I could provide lots of support materials and be a gadfly to students while letting students invent their own solutions.

What I don't want are things like the you-are-stuck-on-an-island-with-these-20-things-now-rank-them-in-order-of-importance-and-we'll-see how-well-you-did-against-a-predefined-correct-answer sort. And I want the project to have lots of paths and dead ends (which I think the alien message does). Another idea I was considering was a nuclear war scenario in which groups are given, say, $2000 to stock a bomb shelter--what do you buy?--but I'm afraid I would have trouble finding useful resources for my gadfly-ing, and I don't feel like the answer is open ended enough (you know: "water, food, guns, two-way radio, etc.").

I am also interested in a problem-solving framework that we would study at the beginning of the term and use throughout, though there are some AskMes on similar topics, but what I really want here is your good idea of a problem and links to a bunch of related readings that would provide the basis for student inquiry, like the example above.

I can has engineer-mind?

lilithim — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:24:23 -0800

Any good books to help develop an analytic mind? I'm finding myself in a place where I've got some energy to devote to being more mentally well-rounded.
Being able to understand engineering, or investing, or law, it doesn't necessarily matter.
Any books/other resources that you read and found helpful to continue developing your thinking skills to solve problems.

CreativeProblemSolving: Moving overseas in stages

sdis — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:10:05 -0800

CreativeProblemSolvingAdventureFilter: If you were moving overseas for a period of 2 years via 4 air trips, spaced 1.5-2 months apart, what stuff would you bring when? I'm moving overseas (Austria) for a 2-year masters program, starting in September. I have lots of stuff, much of which doesn't need to come with me (Assume storage is free), but I'm planning on making a home for myself while I'm there, so I'd like to move more than the bare necessities. My logic question for you, O Hivemind, is how would you group your stuff in the following buckets:

#1 - Bonus: Late June Bucket: ~140 lbs (2 checked, 2 carryon) **PRE-MOVE IN**
-Stuff I need once I move in, but can live without right now
-->Stuff that will get apartment set up to ease September move and allow for livable conditions for our summer subletter. Will be bringing foam mattress (~45 lbs), sheets, shower curtain..

#2 - Essentials: September Bucket: ~140 lbs (2 checked, 2 carryon) **MOVE IN DATE**
-Stuff I need immediately upon moving in

#3 - Later: November Bucket: ~70 lbs (1 checked, 1 carryon)
-Stuff I need in Austria, but don't need until November
-->Clever suggestion so far has been bringing Winter Clothes, since the weather will be just beginning to get very cold

#4 - Much Later: December Bucket: ~140 lbs (2 checked, 2 carryon)
-Stuff I need in Austria, but don't need until January
-->Definitely need ideas on this front; what can you live without for 4-5 months but not for 2 years?

NOTE: Books can be shipped via USPS MBag for $1/lb, and will therefore not be involved in these buckets, for the most part

Items to sort:
*2 laptops and associated things with them (Including small printer, small scanner, label printer (maybe), extra batteries and chargers and things)
*Cell phones and ipods and things
*Clothes and linens of all flavors
*Kitchen items worth bringing despite their weight [Will be cooking alot] (Knives, thermometers and timers, utensils/spatulas/etc, Jury's out on: a big All-Clad saute pan [possibly], cups and tableware [probably not])
*Desk stuff (Stationary, staplers, 3-hole punchers, writing utensils, etc)
*Bathroom stuff (Toiletries, etc)
*Probably some other categories I'm missing that one needs for life and all that.

I want more control over the light coming into my bedroom

amtho — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 07:37:14 -0800

Please help me block all light through my bedroom's sliding glass doors - without damaging them, violating my community's rules, or using anything ugly or smelly. Blinds and shutters aren't opaque enough. There's a street light that's visible from our bed through the sliding glass doors in our bedroom. Curtains block it a little, but I want complete darkness. I know about the special light-blocking fabric one can buy, I bought some, but the plasticky smell was awful (I know it will dissipate over time, but I really didn't like the idea of that fabric in my bedroom) -- and again, curtains aren't going to block all the light, just most of the light.

I have an idea that someone's solved this before, but haven't figured out good search terms for Google. I did find this thread here, but it focuses on curtains, drapes, and shutters (also not opaque enough).

I'm willing to get some lumber and construct some kind of insert, or even a structure to go in front of the sliding glass doors, but I'd also like these features:

ability to still open the (left) door and go in/out sometimes;

ability to reveal only the top of the panes (so they're more like windows)

a ledge or shelf at the "window" base so my cat or some plants can hang out there;

edges that seal out light completely when any movable part is "closed".

I could just design this myself, but perhaps someone has done it already? I'm not that experienced with carpentry, yet, and since my desired feature list might involve hinges or something I'd love some input.

One more thing: if the solution is some kind of removable thing, it needs to store easily; I don't have a shed or basement or anything -- we're in a condo.

Anyone seen anything like this? Ideas for good search terms?

How can I help my parents deal with my dysfunctional sister?

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 22:08:17 -0800

How can I help my parents deal with my dysfunctional sister? My parents are good, law abiding, salt of the earth people. All their lives they have worked hard and sacrificed so that my sister and I could have a good life. They are now in their sixties, I am in my twenties, and my sister is in her thirties.

My sister has always been troubled. She is not a bad person, per se, but her whole life she has made the worst descisions and associated herself with the worst people. She has been diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder, and for most of her adult life she has abused drugs. Lately, she has been living in her own apartment (which my parents largely pay for) which is more like a slum because she has no credit due to the fact that she is incapable of holding down a job. She gets a check from the government every month for some disability thing.

The problem is, she hangs out (or, in my opinion, is taken advantage of, but I'm not there so I can't know for sure) with a criminal element and is certainly involved in illegal dealings, involving both drugs and crime, possibly gang activity. My poor father recently went over to the town she is in to help her move because she is getting kicked out of her apartment because the manager was "afraid" of the people always around her, and while he was there the cops showed up inquiring about a wanted felon they had reason to believe spent a lot of time in my sister's place and burglaries that were reported with her car as the vehicle.

Sorry for the long lead up, but my question is that I largely think my sister is a lost cause. Everyone in the family has spent time, money, and done everything they can to help her, but she refuses to help herself. It kills me to see my parents, who are such good people, suffering all the time, and I live fairly far away so I am not around to effect anything directly. Besides, I went to college, I hold down a job, and I just don't have the ability to fight off criminals - I'd probably just end up getting myself hurt or killed. I just want to know what I can do to make things any better for my parents. Is there some legal recourse? I am capable of making the hard choices that may leave my sister imprisoned, where most likely she'll be far safer than she is now.

My father is unhealthy enough as it is just from age and the assorted ills that come with it, and I feel like he deserves a happy life without having to worry himself sick to the point where he needs to take tranquilizers to calm down - which he recently began doing. I feel powerless and I hate to see my family suffer. What can I do?

What international tournaments exist that might be thought of as "mental" Olympics?

badstone — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 11:03:37 -0800

What international tournaments exist that might be thought of as "mental" Olympics? (That is, they contain a range of competitions based on intellect, strategy, problem-solving, mental arithmetic, etc...)