This week, I went through the problem-solving steps required for credit with my physics class. They're nothing special; I'm sure math and science teachers all over the world have similar requirements. Identify your knowns (with units). Identify unknown. Write the equation you will use. Apply the equation by substituting the variables. Do the math and box your answer.
While this method is not earth-shattering, is certainly not the only valid approach (just the one required in my class), and is meant only for having an organization system for solving math problems, I had a realization while teaching it to them. It's a model for solving all kinds of problems. If we zoom out from the specifics of math, what this method actually boils down to is this.
1. Identify the information you have that is relevant to the problem at hand.
2. Ask "What do I need to know to solve this problem?"
3. Examine the tools you have available and choose the one that best fits.
4. Apply the tool to the problem and analyze the results.
We would arrive at better solutions to problems if we approached solving problems in this manner. The problem is, we don't have the patience for it. We want instant solutions. Take a look at social media after a mass shooting, a weather disaster, or any tragedy. Within minutes of the event, there are many posts with assertions of the solution. Setting aside that the problem they are trying to address is large and complex and has no easy solution, these people have put five full seconds of thought into it before picking up their phone; so they clearly know what they are talking about.
Smartphones have made us less patient than any other invention. Answers to questions are instantaneous as long as Siri knows the answer. We can get what we need from Amazon in two days (or, in some places, two hours) without having to bother with going to the store. I find myself getting impatient with the microwave because it is taking 3 minutes and 33 seconds (It's a quirk of mine to put in all the same numbers, don't worry about it) to cook something that would have taken an hour to cook in the oven fifty years ago or hours to cook over a fire one hundred years ago. We don't want to wait for anything. How much less patience do we have when we have an actual problem?
Here's the deal, though. The solution that immediately springs to mind is rarely the right one. It usually leaves out some of the information we need to properly deal with the issue at hand. It may neglect a good tool simply because we didn't take the time to think about the tools we have. Using the wrong tool or neglecting relevant details can not only be ineffective but dangerous. If I had a flat tire, I couldn't just grab the nearest tool, which would likely be a hammer or a screwdriver.
This tendency we have to impatiently jump to conclusions is precisely why we have grown impatient with science during the COVID-19 crisis. We want to just grab the nearest bottle of pills and hope it works, but that's not science. If it did work, it would be because we got lucky, not because we found a real solution. This morning, the President tweeted that the CDC was making participating in a trial too difficult (and, as is his practice, made it about himself). I don't expect him to understand the nuances of clinical trials and the details of how people qualify for them because non-scientists don't spend time thinking about these things, but I do expect him to know why scientific protocols exist. Not following those protocols could lead to an ineffective vaccine, or worse, a treatment that causes more problems than it solves. Individual human bodies are complex, and groups of humans are even more so. This is why science takes time. During the AIDS epidemic of the 80s and 90s, activists widely criticized Dr. Fauci for moving too slowly while their people were dying. He knew that doing it right had to be more important than doing it fast, and he eventually won them over. A diagnosis of HIV is no longer the death sentence it was then because scientists took the time to look for real solutions rather than jumping to conclusions.
If you are facing a problem (or your students are), take the time to solve the problem rather than instinctively throw ideas at it.
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