Implementing Technology Education Problem-Solving Activities

Teaching students how to solve problems is an important goal of education and industrial arts/technology education has had a long history of providing an environment for developing these skills. The congruence of technology education and problem solving is based on the fact that technologies are, in many ways, a product of problem solving. Technological problems require the application of knowledge from many different disciplines and the laboratory provides a medium to develop and test solutions. Greenfield (1987, p. 20) suggests that students do not acquire thinking skills simply by practice in problem solving, drill, or osmosis. Problem-solving activities must be implemented with careful planning to insure intended student outcomes. Curriculum planning must involve careful consideration of the goals of problem-solving instruction, how an activity fits in relation to the goals, and the teaching style that would best facilitate goal attainment. Also, there is a difference between the product and the process when considering the value of problem-solving activities. Perkins (1986, p. 7) cautions against focusing on the products we produce and only indirectly the process by which we produce them. Specifically, how to proceed in a stepwize fashion to reach a goal. The essence of problem-solving is the application of knowledge and process that leads to a solution. Like any skill, the problem solver must acquire knowledge related to the problem, thinking skills needed to process this knowledge, and the ability to identify and apply appropriate processes to reach a solution.