The Problem Solving Approach

 During this week of AEE 412, we as a cohort had the privilege of learning a bit about the problem-solving approach. This is also known as the "heart and soul" of agricultural education, as many of our lessons that give our students unique skills and abilities involve learning through this problem-solving approach. The four types that we can dive into include forked road, possibilities-factors, situations to be improved, and effect-cause. The one that I chose to try out in my lab section was the possibilities-factors,  which is when you give students multiple choices to choose from in a given space or scenario, and they look to solve a given problem with the given possibilities. 


For my lesson, I got out of my comfort zone and did a Food Science lesson on the 5 most common foodborne illnesses. For my lesson, I created a scenario in which a young lady was sick after attending a local fundraising banquet and buffet. I then gave the students the scenario and asked them to determine, based on signs, symptoms, and food that was served, what foodborne illnesses was the lady infected with, along with which food caused said illness. 




After about 12 minutes of investigating and guiding the discussions in the student groups, both groups came up with intelligent answers, although differing. I found that even though one group was technically correct and the other not so much, they both provided a great explanation for their thinking and it allowed me to come to a realization. Even when students have an answer that may not align with the correct one, the thinking and learning process is even more important than that. It was so cool to see the group that came up with a different answer than I had in mind, defend themselves and give a very legitimate argument for the answer they chose. I think this might be the coolest part of the problem-solving approach, which is putting the students in the driver's seat and allowing them to make competent decisions and defend themselves with the knowledge that they have gathered from prior lessons and experiences. 

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