Teaching through Problem Solving vs. Teaching not through Problem Solving

By Ahmad Apriyanto (2010110001)

source (click here)

Problem solving becomes one of important things in teaching and learning. By using problem solving in teaching and learning regularly, it challenges students’ ways of thinking and sharps student’s logical thinking. Problem solving doesn’t always mean giving some real-life problems to the students because not all of real-life problem are problem solving. For example, “Rudy has 6 apples, and then he wants to distribute those apples to three of his friends, how many apples of each friend will get?” In my opinion, those problem is not a problem solving because we only need to divide 6 by 3, and then we will get 2 as the answer.

Problem solving is a problem which must be solved not in fast. It must be thought again and again, and then it needs some steps to be solved. In the other hand, a non-real-life problem could be a problem solving. For instance, “we have a figure which has 20cm of perimeter and 8x2 cm of dimension, and then find another figure which has the same perimeter with the largest area.” I think this is an example of a non-real-life problem but is a problem solving because when we calculate the area of a figure with 8x2 cm of dimension, its area is just 16cm². We have to find a figure which has the same perimeter with the largest area. We cannot solve it in a fast way because we have to think again and again. We can have a figure with 7x3 cm, but its area is just 21cm². For a figure with 6x4 cm, the area is 24cm². Another figure with 5x5 cm will have 25cm² for its area, and it’s the largest one. So, problem solving is not merely about real-life problem, but it’s a problem which needs some steps to be solved.

Based on my experience, I don’t remember when the first time I was given a problem solving is. However, in Senior High School I was given some problems solving when I learned about linear equation system. That’s the only part which I remember in learning by problem solving because the question were real-life, and it needed some steps to be solved. May be, when I learned about logarithm, exponential, quadratic functions, I had learned about non-real-life problem solving. However, so many questions to drill and practice but they don’t need many steps to be solved, so most of them are not problem solving.

Learning with problem solving is really challenging. It challenges my thought to “think inside and outside the box.” I had to think in different ways to beat it, so that it is bore less. If I compare with non-problem solving, it’s really boring because just by one or two steps we will find the answer, so it’s not challenging at all. In my conclusion, learning by problem solving is much more advantages than learning by non-problem solving. In another way, I’ll try to shape my students’ logical thinking by problem solving, so that I will provide as many as problem solving in my teaching.