By: Megan Prats

4/8/2015

Much of the 2learn® Method Teacher Manual is devoted to listing the resources available for the student to use in her problem-solving – elements of critical thinking and the tools of the critical thinker. However, how is the student supposed to actually take these resources and apply them to her problem- solving? Like almost everything in the infinite realm of knowledge, the answer is that there is no answer.

Because the infinite realm of knowledge permits infinite possibilities, every problem is as unique as a snowflake. Thus, the mixture of the use of all of the resources available to the student needs to mold to the uniqueness of each problem. Therefore, yet again, the answer is there is no answer.

Instead, how the student utilizes her tools should be in accordance with a principle for the following reason – balance because equilibrium normally yields maximization.  In other words, the mixture should be “just right”.

So how do you teach the student what is “just right” in problem-solving? Well, a good starting
point would be to analogize problem-solving to cooking. First, the chef needs all of the ingredients for her recipe. The ingredients for the student are the following – substance, elements of critical thinking, and the tools of the critical thinker. Next, its time to mix all of those ingredients together to create something new from the pieces.

Like a chef, the student must select which resources to use depending on their functionalities. For instance, a chef will use a knife if she needs to cut something but not to mix a bowl of ingredients together because the knife’s functionality is for cutting and not mixing. As with problem-solving, the student will use Logic and Reason and not The Lack Thereof if she’s looking to find the practical solution for the problem because that is logic and reason’s function.

So, say the student wants to find the time from a melody. First, the student says that the song is in 3/4 because the rhythm contains three quarter notes. Because the student’s concept of time defies logic in this case (the time is 4/4 and the rhythm contains a half-note and two quarter notes), it is time for the student to use logic and reason because its function will bring the student back to reality. Then, the student might need to think “outside of the box” so that she can see that the melody can be in another time signature besides 3/4 and/or to understand that she can interpret that rhythm in 3/4. Thus, thinking “outside of the box” should be added to the mix so that the student can achieve the right balance of the tools at her disposal. After applying that mixture of tools, the student then realizes that the melody can be interpreted as being in 4/4 time and the rhythmic association with the notes are the following – half note, and two quarter notes.

Now, let’s say that the student applied logic and reason to the second step instead of thinking “outside of the box”. Allowing logic and reason to take the student through the whole problem would cause an imbalanced approach as logic and reason will likely not put the student in the “no rules” territory of creativity. Thus, because the student utilized the resources based on their functionalities at the right places and times, the student’s answer was good.

Balance should be the goal in the mixing phase. “Just right” usually leads the student in the right direction. How does the student know that she’s achieved the right balance?  The Answer.

© Megan Prats 2015