Challenging problems are one of a teacher’s best tools to spur student learning. You have many options for creating problem solving opportunities for your students such as using projects, case studies, fictional scenarios, and role plays. The goal is to create a learning activity that encourages your students to apply what they have learned and equally important, to identify where they lack understanding and skills.
For eighteen years, I was a quality management consultant and instructor. I helped business managers and workers learn new skills. One of my favorite seminars was a two-day class called Internal Quality Auditing. Near the end of the first day, I always had the participants do a role-play activity. It was at this point that people began asking lots of questions and going back over their workbooks. They suddenly realized that there were many things that they had not fully grasped. As they did the role play, they were able to evaluate what they did well and where they needed to improve, and it was fun. They also learned by observing their classmates.
Classes in the church often allow our students to be too passive, especially in the adult classes, where the teacher does most of the talking. The teachings of Jesus challenge us to do many difficult things, but we rarely get to practice before going out into the real world. Our classrooms should be safe (respectful, nurturing, affirming) places where well-designed, age-appropriate activities allow our students to practice what we teach, and so build their skills for real life.
I plan to provide a few examples of learning activities in future posts. I would love to hear about the types of problem solving activities you have developed for your students. Let me know in the comments. Thank you for reading this post.