step 4:
implement the strategy
After selecting a strategy, it is time to step towards implementing it.
After applying or while applying the strategy, does it work? It is okay if your first strategy (or your next few) doesn't work!
Even experts may not select the right strategy immediately. However, the way they differ from novices is that they tend to shift their strategies more often when an original strategy doesn't work.
There are two types of thinking, one in which may help you go towards the expert-problem-solving level.
After applying or while applying the strategy, does it work? It is okay if your first strategy (or your next few) doesn't work!
Even experts may not select the right strategy immediately. However, the way they differ from novices is that they tend to shift their strategies more often when an original strategy doesn't work.
There are two types of thinking, one in which may help you go towards the expert-problem-solving level.
Divergent Thinking When someone does divergent thinking, several different solutions are considered. It is often related to phrases like "thinking outside the box." This can lead to a variety of possible strategies that can be utilized if other strategies seem to fail. |
Convergent Thinking When someone does convergent thinking, only one solution or strategy is focused on. When he or she reads a problem, all the information is taken in and combined to lead to a single conclusion. |
Functional Fixedness
Functional fixedness is when someone loses the ability to view and create new possible solutions or strategies. This is a state in which frustration may occur, since the method chosen may not be working, but is still being applied. It is the time when you come across a challenging problem and you think "I keep getting stuck, and I can't figure it out." (Nietfeld, 2015).
However, sometimes you might not realize that you were in a fixated state. This could limit yourself to only a handful of possible solutions, none of which actually work.
In a study published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, some participants were given additional, but useless information (in which they called nontarget information). That would put them into a fixation condition in which their attention was drawn towards the extra information. This made the problems more difficult to solve. Their "results suggest that people may not take into account the fixating effects of nontarget information when making their judgments about their ability to solve problems" (Storm & Hickman, 2014).
Therefore, it could be important to recognize if you entered a state of fixation. That way, you can address that issue and, hopefully, enhance your problem solving ability.
When you get into the state of functional fixedness, it can sometimes be difficult to get out of it. This is when creativity could help .
Creativity is often associated with divergent thinking and can help in coming up with new solutions.
You can jump to the page on creativity here, or continue on with the path and return to there later using the sidebar menu on the left.
In continuing Dr. Simanek's (2004) steps to solving a physics problem, here are some things to consider about your strategy when you apply it.
9. Solve the problem mathematically for the desired unknown(s), without yet inserting numerical values.
10. Decide on which unit system you will use. If most or all of the data is expressed in one unit system, that's probably the best system to use. Convert all the data to the units of the chosen unit system.
11. Insert the given numerical values into the mathematical result, and perform the operations to obtain the answer(s).
10. Decide on which unit system you will use. If most or all of the data is expressed in one unit system, that's probably the best system to use. Convert all the data to the units of the chosen unit system.
11. Insert the given numerical values into the mathematical result, and perform the operations to obtain the answer(s).