Learning beyond textbooks

With the emergence of technological advancements and digitalisation, the need to constantly update the curriculum according to industry needs has become quintessential. Institutes are needed to reform their teaching-learning methods and incorporate skill-building activities in their learning pedagogy.

Problem-solving is one such method, that has been long recommended by leading educators and is known to help students gain relevant knowledge by facing problems that need to be solved. This method of education involves grooming students with the ability to solve problems in an efficient and timely manner without being deterred by the quantum of challenges.

From an experiential learning standpoint, problem-solving method of education enables students to observe, comprehend, analyse, uncover solutions and implement applications that lead to a holistic understanding of the topic. Institutes need to include brainstorming approach to learning concepts and incorporate practical sessions that encourage students to acquire knowledge not just by textbooks but real-life situations. Some of the key objectives of the problem-solving method of education are:

Instilling willingness in students to face problems and improve their sense of perseverance.

Enhance the student's abilities to solve problems.

Create awareness among students about approaching issues systematically.

Inspire students to solve problems in more than one way.

Improve the student's abilities to choose the most appropriate solution strategy and execute it accurately.

Every industry has its own set of problems and organisations are looking for candidates with problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities. Adopting an experiential learning approach to imbibe problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities among students, can serve as a win-win formula for organisations as well as students and the institutes alike.

Institutes can incorporate this five-stage model that can help students to acquire problem-solving skills along with gaining relevant industry knowledge:

Understand the problem: It is essential that students understand the nature of a problem and its associated goals. Institutes can encourage students to frame a problem in their own words.

Describe the barriers: Once the student has understood the nature of the problem, the next step is to find what may be causing the issue and identifying constraints that may be hindering them from achieving the goals. Institutes can support students to verbalize these impediments.

Identify various solutions: After the students are well-versed with the characteristics and parameters of a problem, they will need to select one or more suitable strategies to resolve the problem. Students need to know that every problem has more than one solution, and one single approach will not work for all issues.

Select the most accurate solution and execute it: When working through a problem, students may often find themselves confused between several strategies and solutions. To be able to find the most suitable solution, students will need to try a diverse blend of strategies until it becomes clear that a specific approach is not working and needs to be modified to yield productive results.

Evaluate the results: The final and most crucial step is to give students multiple opportunities to assess the issue and generate solutions. Instead of teachers evaluating the student's performance, institutes can encourage the process of self-assessment, thereby making students confident and independent.

By following this five-stage model, students can find new opportunities to use their newly acquired knowledge in a more meaningful and effective way. It helps students to understand real-life activities and assists them in finding probable solutions to the same.

However, the imminent challenge for institutions is to foster meaningful learning rather than rote learning. Hence, a lot of brainstorming and strategic re-orientation may be required to determine the kind of learning experiences that the institute needs to provide to its students.

(The writer is Director, Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, Pune)