Today’s presentation
  • Participate in an example of contextualised 
   group work activity – theme of problem solving
  • Brainstorm around how you can incorporate 
   contextualised group work techniques in your 
   classroom
  • Examples of the types of teaching strategies / 
   activities you can use to engage groups of 
   students
  Polya: “The Father of Problem 
  Solving”
  • George Pólya was a       
   Hungarian mathematician.
  • He made fundamental contributions 
   to combinatorics, number theory, 
   numerical analysis and probability 
   theory. He is also noted for his work 
   in heuristics and mathematics 
   education.
     Heuristics
     •  Heuristic (Greek: "find" or "discover") refers 
        to experience-based techniques for problem 
        solving, learning, and discovery that gives a 
        solution which is not guaranteed to be optimal.
     •  Where an exhaustive search is impractical, 
        heuristic methods are used to speed up the 
        process of finding a satisfactory solution via 
        mental shortcuts. 
     •  Examples of this method include using a rule of 
        thumb, an educated guess, an intuitive 
        judgment, stereotyping, or common sense.
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    Polya's Problem Solving 
    Techniques
    •   In 1945 George Polya published the 
        book How To Solve It which quickly 
        became his most prized publication. 
    •   It sold over one million copies and has 
        been translated into 17 languages. 
    •   In this book he identifies four basic 
        principles of problem solving.
     1. Understand the problem
     • Do you understand all the words used in 
        stating the problem?
     • What are you asked to find or show?
     • Can you restate the problem in your own 
        words?
     • Can you think of a picture or diagram that 
        might help you understand the problem?
     • Is there enough information to enable you 
        to find a solution?
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