Week 2: Ready, Set, Stop: Approaches and the Problem Set-Up

Problem solving can take you down a path filled with continuous forks or junctions; choosing one direction or approach over another might significantly alter the outcome, or become an alternative route to the same destination. Recognize that the path you choose is one of many paths that may lead to a good solution.

In this week, you continue to explore problem- solving approaches. In addition, you address hypothesis creation, causation and correlation, and intuition and how these topics relate to the problem-solving process.

Photo credit: Billinger, J. (Photographer). (2009, 06 15). Fork in the Road [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1355424

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze different approaches to problem solving
• Create hypotheses for solving problems
• Analyze role of intuition in problem solving
• Evaluate information to determine causation and correlation
• Analyze role of perspectives in problem solving
• Analyze insights related to problem solving

Discussion: Hypotheses and Problem Solving

Note: Please read the Introduction to all Discussions. Then proceed to participate in the required Discussion A, and your choice of Discussion B or C. There is also an Optional Open Forum you may participate in at any time.

Discussion Introduction (Applies to Discussions A, B, and C)

Have you ever thought you identified the cause of a problem, only to find out later that you were mistaken? When one event or action regularly follows another event or action, you may be likely to conclude that the initial event caused the second event. You may be correct, but, as you learned in this weeks Learning Resources, correlation is not the same as causation.

When you create hypotheses, you use your experience and the resources at your disposal to guess what may have caused a problem and to identify a solution that may address it. For this Discussion, you apply your understanding of causation and correlation to create and discuss hypotheses.

To prepare for the following Discussions, review this weeks Learning Resources including the Problem-Solving Guidance Handout.

Discussion A (Required for all students)

For this Discussion, focus on the various scenes and vignettes that Watzlawick presents in his book, The Situation Is Hopeless But Not Serious: The Pursuit of Unhappiness. For each scene or vignette, consider Watzlawicks approach to the problem of the pursuit of unhappiness. What hypotheses does he propose to address the problem? Based on your own experience, would you consider these plausible hypotheses? Why or why not?

State one hypothesis Watzlawick proposes in the first five chapters of his book. Then evaluate whether, in your view, Watzlawicks hypothesis is plausible. Provide support for your position.

In addition, create a hypothesis to suggest another explanation that may be equally plausible. Include in your answer an explanation of how intuition might play a role in the approach to this problem.

By Day 3

Post a minimum of 100 words to Discussion Question A.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this units Learning Resources. Additionally, you may opt to include an academic resource you have identified or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.

By Day 5

Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues. One must be a response to a colleagues post about the question you did not select. Respond in one of the following ways:

• Share an insight from having read your colleagues posting.
• Expand on your colleagues posting.

Discussion B (Select B or C)

Scenario: 

The gentleman living next door has scolded you three times in the past 2 weeks because, in his view, you parked your car too close to his car. Review the assigned pages in the Watzlawick text, as well as Attribution Theory in this units Learning Resources. 

Using attribution theory, describe what motivations you can attribute to the neighbor. Create a hypothesis that may help you frame a possible solution to the problem.

By Day 3

Post a minimum of 100 words to your choice of Discussion Question B.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this units Learning Resources. Additionally, you may opt to include an academic resource you have identified or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.

By Day 5

Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues. One must be a response to a colleagues post about the question you did not select. Respond in the one of the following ways:

• Share an insight from having read your colleagues posting.
• Expand on your colleagues posting.

Discussion C (Select B or C)

Scenario:

At work you are presented with a list of possible reasons why your department was over budget for the last 3 months:
Unauthorized use of overtime
An increase in the costs of supplies
Staff with improper training for the tasks that they complete
Too many managers on vacation at the same time
Inadequate facilities/space to complete the job
A flu outbreak that required temporary help while paying paid time off for full-time employees
You are asked to determine which of the factors on the list contributed to the overage.

Create a hypothesis that may help you frame a possible solution to the problem.

By Day 3

Post a minimum of 100 words to your choice of Discussion Question C.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this units Learning Resources. Additionally, you may optto include an academic resource you have identified or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.

By Day 5

Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues. One must be a response to a colleagues post about the question you did not select. Respond in the one of the following ways:

• Share an insight from having read your colleagues posting.
• Expand on your colleagues posting.

Optional Open Forum

Add anything that is interesting or notable based on your study of problem solving in this weeks resources, other resources, or your problem-solving experiences.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:
Week 2 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:
Week 2 Discussion A

To participate in this Discussion:
Week 2 Discussion B

To participate in this Discussion:
Week 2 Discussion C

Optional Open Forum

To participate in this Discussion:
Open Forum