How to Teach Kids Better Problem Solving | Michael Arnold | TEDxGreenville
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2018
- We are not preparing our children for a future of AI, robotics, and autonomous driving. Our education system is comfortable with the status quo and that will not be enough in our global economy. Companies are looking for collaborative problem solvers that tackle complex problems yet our schools are teaching the scientific method.
Michael is an engineer that discovered his passion in high school, solving problems by changing the status quo.
He also found love marrying his high school sweetheart. They are both mechanical engineers and have two sons, both future engineers, one at the Citadel and one in high school. They all live in Anderson, SC.
Michael’s mentor in college told him "Don't become a quality engineer in the automotive industry." After almost 25 years in the automotive quality industry he understands why, it is a challenging, fast paced, just in time environment. But he also realized it is never boring and the experience and knowledge he received would enable him to help others solve their biggest problems.
He has worked as a quality engineer or manager for the last 15+ years solving problems. He is a certified Shainin Red X Journeyman and has taught and coached Six Sigma. Drawing on this experience he now trains and coaches others to resolve problems with creative solutions.
“A coach encouraged me to start becoming uncomfortable. Next thing I know, I am auditioning for a TEDx talk, blogging, and working on my Distinguished ToastMasters.” The next step is to help others become uncomfortable by solving problems of significance like preparing our kids for the future. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
I totally agree....
Although, what we'll discover in the grand scheme of things is that it's best to buy less and be more responsibility for personal, societal and environmental purposes --- most businesses won't agree with outlook.
Great message! At NSTEM, we are working to incorporate this exact thought process throughout education. "We need to change from lecturing, to project-based, hands-on learning in classes, without the hot sauce." We could not have said it better ourselves.
I agree! practical learning is more important now.
You know what one thing Einstein had a lot of that today's students don't? Time. Einstein's mind experiments were hours of physically idle thought. More material, earlier isn't the only answer. It is, ironically, a complex problem without a simple solution. But essays in all subjects is a much better way to measure understanding than bubble tests.
Agreed, he did his best thinking while "not" working as a patent clerk. We all need to take more time to unplug, myself included.
Agreed! My son is in a 7th grade project based learning program and I have no idea what kind of work they're doing because most of it is in school. And they definitely don't do enough book reports and writing
Agreed and that is the reason why some nations have a very long way to go before they even understand the definition of "Evolving"
Amazing speech! I agree that we have lost Einstein's all over the world! But with changes to the educational curriculum, we can fix this!
“Everybody should be an engineer”. I would rather ride a horse to work.
Great talk and very relevant for my situation
Good lecture, but the "scientific method" was not developed until the Italian Renaissance, and is generally attributed to Galileo, 1564-1642, the father of the scientific method. Newton,1643 - 1727, and others were contributors to developing scientific experimentation.... and abandoned relying upon inductive or deductive reasoning which was used by ancient Greek philosophers.The Socratic method of Socrates is an argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions... but Socrates did not use scientific experimentation, i.e. the scientific method.
Socrates used the Socratic method?
Great❤
Good message, however, is missing the practical part, because teaching children is another skill to develop.
So where can i find these tactics for teaching my children?
Charles,Unfortunately, they are not available in our current school systems. One of the problems we have with changing education is that parents are not well organized, think NRA not PTA. We have the PTA but it is not a policy setting or lobbying body. I am trying to develop a system for what is needed, but it will take government officials and parents to help change the system. Parents need to organize and require improvements in our education system. If you are interested in talking let me know.
@@themichaelarnold6039 Really appreciable and need of every parent.
@@themichaelarnold6039 These problem solving skills must already exist (while not taught in schools). Is there a way to access them easily.
lol, yes we did need to worry about the plague thing
I thought he will give SOME activities or ways to implements something. So many people just tell the benefits , why. No one tells the how
I am continually working on the how, unfortunately, it's hard to share much detail in less than 15 minutes. First, thing I needed to do was get people to realize we need to make a change, education is overdue for disruption.
If you want to teach your kids better problem solving take them outside and let them see what is different about things that are the same, like leaves. Let them describe what is the same and different and ask them to look for patterns from leaf to leaf. Recognizing differences and patterns will help them with future problem solving.
Think projects not puzzles, the internet has some great examples if you do a search. Also, let them build things with blocks, Lego's, Lincoln logs, etc., but have them solve a problem in the process. For example, have them build a bridge from the couch to the coffee table so their Army men can get across or build a tower to hold their grilled cheese sandwich when they are sitting at the kitchen table.
Think challenging but accomplishable, but be prepared for the day they start taking their toys apart to build a transformer robot out of 10 different toys, you are going to have some pieces left over.
And they hurt when you step on them! You've been warned!
@@themichaelarnold6039 Thank you. Do you have any word / tips for high schoolers and I’ve researched activities and try to practice them with the children in our community however - if there’d be a curriculum/ set of activities that can be practiced , maybe a website/ article / to know that performing these tasks will make them better learners .. ( I am researching on the web and getting good activities to foster creativity, leadership in them )
I'm not a very good problem solver, so are there any programs I can put my son in that will teach him how to problem solve?
Start him with some basic statistics first, Six Sigma for Dummies, is a good book for this. Another good book to help them develop their visual problem solving skills is Problem Solving 101. Stay in tuned, I am working on my own book and hopefully soon TH-cam videos!
Sorry a little late in responding. But thank you for the suggestions. Good luck with your book. I hope you do the videos also. I subbed just in case. Thank you so much again. Blessings.
You are very welcome. I am working on my videos, slowly but surely. Keep an eye open for my TEDxClemsonU Talk, The Cure for Lazy Leadership coming soon.
The irony of his plague comment is striking.
When I grew up, I wanted to be "homeless" for a living. But I'm such a failure, that instead I became a ceo and now I have multiple houses.
Strange how things pan out.
Ugh you give me hope. My son wants to be homeless too. Maybe you can give him a pep talk lol
@@alanatuttle3380 you just have to want it I guess. If he really wants it, I'm sure he'll be as homeless as he he wants. Tell him to keep the dream alive, that's what I always say (but have never said before)!
How much is 6 4? Makes no sense to me.
6 foot 4 inches tall or 193 centimeters tall.
"We need to teach our kids complex problem solving skills." Yes. But the question is: Can we?
He is a classic example of "expert bias" and now falsely believes that complex problem solving skills can be "transferred" to kids whose brains are just growing. Novices cannot think like Experts, and Experts cannot "transfer" skills to Novices.
I think you missed my point, I agree "expert" skills cannot be passed to novices. That is my point we need to give basic problem solving to kids at an early age so when they are in high school they will have a foundation in problem solving to then teach them more complex methodologies, such as statistical problem solving.
I look back now at how I became good at problem solving and it started in elementary school with reading "Games" and "Highlights," magazines with their picture search and puzzles (the only reason I enjoyed going to the doctor's office.) These gave me a foundation along with creative play building things for my Army men and Star Wars figures out of blocks and Lego's to understand more complex methodologies.
"Yes" I became an engineer but I have never been a prototypical engineer in my field because I do question things and many engineers don't like dealing in questions but in facts. Questions are the key to problem finding, then you can solve them.
@@themichaelarnold6039 Hi thanks for commenting back. I guess I misheard or misunderstood your point. My only contention is the overt focus on trying to teach young students "skills" while they would be much better with learning (and even memorizing) facts and concepts.
@@themichaelarnold6039 kids can learn how to problem solve as soon as they are able to make connections with cause and effect, when they communicate, they CAN often become very efficient problem solvers by using language to explain their thinking. This is how we start to understand our strengths and weaknesses and there are so many ways to effectively teach problem solving skills early on in relationship building and empathy and understanding perspectives of others. I believe this is key to learning how to look at a particular problem from different angles and asking the right questions that need to be answered or may lead to answers in getting the information we need to be able to do something differently and find out if it works. I see students doing so much repetitive busy work with very little connection to how it would be used in the real world. We need a shift. And it;s not so easy to change curriculum. Education is different in each district, county, state, and
@@missnishakhanna I agree kids are able to learn much more than we understand. For example, we taught our sons basic sign language before they could speak.
Your point about empathy is also correct. Psychological safety is the primary factor of an effective team and most problem solving requires both to be successful. I teach teamwork through understanding others perspectives as part of my basic problem solving training.
My advanced training includes leadership training since more complex problems requires leading others to the solution.
And yes, the education system is overdue for disruption. I understand this better now than I did when I spoke in 2018 and I am working to offer the training online for parents and kids to use outside of the school’s curriculum.
Thank you for sharing.
Uh... he quoted the WEF. I can't bring myself to watch the rest of it.
11:12 well, he's right on plague-infected zombies, maybe attacking aliens and killer robots will arrive soon.
I think he has some good points but "Peyton Manning, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods were not born great at sports" is dead wrong. They were all born with tremendous gifts of talent that no amount of practice could give them. 99.9% of people could start at age 1 and practice all they want and still not accomplish near what they did in their respective sports. Because they do not have the athletic talent and coordination these 3 were born with.
POV: school
that plague comment... the words of the prophets are indeed written on the subway walls
A huge loss of talents is going on by requiring all engeneering-minded people to pass math tests. I have had a really successful career in developing scientific instruments, also made many inventions, but that was very likely never to happen because I was not able to pass one math exam. What sense does this make?! I was not designing bridges, I used no structural calculations, I just understood the nature of the scientists' problem often better than they could, and designed good solutions. Problem solving? A piece of cake for me. I have a really broad knowledge on many areas, except for math. So why should that wretched and unnecessary math be required from anyone practicall;y minded ?
I agree, some of the best "engineers" I worked with were not degreed but understood how physics worked and how to solve problem because they did it instead of studying it.
This is my point we need to have more doing of things than studying of things. I am not a statistician or math genius, and my grades were never anything to write home about. But, I started solving problems when I was a kid and it has helped me recognize the patterns and the differences between things which allows me to solve complex problems other over look.
You can look at some of the most successful minds and billionaires in the world for examples, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs, all never finished college. A degree and good grades are overvalued in many cases.
CÑOR, SU HIJO NO DIJO ESO.
Só many speakers mention the Google 20%. It's a myth! It doesn't happen!
Agreed, they have actually moved away from actually encouraging 20% of time to allowing it as needed. The last data, I saw was only about 10% of Googlers use the time, but they all have the ability to use 20% of their time on pet projects if they have an idea. 3M follows a similar policy.
@@themichaelarnold6039 that is right keep up the good work
Typical TED stuff, generalized mush.