Educational Psychology / Unit 6 EDP 0512 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The IDEAL Method
The idea
Bransford and Stein's IDEAL method organizes problem solving into five steps. Identify the problem, recognizing that one exists. Define its terms, so the goal and the givens are clear. Explore strategies, considering several possible approaches, from problem analysis and working backward to analogy. Act on a chosen strategy. Look at the effects, checking whether the result solves the problem and, if not, returning to an earlier step.
In practice
Worked example: a class's garden keeps dying. Students identify the problem, define healthy growth, explore watering, soil and light, act by testing the soil, and look at the results.
Where people slip
The steps loop rather than run once: looking at the effects often sends the solver back to define the problem better. Skipping the define step is risky, because a vague problem invites a strategy that solves the wrong thing.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Educational Psychology