Shake Hands

Allan, Bella, Cheryl, David, Ernie and Farid shook hands with each other. Each person shook hands with everyone else once. Use three different methods to find the number of handshakes in the group.

Shake Hands, Say Good Evening and Other Problems

Three sticks are used to make a triangle this size. You need to make 4 such triangles - same size and also equilateral. How many sticks do you need? Can you use only six sticks?


There are five of you. Each says Good Evening to everyone else - once. How many Good Evenings are uttered?

What if instead of Good Evenings, each shake hands with everyone else once. How many handshakes are there?

What about if we do this with the whole class - 46 of us?

Did you like the Sound of Numbers Problem? One containers has 2 objects. The other one has an unknown number of objects. Shale both containers and listen to the sound. How many objects are there in the second container?

Structure

Use no more than 10 straws to build the tallest structure possible. It must be able to stand on its own. You cannot cut the straw. You can use masking tape if you wish.

Container

Make a container using newspaper to hold exactly one cup of green beans.

Problem Solving 1

Photo Source: Jalan Besar PCF Kindergarten, Singapore

Problem: Cut the bread (square) in half. In the photograph, the students have 2 triangles and 2 rectangles. Are there other ways to do this?

Further Question: Do you get more jam on the triangle or the rectangle bread?

Today is the first day of lesson and the focus is on experiencing problem solving in mathematics and other domains so that we can arrive at a definition of problem and hence problem solving.

Welcome to MAT150 Developing Problem-Solving Skills

Welcome to the course.

It is one week before the course starts. The course is about, well, what the title says - developing problem-solving skills.

More about the course later when we meet in class from 22nd Feb onwards.

First thing first - you have some preliminary reading and writing assignment to get you ready for the course. Please refer to your Course Outline.

There is no prescribed books you need to read but the one suggested is Frameworks for Thinking. It is available online. You can read any other books or even what people write on the internet. The product is My Dictionary of Problem-Solving Terms.

You are expected to submit during the first meeting this booklet that you compiled based on your reading. The idea is that you are familiar with terms common in talking about teaching thinking. Please submit one copy to me and have your own copy for reference. You are likely to edit your entries during the course when you get new insights in the problem-solving process.

Enjoy your reading and see you in class with a sharp pencil ... and mind.

Reflections on Students' Blogs

The course has ended and the participants are completing their course assignment. I have enjoyed reading their reflections on their blogs. The blogs, which are listed on the right, give me an insight into their thoughts. Also what they have read and what they have tried out with the kids they teach. It also give me an idea on their ability to synthesize what they get from their reading, the experience during this course and others they attended as part of the prgramme, and their work with children.

In other words, the blogs give me a glimpse into their 'teaching soul'.