Thinking about problem solving and cheating
When Alexander cut the gordian knot with a sword, he was clearly cheating. Yet I’ve heard people describe this as a brilliant example of creative problem solving, lateral thinking, or thinking outside the box.
To my mind, cheating and creative problem solving are very similar, which is why I find team building activities that rely on creative problem solving and unusual modes of thought very difficult to value.
I was recently coaching a team that was asked to solve several team-building puzzles.
- In the first case, they solved the puzzle, but not quickly enough. Our coordinator reminded us “there’s no where in the rules that it says you can’t do X.” We were motivated to think creatively.
- In the second case, the students quickly solved puzzle and did so in a way that the coordinator had foreseen, saying “you figured it out.” They found the correct creative solution that previous groups had worked out. Perhaps creativity and originality can be exclusive concepts.
- In the third case, the coordinators were irritated by our solution. Yet when the students pointed out “there’s no where in the rules that it says you can’t do X,” our coordinator replied, “well. We didn’t specifically state that you can’t do X, but we implied it when we said that you couldn’t do Y.” We failed, though we did complete our objective.
The rules of gravity imply that people can’t fly, but they do it all the time. Those cheaters.
So, how will this change the way I teach?
I’m not sure, but with this in mind, I’m doing my best to eliminate classroom discussion questions unless they’re open-ended (I get so irritated when someone says “That’s a good answer but not the one that I was going for. Anyone else?”).
The challenge comes in when:
- Essays. Academic writing is often very rigid.
- Research.
- Creative writing. Even poetry requires a great deal of skill before poets are able to transcend the “rules” of the form.
- The need for rules. Most students are very used to working within clear rules and many feel uncomfortable without them — even I feel uncomfortable without them.
This is a start for me. This principle will require a lot of thought (how can I get students to cheat within acceptable guidlines) before I see it resulting in a real transformation of my teaching.
