TheHighSchooler

10 Problem-Solving Scenarios for High School Students

It is certainly common to come across difficult situations including forgetting an assignment at home or overusing your phone only to miss an important project deadline. We are always surrounded by little difficulties that might become bigger problems if not addressed appropriately.

Whether it is saving your friend from the addiction to social media platforms or communicating your personal boundaries to relatives, problem-solving skills are one of the important skills you need to acquire throughout the journey of life.

Do you think these skills are in-built with other high school students? Certainly not.

It takes innovative learning methodologies just like problem-solving scenarios that help you immerse in the subject matter with precision. With problem-solving scenarios, you come across a range of problems that help you build critical thinking skills, logical reasoning, and analytical techniques.

The article will take you through scenarios that are a combination of various problems that need to be addressed strategically and carefully. As you read ahead, make sure to brainstorm solutions and choose the best one that fits the scenario. 

Helpful scenarios to build a problem-solving attitude in high schoolers

Learning through scenarios helps students look at situations from a completely analytical perspective. Problem-solving scenarios offer a combination of various situations that test the thinking skills and growth mindset of high school students. The below-mentioned scenarios are perfect for implementing problem-solving skills simply by allowing open discussions and contributions by students.

1. Uninvited Guests

Uninvited Guests

You have arranged a party at your home after successfully winning the competition at the Science Fair. You invite everyone involved in the project however, one of your friends brings his cousin’s brother along. However, you have limited soft drink cans considering the number of invited people. How would you manage this situation without making anyone feel left out?

2. Communication Issues

Communication Issues

A new teacher has joined the high school to teach about environmental conservation. She often involves students in different agriculture activities and workshops. However, one of your friends, John, is not able to understand the subject matter. He is unable to communicate his doubts to the teachers. How would you motivate him to talk to the teacher without the fear of judgment?

3. Friendship or Personal Choice?

Friendship or Personal Choice?

The history teacher announced an exciting assignment opportunity that helps you explore ancient civilizations. You and your friend are pretty interested in doing the project as a team. One of your other friends, Jason, wants to join the team with limited knowledge and interest in the topic. Would you respect the friendship or deny him so you can score better on the assignment?

4. Peer Pressure 

Peer Pressure 

It is common for high schoolers to follow what their friends do. However, lately, your friends have discovered different ways of showing off their skills. While they do all the fun things, there are certain activities you are not interested in doing. It often puts you in trouble whether to go with friends or take a stand for what is right. Would you take the help of peer mentoring activities in school or try to initiate a direct conversation with them?

5. Team Building 

Team Building

Mr. Jason, the science teacher, assigns different projects and forms teams with random classmates. There are 7 people in each team who need to work towards project completion. As the group starts working, you notice that some members do not contribute at all. How will you ensure that everyone participates and coordinates with the team members?

6. Conflict Resolution 

The drama club and the English club are famous clubs in the school. Both clubs organize various events for the students. This time, both clubs have a tiff because of the event venue. Both clubs need the same auditorium for the venue on the same date. How would you mediate to solve the issue and even make sure that club members are on good terms with each other? 

7. Stress Management 

Stress Management

Your school often conducts different activities or asks students stress survey questions to ensure their happiness and well-being. However, one of your friends always misses them. He gets frustrated and seems stressed throughout the day. What would you do to ensure that your friend gets his issue acknowledged by teachers?

8. Time Management 

Time Management 

Your friend is always enthusiastic about new competitions in high school. He is running here and there to enroll and get certificates. In this case, he often misses important lectures and activities in class. Moreover, his parents complain that he misses swimming class too. How would you explain to him the importance of prioritizing and setting goals to solve this issue?

9. Educational Resources 

You and your friends are avid readers and often take advice from books. While most must-read books for bibliophiles are read by you, it is important to now look for other books. However, you witness that the school library lacks other important books on philosophy and the non-fiction category. How would you escalate this issue to the higher authorities by addressing the needs of students?

10. Financial Planning

Financial Planning

Finance is an important factor and that is why your parents help you plan your pocket money and budgeting. Off lately, they have stopped doing so considering that you can manage on your own. However, after a few months, you have started spending more on games and high-end school supplies. You realize that your spending habits are leading to loss of money and reduced savings. How shall you overcome this situation?

Wrapping Up 

Involving students in different learning practices and innovative ways inspires them to think out of the box and make use of imagination skills. With the usage of different problem-solving scenarios, high school students get an opportunity to delve into realistic examples and consequences of different incidents.

Such scenarios offer an excellent way to promote understanding, critical thinking skills and enhance creativity. Ensure to use different activities and games for creating a comprehensive learning environment.

problem solving scenarios students

Sananda Bhattacharya, Chief Editor of TheHighSchooler, is dedicated to enhancing operations and growth. With degrees in Literature and Asian Studies from Presidency University, Kolkata, she leverages her educational and innovative background to shape TheHighSchooler into a pivotal resource hub. Providing valuable insights, practical activities, and guidance on school life, graduation, scholarships, and more, Sananda’s leadership enriches the journey of high school students.

Explore a plethora of invaluable resources and insights tailored for high schoolers at TheHighSchooler, under the guidance of Sananda Bhattacharya’s expertise. You can follow her on Linkedin

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problem solving scenarios students

30 Problem Solving Scenarios for Speech Therapy Practice

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Problem solving scenarios.

  • Your friends came over to your house for a movie night. One of your friends brought another friend so there are more people than you planned for. You want to pass out the drinks but you only have five cans of soda and you need 6 for everyone to have one. What could you do?
  • After basketball practice you go back to the locker room with your team to shower and change. When you are done dressing, you can't find your shoes. What could you do?
  • You have been waiting all day for lunch to come because you are starving. Finally class gets over and you get to go to lunch. Except when you go to get to your lunch, it's not there. You probably left it at home. What could you do?
  • There is a guy in your class who is always mean to you. He always bumps you when he walks by and he calls you names. He knocks stuff out of your hands and makes you feel stupid. You don't think you can take it anymore. What could you do?
  • You really want to invite this new girl/guy to come to your birthday party, but you have never talked to them before. You are worried they will say no. What could you do?
  • You rode the bus to school today and on the way in people are pointing and laughing at you. You go in the bathroom and see that you have pink gum all over the back of your pants. What could you do?
  • You wake up and see that your alarm never went off. So you are starting your morning 15 minutes later than you planned. It is a really important day at school and you cannot be late. What could you do?
  • You are giving a group presentation in front of class and it's your turn to talk. All of the sudden you sneeze. You cover it with your hand, but now your hand is full of stuff you sneezed out. What could you do?
  • You are eating dinner at a fancy restaurant with your parents and their friends. You have a really messy dinner and accidentally flip a noodle into the lady's lap. They are busy talking and don't notice it. What could you do?
  • You are taking a test and there is no talking allowed. You are writing your answers on the paper and your pencil breaks. What could you do?
  • You are taking a test and the guy behind you asks you for help. He wants to know what you put for question number two. What could you do?
  • You are at a birthday party and you have waited in line for a long time for your turn to hit the pinata. It is finally going to be your turn and it looks like the next hit will break the pinata. But you suddenly have to go to the bathroom. What could you do?
  • You are hanging outside with your friend and she decides to pick your neighbor's flowers. She gives you the pretty handful of flowers and right then your neighbor opens the door. She asks you why you picked her flowers. What could you do?
  • You borrowed your sister's skates one day without asking and they broke while you were using them. What could you do?
  • You are eating at a friend's house and the mom piles your plate full of food. It looks really good and you want to eat it all but you can't because you just ate a snack. What could you do so you don't hurt her feelings?

SEE ALSO:   The Best Free App for Speech Therapy

problem solving scenarios students

  • Your teacher was working at her desk.  You wanted to ask her a question, but she didn't see your hand raised. What should you do?
  • You started to do your work, but you weren't sure if you were doing it right. What should you do?
  • You were playing tether-ball and were the champion so far.  In the next game, you slightly touched the rope.  Only one student saw you touch the rope. What will you do?
  • The teacher is giving directions, but your friend sitting next to you keeps talking.  You can't hear the directions. What should you do?
  • You didn't do your homework.  Your teacher was upset with you. What should you do?
  • You finished eating and felt a burp coming. What are you going to do?
  • You were waiting to swing.  When it was your turn, another boy jumped in front of you and took the swing. What would you do?
  • You waited a long time, but your mom didn't come to pick you up after school. What should you do?
  • A bully threatened to beat you up after school. What should you do?
  • A boy on the playground keeps pushing you and making you mad. What would you do?
  • You were sitting in class doing your work and you hear the fire alarm. What should you do?
  • An adult you didn't know came on to the playground and asked if you would help look for his lost dog. What would you do?
  • You forgot your lunch at home. What would you do?
  • The person sitting behind you keeps tapping your chair with his foot. What should you do?
  • You finished your work early. What should you do?

This list of functional words was professionally selected to be the most useful for a child or adult who has difficulty with problem solving scenarios.

We encourage you to use this list when practicing at home.

Home practice will make progress toward meeting individual language goals much faster.

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are only able to see students/clients 30-60 mins (or less) per week. This is not enough time or practice for someone to handle Problem solving scenarios.

Every day that your loved one goes without practice it becomes more difficult to help them. 

SEE ALSO:   The Best Books for Speech Therapy Practice

Speech therapy books for targeting multiple goals

We know life is busy , but if you're reading this you're probably someone who cares about helping their loved one as much as you can.

Practice 5-10 minutes whenever you can, but try to do it on a consistent basis (daily).

Please, please, please use this list to practice.

It will be a great benefit to you and your loved one's progress.

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71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios

Do you have kiddos who struggle with their social problem-solving skills? Teach your students the simple process of how to solve a problem along with having them review how well their solution worked or didn’t work.

Why Teach Problem Solving Skills?

Learning to problem solve is an essential skill that is used not only throughout childhood but also into adulthood. Social problem solving is the ability to change or adapt to undesirable situations that arise throughout our day.

On a daily basis, a child will encounter social problems that they will need to solve.

Anything from:

  • arguing with another student
  • to hurting a friend’s feelings
  • to having a difficult conversation
  • working with others

problem solving scenarios

Start with Small Problems

Many of the “problems” children encounter are often small problems which the child may be over-reacting to, such as wanting a different coloring crayon or wanting to be first in line, however, these small problems are still very real to the child.

Practicing problem-solving with these small problems can be a great learning opportunity. Children can practice problem-solving with a small problem which can help them learn how to handle bigger problems in the future.

Problem Solving Importance

Social problem-solving skills are critical to a child’s social interactions, personal and professional relationships. A child’s ability to handle change, cope with stress, and handle challenges improves with a child’s ability to successfully solve social problems.

The ultimate goal is that the child will be able to solve social problems all on their own, but until they can independently solve a problem they will need to learn how to communicate and self-advocate to positively solve their problems.  

Steps to Problem Solving

Children can be taught how to problem solve through a guided process of breaking down the problem and using simple steps to solve the problem.

Learning specific steps to problem-solving can allow children to remember how to solve a problem when they become overwhelmed or stressed.

Although learning to solve a problem independently can take some time and practice it is well worth the investment to have a child who can eventually solve most social situations in a positive manner on their own.

What we learnt about solving problems is don't freak out, if one thing doesn't work , try something else out. And work together as a team. #melthammathsweek #MELTHAMPUPILVOICE @problemsolveit pic.twitter.com/iVm1Im4Aue — yr6melthamce (@yr6melthamce) February 4, 2019

Problem Solving Form

Teach your students the 4 steps to becoming a social problem-solver.

  • Identify the problem. For instance, start by having your student identify the social problem.
  • Create three solutions. Also, have your student come up with three different solutions that they could use to solve the problem that they identified.
  • Identify the consequences. Then, identify the consequence for each individual solution.
  • Pick the best solution.  Lastly, have your student identify which of their three solutions is the best choice Then have your student put into words why they think that solution is the best solution.

Problem Solving Graphic Organizer

Problem Solving Review Form

After your students go through the social problem-solver have them use the social problem-solving review form.

  • What happened.  For instance, after your student tried their solution have them explain what happened next.
  • Review the results. Also, have your student identify whether or not their solution got them the results they wanted.
  • Use this solution again. Furthermore, have your student identify whether or not they would use this solution again in the future to solve the same or similar problem.
  • What would you do differently? Finally, have your student explain what they would do differently if they didn’t get the results they wanted or if they wouldn’t use that solution again in the future.

Problem-Solving-Review

71+ Social Problem Scenarios + 6 Blank Scenarios

Use the 71 social problem-solving scenarios to have your students get great experience practicing how to solve a social problem.

Also, included are 6 blank scenarios. Then laminate them so you can use them over and over again. Therefore, create social problems that the student experiences and needs help solving.

Problem Solving Scenarios

Wordless Video teaching Problem Solving

Watch this super cute wordless animation with your students and have them discuss the problem they see and how to best solve the problem.

Use this as a fun practice example to get your students started towards learning how to problem-solve.

Demonstrate Through Modeling

Model and discuss empathy.

First and foremost, children need to understand how another person might be feeling in a given situation in order to become a good social problem solver. The student needs to learn how to “stand in someone else’s shoes” for a little bit.

One way you can work on this skill is during the reading time you can focus on how a particular character in the story might be feeling.

Ask questions, such as:

  • “How do they feel right now?”
  • “How would you feel in that same situation?”
  • “Why do you think they feel that way?”

Model Problem-Solving Skills as the Teacher

When you are faced with a problem you can solve the problem by thinking aloud for the students to hear how you solve a problem.

You can state the problem, then come up with possible solutions, then identify the possible consequences to each solution, then pick and explain why a solution is the best option.

For example, you could say, “I was hoping to take the class outside for a stress walk around the track before the reading test, but the problem is that it is raining outside. I could still take you outside, but then you will get wet, or we could walk the halls, but then we’d have to be really quiet because there are other classes learning, or we could just skip the walk and take the reading test, but then you might not do as well on the test. I think based on all of those solutions the best solution will be to walk the hallway, but you guys will have to promise to be quiet so that we don’t disrupt other classes.

Modeling the problem-solving process can be very helpful for the students to watch, observe, and later implement themselves.

Teach Communication

Have students communicate how they are feeling.

Teaching your students to share their emotions in a respectful way can improve their ability to problem-solve.

Have students use an “I” sentence frame, such as, “I feel _____ (insert feeling word) when _____ (identify what made you feel that way).”

For example, “I felt sad when Jackson broke my favorite pencil” or “I was mad when I wasn’t picked to be first in line.”

This way students can communicate how they are feeling using honest and open communication. Teaching students to appropriately communicate their emotions can help solve some social problems from the beginning.

Encourage Independency

Encourage your student to problem solve.

If your student is struggling to problem solve independently encourage them to do so using open-ended questions.

  • “How could you fix this problem?”
  • “What would be a fair solution?”
  • “What would happen if you used that solution?”

Let the Student try to Problem Solve Independently

Give your students the space to try and solve their own problems using the guided strategies. Try not to come running to their rescue for every little problem.

Some problems are small and a great opportunity for the student to learn and practice. If an adult does all of the problem solving for a student then what are they really learning?

Give your students the time and space they need to practice solving small problems on their own. Of course, if it is a bigger or more serious problem then have an adult help guide the problem-solving process.

Tell an Adult

Remind your students that there are still some problems that are too big for them to solve on their own and that it is okay to get help from an adult to solve big problems.

For example, if the student doesn’t feel safe, someone is being hurt physically or emotionally, or if they tried to solve a problem independently but it didn’t work and they need help. Let them know that it’s okay to tell an adult.

Teach How to Disagree and How to Make Up

Discuss how to disagree respectfully.

Remind your student that they won’t always agree with their teacher, friends, classmate, or parents and that’s okay. Even the people we like might have different opinions, interests, and likes than we do.

However, even if we disagree with someone we should still treat them with respect. Treating someone with respect means to not call them names, ignore them, yell or hit them. It means that you do try to create solutions that both parties can agree with and to apologize when we hurt others’ feelings.

Role-Play How to Make Up

Practice in everyday life how to make up after a social problem .

Students are really having to stretch their brains today. It's @NSPCC #NumberDay and @problemsolveit are challenging Y9 and 10 to solve the escape room boxes. It's not as easy as it looks! The promise of a few sweet treats for the winners seems to be helping though! pic.twitter.com/AxRRJnJIv2 — CongletonHS (@CongletonHS) February 2, 2018

Be sure to get your free social problem solver today below! I hope you and your students love this freebie.

Have your students use task card scenarios to help them identify how they and others might feel in different social scenarios. Be sure to discuss the problem, identify possible solutions, identify the consequences of those possible solutions, and then based on those consequences pick the best solution.

Make social problem-solving a game by telling the students that they are social detectives and that it is their job to use what they know about social rules to help them identify the possible and best solutions.

Start practicing today with 71+ free social problem social task cards! Do your students need more practice?

Be sure to check out my other freebie for 31 wordless animated videos to teach problem-solving and so much more.

Make Problem Solving Easier with this Freebie!

Download yours today to get started.

problem solving scenarios students

Get More Problem Solving Time Saving Materials

Next, be sure to check out the following time-saving materials to continue to teach your students how to solve their social problems in addition to this freebie.

Weekly Social Pragmatics Homework

Social Pragmatics Homework

  • Weekly problem-solving.   Send home a  weekly homework page  that includes a problem-solving scenario plus an idiom and a conversational practice scenario.

Weekly Social Pragmatics

Restorative Justice Problem Solving Flip Book

Restorative Justice

  • Restorative justice graphic visual.  Use this graphic visual to help your student  restore a social relationship  after a social problem.

restorative justice

Self-Advocating Role-Play Scenarios

Self Advocating

  • Self-advocating in high school.  Teach your high schoolers the process to  self-advocate  for what they need.

Self Advocating Practice

5th-12th Grade Life Skills Problem Solving

Life Skills Social Skills

  • Life skills problem-solving.  In addition, this  life skills differentiated bundle  includes a problem-solving lesson plan.

problem solving scenarios students

I recommend you read Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems , 61+ Free Fillable SLP Planner Pages 2020-2021 , 430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle , or 432+ Free IEP Goal Bank to Save You Time posts because they include freebies as well and who doesn’t want more freebies!

Got questions? Leave a comment. Let’s chat!

Monday 30th of January 2023

Hello! I have entered my name and email twice (yesterday & today) to receive to 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Senarios, but I have not received anything yet. Not even an email back to mine in order to subcribe. Thanks for your help! Tracy

Melissa Berg

Tuesday 31st of January 2023

Hi Tracy, Thanks so much for reaching out! Sorry about that. We went ahead and sent you an email with the PDF attached. Wishing you all my best, Melissa

Problem Solving Skills

Tuesday 30th of August 2022

I truly love your site. Excellent colors, theme and writing. Thanks for sharing.

Laura Ricca

Monday 11th of April 2022

Tuesday 12th of April 2022

Hi Laura, I'm glad you found this resource helpful. Melissa

Modified Mental Health and Suicide Prevention - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 11th of May 2020

[…] 71+ FREE SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SCENARIOS […]

Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 4th of May 2020

[…] 71+ Free Social Problem Solving Task Cards Scenarios […]

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5 Problem-Solving Activities for the Classroom

Problem-solving skills are necessary in all areas of life, and classroom problem solving activities can be a great way to get students prepped and ready to solve real problems in real life scenarios. Whether in school, work or in their social relationships, the ability to critically analyze a problem, map out all its elements and then prepare a workable solution is one of the most valuable skills one can acquire in life.

Educating your students about problem solving skills from an early age in school can be facilitated through classroom problem solving activities. Such endeavors encourage cognitive as well as social development, and can equip students with the tools they’ll need to address and solve problems throughout the rest of their lives. Here are five classroom problem solving activities your students are sure to benefit from as well as enjoy doing:

1. Brainstorm bonanza

Having your students create lists related to whatever you are currently studying can be a great way to help them to enrich their understanding of a topic while learning to problem-solve. For example, if you are studying a historical, current or fictional event that did not turn out favorably, have your students brainstorm ways that the protagonist or participants could have created a different, more positive outcome. They can brainstorm on paper individually or on a chalkboard or white board in front of the class.

2. Problem-solving as a group

Have your students create and decorate a medium-sized box with a slot in the top. Label the box “The Problem-Solving Box.” Invite students to anonymously write down and submit any problem or issue they might be having at school or at home, ones that they can’t seem to figure out on their own. Once or twice a week, have a student draw one of the items from the box and read it aloud. Then have the class as a group figure out the ideal way the student can address the issue and hopefully solve it.

3. Clue me in

This fun detective game encourages problem-solving, critical thinking and cognitive development. Collect a number of items that are associated with a specific profession, social trend, place, public figure, historical event, animal, etc. Assemble actual items (or pictures of items) that are commonly associated with the target answer. Place them all in a bag (five-10 clues should be sufficient.) Then have a student reach into the bag and one by one pull out clues. Choose a minimum number of clues they must draw out before making their first guess (two- three). After this, the student must venture a guess after each clue pulled until they guess correctly. See how quickly the student is able to solve the riddle.

4. Survivor scenarios

Create a pretend scenario for students that requires them to think creatively to make it through. An example might be getting stranded on an island, knowing that help will not arrive for three days. The group has a limited amount of food and water and must create shelter from items around the island. Encourage working together as a group and hearing out every child that has an idea about how to make it through the three days as safely and comfortably as possible.

5. Moral dilemma

Create a number of possible moral dilemmas your students might encounter in life, write them down, and place each item folded up in a bowl or bag. Some of the items might include things like, “I saw a good friend of mine shoplifting. What should I do?” or “The cashier gave me an extra $1.50 in change after I bought candy at the store. What should I do?” Have each student draw an item from the bag one by one, read it aloud, then tell the class their answer on the spot as to how they would handle the situation.

Classroom problem solving activities need not be dull and routine. Ideally, the problem solving activities you give your students will engage their senses and be genuinely fun to do. The activities and lessons learned will leave an impression on each child, increasing the likelihood that they will take the lesson forward into their everyday lives.

You may also like to read

  • Classroom Activities for Introverted Students
  • Activities for Teaching Tolerance in the Classroom
  • 5 Problem-Solving Activities for Elementary Classrooms
  • 10 Ways to Motivate Students Outside the Classroom
  • Motivating Introverted Students to Excel in the Classroom
  • How to Engage Gifted and Talented Students in the Classroom

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Home » SEL Implementation » Fun and Effective Problem Solving Scenarios for Elementary Students

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Fun and Effective Problem Solving Scenarios for Elementary Students

Key takeaways.

  • Problem-solving skills are crucial for the development of elementary students, aiding in academic, personal, and social growth.
  • Fun and engaging scenarios can effectively teach these skills, including situations like The Lost Toy, The Broken Pencil, and The Group Project.
  • Teaching specific problem-solving strategies, encouraging critical thinking, and fostering collaboration and communication are essential strategies to enhance these skills.
  • Integrating problem-solving scenarios and strategies into teaching practices can help students develop critical thinking, creativity, and effective decision-making abilities.

Introduction: Fun and Effective Problem-Solving Scenarios for Elementary Students

In this post, I will discuss the importance of problem-solving skills in elementary students and how social-emotional learning can play a crucial role in developing these skills. I will also provide fun and effective problem-solving scenarios that you can use with your students. Let’s dive in!

Understanding Problem Solving

Before we jump into the problem-solving scenarios, let’s first understand what problem-solving is all about. Problem solving is the process of finding solutions to challenges or obstacles that we encounter in our daily lives. It involves identifying the problem, brainstorming possible solutions, evaluating those solutions, and selecting the best one.

Developing problem-solving skills in elementary students is essential as it helps them become independent thinkers, critical thinkers, and effective decision-makers. These skills not only benefit them academically but also in their personal and social lives.

Fun Problem-Solving Scenarios for Elementary Students

Now, let’s explore some fun problem-solving scenarios that you can use with your elementary students. These scenarios are designed to be engaging and interactive, allowing students to apply their problem-solving skills in a practical and enjoyable way.

Scenario 1: The Lost Toy

Description: Imagine a student has lost their favorite toy. They have searched their room but can’t find it anywhere.

Steps to solve the problem:

  • Identify the problem: The student has lost their toy.
  • Brainstorm possible solutions: Ask the student to think of different places where the toy could be.
  • Evaluate the solutions: Discuss the pros and cons of each possible solution.
  • Select the best solution: Help the student choose the most effective solution, such as retracing their steps or asking family members for help.

Discussion on possible solutions and their outcomes: After the student has implemented the chosen solution, discuss the outcome. Did they find the toy? If not, what other steps could they take to solve the problem?

Scenario 2: The Broken Pencil

Description: A student is working on an assignment when their pencil breaks.

  • Identify the problem: The student’s pencil has broken.
  • Brainstorm possible solutions: Encourage the student to think of different ways they can continue their work without a pencil.
  • Evaluate the solutions: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.
  • Select the best solution: Help the student choose the most practical solution, such as borrowing a pencil from a classmate or using a pen.

Discussion on possible solutions and their outcomes: After the student has implemented the chosen solution, discuss the outcome. Did they complete their assignment successfully? If not, what other steps could they take to solve the problem?

Scenario 3: The Group Project

Description: A group of students is working on a project together, but they are having difficulty agreeing on a topic.

  • Identify the problem: The group is struggling to agree on a project topic.
  • Brainstorm possible solutions: Encourage each student to suggest project topics and discuss the merits of each idea.
  • Evaluate the solutions: Help the group evaluate the feasibility and interest level of each topic.
  • Select the best solution: Facilitate a group discussion to reach a consensus on the project topic.

Discussion on possible solutions and their outcomes: After the group has chosen a project topic, discuss the outcome. Did they work well together? If not, what other steps could they take to solve the problem?

Strategies to Enhance Problem-Solving Skills

Now that we have explored some problem-solving scenarios, let’s discuss strategies to enhance problem-solving skills in elementary students. These strategies can be incorporated into your teaching practices to help students develop and strengthen their problem-solving abilities.

Teach problem-solving strategies

One effective way to enhance problem-solving skills is to teach students specific problem-solving strategies. Here are a few strategies you can introduce:

  • Brainstorming: Encourage students to generate multiple ideas or solutions to a problem.
  • Breaking down the problem: Teach students to break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable parts.
  • Considering different perspectives: Help students develop empathy and consider different viewpoints when solving problems.
  • Evaluating and selecting the best solution: Teach students how to evaluate the pros and cons of each solution and choose the most effective one.

Encourage critical thinking

Critical thinking is an essential component of problem solving. By encouraging critical thinking, you can help students develop their analytical and evaluative skills. Here are a few ways to promote critical thinking:

  • Asking open-ended questions: Pose questions that require students to think deeply and provide thoughtful responses.
  • Promoting creative thinking: Encourage students to think outside the box and explore innovative solutions to problems.
  • Providing opportunities for decision-making: Allow students to make decisions independently and reflect on the consequences of their choices.

Foster collaboration and communication

Problem solving often involves working with others and effective communication. By fostering collaboration and communication skills, you can help students navigate group problem-solving situations more effectively. Here are a few strategies to foster collaboration and communication:

  • Group problem-solving activities: Assign students to work in groups to solve problems together, encouraging them to share ideas and work collaboratively.
  • Role-playing scenarios: Engage students in role-playing activities where they can practice problem-solving and communication skills in a simulated setting.
  • Effective communication techniques: Teach students active listening, expressing ideas clearly, and resolving conflicts constructively.

Problem-solving skills are crucial for elementary students as they lay the foundation for success in various aspects of life. By incorporating problem-solving scenarios and strategies into your teaching practices, you can help students develop these essential skills. Remember, problem solving is not only about finding the right answer but also about developing critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication skills. So, let’s encourage our students to embrace problem-solving and watch them thrive!

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15 Problem solving activities for students

15 Problem Solving Activities For Students

In this guide

  • 1. The detective game
  • 2. Help ‘em out
  • 3. What if…
  • 4. Move IT!
  • 5. The build
  • 6. Just survive
  • 7. Good old scavenger hunt maybe with a twist
  • 9. Tower of terror
  • 10. Community problem solving
  • 11. Community problem solving documentary
  • 12. Digital storytelling
  • 13. Minefield/Lead the blind
  • 14. Design sprints
  • 15. Debates

Problem solving entails identifying, analyzing, and addressing challenges or obstacles using critical thinking, creativity, analytical skills, and reasoning. The World Economic Forum consistently ranks critical thinking and problem solving as top skills for the future in their list of essential abilities. 

Why is problem solving an important skill for students?

In a 2020 report, the World Economic Forum emphasized the growing significance of critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the upcoming years ( Whiting, 2020 ). These skills are vital not only for academic success but also for navigating challenges beyond the classroom. Let’s explore four key benefits of problem-solving skills for students.

  • Student centered learning: Problem solving encourages student engagement by encouraging hands-on exploration and discovery. Students fully engage with a topic, they are not expected to simply absorb and memorize information. It recognizes and honors students’ individual learning pace, as well as their unique strengths, interests, and motivations. 
  • Enhanced critical thinking: By tackling problems from diverse perspectives and evaluating information from various sources and viewing the problem from various angles, students are able to develop improved critical thinking skills.  Problem solving also cultivates systems thinking, enabling students to grasp the interconnectedness of systems, complex issues, and devise holistic solutions. 
  • Confidence building: Through regular practice, students gain confidence in their problem solving skills, equipping them to address challenges across a wide variety of subject areas and real-life scenarios. “The goal in teaching problem-solving is for it to become second nature, and for students to routinely express their curiosity, explore innovative solutions, and analyze the world around them to draw their own conclusions.” (Marshall, 2022)
  • Teamwork and communication: Engaging in problem solving activities nurtures essential teamwork skills such as communication and collaboration. Students learn to actively listen, respect diverse perspectives, and resolve conflicts in a constructive manner. Moreover, they develop goal setting abilities, organization, and build a sense of personal accountability within a team environment. 

Problem solving activities for elementary

Problem solving activities can range from simple to complex and short to long.

1) The detective game

  • Gather 5-10 clues about a person, place, historical event, pop culture phenomenon, animal, etc. these can be physical clues or images of clues. 
  • Place the clues to a bag and have students draw one clue at a time. 
  • Encourage students to work in small groups to solve the mystery. 
  • Require a minimum number of clues to be drawn (2-3) before attempting their first guess. 

Problem Solving Activities Students Detective Game

2) Help ‘em out

  • Engage students in brainstorming sessions while reading about historical events or fictional characters.
  • Encourage small group discussion and decision making. 
  • Students can work at desks or on whiteboards. 
  • Challenge the students to identify the problems faced and devise creative solutions to alter the outcomes. 

3) What if…

  • Create a list of moral dilemmas for students to ponder, ChatGPT would be perfect for this.
  • Cut them up and put them in a bag for students to pull out of or use an online randomizing tool like WheelPicker to make the selection. 
  • Students then have to share how they would handle the situation using ethical reasoning and decision making skills.

Here are the prompts I used on ChatGPT:

I am looking for a list of 15 moral dilemmas for elementary students to try and solve.

And a follow-up prompt:

Could you give 10 more that are based around honesty, fairness, respect, and peer pressure?

And here are 10 dilemmas ChatGPT came up with in seconds: 

  • Truth dilemma: Your friend breaks something and asks you not to tell anyone. Should you keep their secret or tell an adult what happened?
  • Fairness dilemma: You’re playing a game and your friend keeps losing. Do you let them win to make them feel better or play your best?
  • Respecting property dilemma: You find money on the ground. Do you keep it, try to find the owner, or turn it into a teacher?
  • Honesty dilemma: You accidentally take something that belongs to someone else. Do you return it, keep it, or ignore what happened?
  • Respect dilemma: Your friend likes a certain game, but you don’t. They invite you to play. Do you decline and risk hurting their feelings, or play to make them happy?
  • Cheating dilemma: You notice someone cheating during a class assignment. Should you tell the teacher or keep quiet?
  • Environment dilemma: You see someone littering in the park. Do you pick up the trash, ignore it, or say something to the person?
  • Privacy dilemma: You find a diary belonging to your sibling or friend. Should you read it or respect their privacy?
  • Homework dilemma: You finish your homework but notice that your friend forgot to complete theirs. They ask to copy your work. What do you do?
  • Peer pressure dilemma: Your friends want to gossip about another classmate. Do you join in, stay silent, or change the subject?

4) Move IT!

In this activity students are required to move an object across the classroom while navigating various constraints. 

  • Introduce limitations such as restrictions on carrying the object, it can’t touch the floor, limited steps, use of specific body parts, or communication limitations with team members. 
  • Encourage collaborative problem solving and creative thinking to overcome the obstacles.

5) The build

Provide students with materials like straws, marshmallows, paper cups, etc. and challenge them to build. Challenges can be the tallest freestanding tower, a bridge that can hold a certain weight, or other structures following specific rules. Students must learn to think creatively, collaborate, and iterate. 

problem solving scenarios students

Problem solving activities for middle school

Middle school problem solving can also utilize those activities mentioned for elementary school with some slight tweaks. But, here are some more middle school style activities.

6) Just survive

Use survival scenarios to encourage small groups to employ critical thinking, collaboration, and creative problem solving skills. These scenarios immerse students in real-world situations and foster resilience and adaptability. 

Many scenarios can be found online. Here are a few:

  • Survival Island (complete with Google Slides)
  • Plane Crash (survival game with a Hatchet by Gary Paulsen feel)
  • Moon Landing (space survival game)

7) Good old scavenger hunt maybe with a twist

Scavenger hunts require problem solving skills to solve clues, think critically, and collaborate to complete the hunt. A fun and innovative way to do this was created by a friend named Kathi Kersznowski, co-author of Sail the 7Cs with Microsoft Education, called FlipHunt: 

A Fliphunt is a video-based scavenger hunt that is completely organized and run in the AMAZING Flip (formerly Flipgrid) environment. It is a wonderfully fun way to get students up and moving while exploring new learning or documenting understanding using the most beloved edtech site for amplifying student voice and student engagement in ways never known before! https://kerszi.com

Escape rooms are an amazing way to promote problem solving and critical thinking with middle school students. Students are presented with a scenario or challenge within a controlled environment, such as a themed classroom or designated area, where they must work together to decipher puzzles, uncover clues, and solve challenges within a set time limit. Escape rooms provide immersive and engaging problem-solving experiences.

There are a number of places teachers can go to find escape rooms, some paid, some free or freemium, and some physical with locked boxes or digital using Google Sites or Google Forms.

  • BreakoutEDU – Standards aligned Escape Room games.
  • Digital Escape Rooms from Ditch That Textbook
  • How to make your own digital escape room with Google Forms

9) Tower of terror

This is a “Red Solo Cup” cup stacking game. 

  • Students are given 3 cups and 2 large index cards. 
  • Cups are stacked with a card in between each cup. 
  • Student teams have 3-10 minutes (be fluid with your time depending on the class) to pull the cards and get the cups to nest on top of each other, earning a point for each successful attempt. Check out this X (Twitter post) by Jonathan Alsheimer , Tower Of Terror . This quick, simple game encourages teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration in a fun fast paced way.

10) Community problem solving

Empower students to address real-world problems from the local community or your school community. Maybe it’s a dangerous intersection, food waste with school lunches, or single-use plastics in the cafeteria. Students can research, analyze data, and propose solutions, fostering civic engagement and social responsibility. This is an activity that can also be used for high school students. 

Problem solving activities for high school

High school problem-solving activities build on foundational skills while providing opportunities for deeper exploration and application. Here are some elevated ideas tailored to high school students:

11) Community problem solving documentary

Challenge students to create short documentaries using their phones as cameras about solving problems they see in the community, in school, or in the world. Students can edit directly on their phones, on sites like Canva , WeVideo , or Capcut . 

12) Digital storytelling

Encourage students to harness the power of Digital storytelling to promote problem solving. Whether through videos, graphics, podcasts, or interactive presentations, data visualization, or digital books ( BookCreator ), students can craft compelling narratives that inspire action and promote a problem-solving mindset.

Check out Michael Hernandez’s book Storytelling with Purpose Digital Projects to Ignite Student Curiosity and you can listen to Michael on the TeacherNerdz Podcast .

13) Minefield/Lead the blind

This is an outstanding activity created by Dr. Krista Welz & Melissa Welz which involves communication, collaboration, and planning. The “Minefield” activity is  where one student navigates through a “Minefield” guided only by verbal commands from their peers. This hands-on exercise promotes teamwork, planning, and effective communication skills. Here is a detailed Google Slides explanation by the creators.

14) Design sprints

Introduce students to the concept of design sprints, a structured process for solving complex problems through rapid prototyping and user feedback.  Small teams collaborate intensely over a short period, usually five days (can be shorter a class period or a few days), to ideate, prototype, and validate solutions. Here is a famous design sprint from IDEO shown on ABC’s Nightline, the shopping cart design sprint:

Here are a few ideas:

  • Redesigning the school cafeteria menu: Students work collaboratively to identify issues with the current cafeteria menu, brainstorm innovative solutions, create prototypes of redesigned menus, and gather feedback through testing sessions to ultimately present improved menu designs to school administrators.
  • Redesigning classroom layouts for enhanced learning: This sprint focuses on reimagining classroom setups to optimize student learning experiences. Students research, ideate, prototype, test, and present innovative classroom layouts designed to foster a more engaging and effective learning environment.
  • Creating solutions for reducing school waste: Students address sustainability concerns by identifying sources of waste within the school, brainstorming eco-friendly solutions, prototyping waste reduction strategies, testing their effectiveness, and pitching refined solutions aimed at minimizing waste and promoting environmental stewardship.
  • 11 Activities from IDEO’s d.school for educators: Link

15) Debates

Facilitate lively debates on contemporary issues to stimulate critical thinking and persuasive communication skills.  Topics could include:

  • Establishing a universal basic income to address poverty.
  • Social media regulation to address misinformation and hate speech on platforms. 
  • Banning TikTok or any social media platform
  • Animal testing for cosmetics and scientific purposes.
  • Space exploration funding: Should governments invest more resources in space exploration and colonization efforts, or should these funds be allocated to other pressing issues on Earth? 

As we navigate an era of unprecedented change and uncertainty, the need for problem-solving skills has never been more pressing. Gone are the days of lifelong careers; instead, today’s students face a landscape where adaptability and innovation are key. By integrating problem-solving activities tailored to elementary, middle school, and high school students, educators play a pivotal role in equipping the next generation with the tools they need to thrive.

As educators, parents, and stakeholders, we must acknowledge the role of problem-solving skills in shaping resilient, creative, and adaptable individuals. Educators should prioritize the cultivation of these essential skills in our schools and communities, empowering students to confront challenges with confidence, innovation, and creativity. When we do,  we not only prepare them for the future but also foster a generation capable of shaping a brighter tomorrow.

*Many, if not all, of the activities above can be adapted up or down the grade levels. *

  • Daneshgari, F. (2023, March 29). High School Problem-Solving: 6 Activities That Work . Safes Parental Control App. Retrieved April 7, 2024, from https://www.safes.so/blogs/problem-solving-activities-for-high-school-students/
  • Educator Guides: Activities from d.school Books — Stanford d.school . (n.d.). Stanford d.school. Retrieved April 7, 2024, from https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/educators-guides-books
  • Engaging Problem Solving Activities for Middle School Students . (n.d.). Everyday Speech. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://everydayspeech.com/sel-implementation/engaging-problem-solving-activities-for-middle-school-students/
  • 5 Problem-Solving Activities for the Classroom . (2013, February 14). Resilient Educator. Retrieved April 7, 2024, from https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/5-problem-solving-activities-for-the-classroom/
  • Foshay, W. R., & Kirkley, J. (1998). Principles for Teaching Problem Solving . PLATO Learning Inc. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262798359_Principles_for_Teaching_Problem_Solving
  • Khanna, B. (2023, September 29). World Economic Forum Warns of Skills Gap in the Future of Work . LinkedIn. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/world-economic-forum-warns-skills-gap-future-work-bhupendra-khanna
  • Marshall, M. (2022, October 5). Benefits of Problem-Solving in the K-12 Classroom – Institute of Competition Sciences . Institute of Competition Sciences. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.competitionsciences.org/2022/10/05/benefits-of-problem-solving-in-the-k-12-classroom/
  • Understanding the Importance of Teaching Creative Problem-Solving in Elementary Schools . (n.d.). Everyday Speech. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://everydayspeech.com/sel-implementation/understanding-the-importance-of-teaching-creative-problem-solving-in-elementary-schools/
  • Weil, Z. (2016). The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries . Lantern Publishing & Media.
  • Whiting, K. (2020, October 21). What are the top 10 job skills for the future? The World Economic Forum. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/top-10-work-skills-of-tomorrow-how-long-it-takes-to-learn-them/

Ronald M. Nober

Technology/STEAM Teacher

Ron Nober is a technology/STEAM teacher and co-host of the TeacherNerdz Podcast. He has a focus on using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the classroom as well as connecting technology to social good.

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Center for Teaching

Teaching problem solving.

Print Version

Tips and Techniques

Expert vs. novice problem solvers, communicate.

  • Have students  identify specific problems, difficulties, or confusions . Don’t waste time working through problems that students already understand.
  • If students are unable to articulate their concerns, determine where they are having trouble by  asking them to identify the specific concepts or principles associated with the problem.
  • In a one-on-one tutoring session, ask the student to  work his/her problem out loud . This slows down the thinking process, making it more accurate and allowing you to access understanding.
  • When working with larger groups you can ask students to provide a written “two-column solution.” Have students write up their solution to a problem by putting all their calculations in one column and all of their reasoning (in complete sentences) in the other column. This helps them to think critically about their own problem solving and helps you to more easily identify where they may be having problems. Two-Column Solution (Math) Two-Column Solution (Physics)

Encourage Independence

  • Model the problem solving process rather than just giving students the answer. As you work through the problem, consider how a novice might struggle with the concepts and make your thinking clear
  • Have students work through problems on their own. Ask directing questions or give helpful suggestions, but  provide only minimal assistance and only when needed to overcome obstacles.
  • Don’t fear  group work ! Students can frequently help each other, and talking about a problem helps them think more critically about the steps needed to solve the problem. Additionally, group work helps students realize that problems often have multiple solution strategies, some that might be more effective than others

Be sensitive

  • Frequently, when working problems, students are unsure of themselves. This lack of confidence may hamper their learning. It is important to recognize this when students come to us for help, and to give each student some feeling of mastery. Do this by providing  positive reinforcement to let students know when they have mastered a new concept or skill.

Encourage Thoroughness and Patience

  • Try to communicate that  the process is more important than the answer so that the student learns that it is OK to not have an instant solution. This is learned through your acceptance of his/her pace of doing things, through your refusal to let anxiety pressure you into giving the right answer, and through your example of problem solving through a step-by step process.

Experts (teachers) in a particular field are often so fluent in solving problems from that field that they can find it difficult to articulate the problem solving principles and strategies they use to novices (students) in their field because these principles and strategies are second nature to the expert. To teach students problem solving skills,  a teacher should be aware of principles and strategies of good problem solving in his or her discipline .

The mathematician George Polya captured the problem solving principles and strategies he used in his discipline in the book  How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method (Princeton University Press, 1957). The book includes  a summary of Polya’s problem solving heuristic as well as advice on the teaching of problem solving.

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problem solving scenarios students

20 Problem-Solving Activities for Middle School Students

  • Middle School Education

problem solving scenarios students

Introduction:

As students progress through middle school, it becomes increasingly important to develop their problem-solving skills. By engaging in problem-solving activities, students can enhance their critical thinking abilities, foster creativity, and become better prepared for the challenges they may face both in and out of the classroom. Here are 20 problem-solving activities that are perfect for middle school students.

1. Brainstorming Sessions: Encourage students to share their ideas on a particular topic or issue, fostering a collaborative environment that promotes creative problem solving.

2. Riddles: Challenge students with riddles that require critical thinking and lateral thinking skills to determine the answers.

3. Sudoku: Introduce sudoku puzzles as a fun and challenging math-based activity.

4. Chess Club: Encourage students to participate in chess clubs or tournaments to practice strategic thinking.

5. Escape Rooms: Plan an age-appropriate escape room activity to develop teamwork and problem-solving skills among the students.

6. Role-Playing Exercises: Use role-playing scenarios to allow students to think critically about real-life situations and practice problem-solving strategies.

7. Science Experiments: Design science experiments that require students to troubleshoot problems and test possible solutions.

8. Word Problems: Incorporate word problems in math lessons, encouraging students to use logic and math skills to solve them.

9. Puzzle Stations: Set up different puzzle stations around the classroom where students can work on spatial reasoning, logic puzzles, and other brain teasers during free time.

10. Debates: Organize debates on controversial topics, allowing students to present and argue their views while developing their critical thinking and persuasion skills.

11. Engineering Challenges: Provide engineering-based challenges such as bridge building or packaging design activities that require teamwork and creative problem solving.

12. Storytelling Workshops: Host a storytelling workshop where students collaborate to create stories from a given prompt and gradually face more complex narrative challenges.

13. Coding Clubs: Support students in learning coding basics and encourage them to develop problem-solving skills through coding projects.

14. Treasure Hunts: Create treasure hunts with clues that require problem solving, reasoning, and collaboration among the students.

15. Cooperative Games: Facilitate games that promote cooperation and communication, such as “human knot” or “cross the lava.”

16. Geocaching: Introduce geocaching as a fun activity where students use GPS devices to locate hidden objects and work as a team to solve puzzle-like tasks.

17. Exploratory Research Projects: Assign open-ended research projects that require students to investigate topics of interest and solve problems or answer questions through their research efforts.

18. Mock Trials: Set up mock trials in which students participate as lawyers, witnesses, or jury members, allowing them to analyze cases and think through legal problem-solving strategies.

19. Creative Writing Prompts: Share creative writing prompts requiring students to think critically about characters’ actions and decisions within fictional scenarios.

20. Invention Convention: Host an invention convention where students present their unique solutions to everyday problems, fostering creativity and innovative thinking.

Conclusion:

Problem-solving activities are essential for middle school students as they help in cultivating valuable life skills necessary to tackle real-world challenges. These 20 activities provide diverse and engaging opportunities for students to develop key problem-solving skills while fostering creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration. Teachers and educators can easily adapt these activities to suit the individual needs of their middle school classrooms.

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Using Games and Design Challenges to Teach Students About Managing Conflict

By introducing students to activities that scaffold conflict, teachers can provide low-stakes lessons to prepare kids to navigate it in healthy ways.

Students compete in a cup stacking game

As second-grade teachers, we know that our students are exploring new relationships, changing social dynamics, and feeling the emotional weight that these interactions can have. Our students often encounter conflict as we ask them to take risks, stand up for what they believe in, and share their thoughts and opinions. With this in mind, we created and piloted a three-pronged hands-on approach to building both comfort and skills around managing conflict.

Our approach includes cooperative games and design challenges as well as good-to-know and problem jars. Each part is designed to allow our students to encounter consistent developmentally appropriate and varying types of conflict in order to build problem-solving skills. Throughout each activity, students are put in a variety of mixed groupings where they are confronted with increasingly complex challenges, last-minute changes, and peer leadership opportunities that shift the social dynamics. We are excited to share our approach and help other teachers implement these ideas.

The first few weeks of the year are all about community-building, developing routines, and getting to know our students better as people and learners. Cooperative games are a fantastic way to help students build relationships and begin to collaborate together as a group. As we thought through where we wanted to start, we knew that we wanted to focus on cooperative games that were easy to prepare, low cost, and easy to introduce and play quickly as either a whole or partial group. We wanted students to practice thinking flexibly, shifting roles, and finding success and failure collectively.

Some of our favorite games are the balloon challenge, the colored dots game, and the airplane game. While we introduced many of these games throughout the first semester, we revisited more complex versions, adjusted group sizes, and pushed our students to work through challenges with increasing independence as the year progressed.

Having had some experience with design challenges in the past, we knew that we could use them to push students in unique ways, and these activities tend to be excellent breeding grounds for conflict. We also love that they provide students an opportunity to work in small, fluid groupings and complete a challenge together using varying materials that are low cost and common.

Starting Point

To begin, students are introduced to the challenge and have a five-minute brainstorming period in which they create a plan as a group. After five minutes have lapsed, students then get their materials and begin creating for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the challenge. There is never a winner who is celebrated or recognized; instead, we commend students for working together. Once the timer has ended, students reflect upon the process through both a group discussion and independently as part of an exit ticket.

Examples of design challenges that our students love are cup stacking, the Play-Doh–and–toothpick building challenge, and the egg-drop challenge . We found that both assigning leadership roles within their groups and increasing the difficulty level pushed students to overcome new challenges and discomfort. Feel free to be inspired by these activities, but change them as you see fit.

We know that effective assessment tools help drive instruction and build our understanding of our students’ feelings and needs. To this end, we created multiple types of both formal and informal assessments that can be completed quickly and easily to help maintain consistency and encourage our students to be reflective about themselves as problem solvers.

Our students fill out an exit ticket based on the Likert scale that allows us to track how their understanding of conflict has changed over time after engaging in both cooperative games and design challenges.

Checking In

Finally, we know that students love their teachers, seek their approval, and enjoy sharing what is going on in their own lives. The good-to-know jar and problem jar offer students a space where they can check in with their own emotional experiences, identities, and culture, and use their real-life problems to share what is on their mind and help them navigate tricky feelings that they may feel uncomfortable sharing verbally.

The two jars are accessible to students throughout the week. Students contribute to these jars anonymously, and each student is encouraged to submit either a good-to-know or a problem throughout the week. On Fridays, we read through the problem jar as a class and talk through possible solutions or just acknowledge that some problems can’t be solved right away but that by talking about them, we are communicating that we will work harder to figure out a plan together.

Giving students a space to see that we, as their teachers, take their thoughts and opinions seriously and then connect their problems with real, immediate action is important in encouraging our students to be problem solvers. We also ask our students to consider how they naturally approach and respond to conflict. Providing them with this opportunity for self-reflection allows them to identify their personal strengths and challenges. The better we know each other, the more comfortable we’ll be with sharing how we feel and engaging in productive conflict.

Home » Games » 17 Fun Problem Solving Activities & Games [for Kids, Adults and Teens]

17 Fun Problem Solving Activities & Games [for Kids, Adults and Teens]

Everyone should learn problem solving, as it is important in both our personal and professional lives. Problems occur all around us and many people react with spontaneous emotion. Instead, effective use of problem solving skills can lead to rational thinking, a component of any successful endeavor.

Creative problem involves using one or more of the basic steps of problem solving in exercises designed to challenge the thinking. Problem solving activities work for every age group. In this article, we will present problem-solving activities for adults and kids. We will also provide you with group and team building problem solving ideas.

Table of Contents

There are four basic steps in problem solving:

  • define the problem
  • generate possible solutions
  • evaluate and select possible solutions
  • implement solutions

Problem solving activities use one of more of these steps.

Group Problem Solving Activities

Group activities provide an effective way to learn problem-solving skills. The following list of activities present problem solving skills in the form of games, a non-threatening and fun way.

Divide your group into teams of equal numbers. Give each team a ball of yarn. Instruct the teams to create a web using only the yarn. Once the teams have finished (you may have to set an amount of time for completion), switch the teams around so that every team has a web other than their own. Each team then blindfolds one team member. The goal is for the blindfolded individual to unwind the web following the verbal instruction of their teammates. In order to be successful, team members must concentrate, and give/follow directions. The first team that has dismantled the web wins this game.

To Do Scavenger Hunt

This scavenger hunt game involves solving a list of problem activities. Begin by dividing your group into teams. Give each group a list of to do activities. The list should begin with some simple tasks, with increasingly more difficult activities. Some suggested activities are:

  • Write a one hundred word poem on a given theme.
  • Find an object readily available in the area in which you are playing
  • Drink a whole can or glass of a liquid
  • Solve a Sudoku or cross word puzzle
  • Write out all the lyrics of a song (a Christmas carol works well at holiday time)

The team that completes all the activities first, wins.

Impromptu Skits

Prior to playing this game, write down a few appropriate situations that deal events in the venue in which you are playing. For example, for a group involved in customer service, use dealing with an angry customer on the phone. If you have a large group, divide them into teams of six to eight members. Have each group choose a folded piece of paper on which you have written the subject of a skit they must create.  Give a set amount of time to prepare the skit and then have each team present their skit to the group. If you have a small group, have each person create one side of a conversation dealing with the problem for presentation to everyone.

Block Duplicating

Build a model out of building blocks. Provide each group member (or divide into teams for a large group ) enough blocks to duplicate the model. Set a specific amount of time for completing the duplicated model. The team that is the first to finish – or gets the furthest on completing their model – wins. The more difficult the original model, the longer this task will take.

Team Building Problem Solving Activities

When choosing team building problem solving activities, make sure the game you use suits the group of people – their ages and interests. The activities we have listed will help with not only problem solving, but also build decision making, collaboration, and listening skills.

Tower Building

Although there are many variations to this game, this one using spaghetti and marsh mellows is our favorite. Divide you group into teams with an equal number of players. Provide each team with an equal amount of spaghetti and marsh mellows. The goal is to see which team can build the highest tower within a set amount of time.

Personalized Crossword

For this game to be effective, you need one or more teams of 8 to 10 people. Have each team list the first and last names of their group members. The goal is to create a crossword puzzle with clues composed of hints about the person, for example, if only one team member has red hair, the two clues for her first and last name could be, “Red hair,” and “Ginger.” It should take each team 20 to 30 minutes to complete their puzzle. When all the teams are finished, trade puzzles so that every team has a different one. Make sure you provide a list of names for the puzzle solvers.

Picture Pieces Puzzle Game

Prepare for this problem solving activity by choosing a well-known picture or cartoon full of detail. Cut the picture into equal sized squares and give one to each member of the group. You will need as many pieces as you have participants. Additionally, give each person a pencil, ruler for help enlarging the picture, colored markers, and a clean sheet of paper. Instruct them to make the puzzle piece five times larger.

Problem Solving Activities for Adults

Divide your group into two teams. Line up the two teams front to back. Have the two groups face each other. Using chalk, spray paint, or masking tape (depending on the play surface) mark a square space for each person to stand on with one extra empty space between the two facing rows. You may also use a piece of paper for each person. The goal is for the two facing lines of players to change places.

Place these restrictions on movement:

  • Only one person may move at a time.
  • A person may not move around anyone facing the same direction.
  • A person may not move backward.
  • A person may not move around more than one person on the other team at a time.

Playing Card Mix-up

Divide your group into teams of six to eight participants. Give each team two decks of cards randomly mixed together. Tell the group they must sort them out without talking. As they working at the task, after a few minutes, change the way in which they are doing so using one of the following:

  • If a team is sorting by suits from ace to king (4 stacks), tell them to collect the suits together by number (13 stacks).
  • If a team begins by collecting the suits together, i.e. all the ones, twos, threes, etc., tell them to sort the suits from ace to king.

The team(s) that do so successfully by the end of a given time (depending on the size of your group) share what methods they used to accomplish the task.

Blindfolded games are always fun and provide the perfect challenge for adult problem solving. We have provided two for you.

Blind Formations

Have your group of adults put on blindfolds and form a large circle. Tie the ends of a rope together and lay in it a circle in the middle of the group, close enough that each person can reach down and pick up the rope. Tell them they must create a shape – a square, triangle, pentagon, etc. If you have a very large group, divide them into teams and provide a rope for each team. Let them compete to see who forms a particular shape quickest.

Line up Blind

Blindfold everyone and number the group by whispering a number to each individual beginning at one. Tell them to line up in numerical order without talking. Variations are many, with some of the favorites not requiring the whispering step being to line up according to height, birthday, surname, color of hair, etc.

Balloon Tower

Divide you group into teams of three and provide ten balloons and four 3-foot long strips of masking tape for each team. The object of this problem solving activity is to build the tallest freestanding tower in ten minutes. They can break the balloons if they wish. However, they may not use any additional materials and the tower must be built on a table or the floor. If you wish, you may add the following instructions:

  • No talking.
  • Each team member may use only one hand.
  • One team member may not touch the materials and only give directions.

You can use one or more of these limitations in 60-second intervals. The first team to complete their tower wins this challenge.

Problem Solving Activities for Kids

The purpose of problem solving activities for kids is to get kids to think about a problem in a different way and have fun while solving it. Children will develop their creativity as they seek to implement a solution.

Walking the Plank

For this problem solving activity for older kids or teens, you will need four 2×6 boards. Divide your group into two teams with an equal number of children on each team. Place two of the four boards end to end on the ground or floor. Set the other two parallel to the first two about two or three feet apart. The goal is for each team to pass one board forward while standing on the other board in single file. If someone steps off a board, the team must start over. The team that succeeds in passing the boards a set number of times, or reaches a predetermined spot is the winner.

“Laser” Web

Use a large ball of string to create a giant web from one end of a room to the other. The goal is for individuals or teams to move through the web without touching the string. If they do so, they have been “zapped by a laser” and must try again. For greater suspense and for older players, use blindfolds or turn off the lights, allowing players to touch the string, but not pull it down or out of its original shape.

Group Drawing

Divide your group of kids into teams of three. Each person on the team has a one of the following roles:

  • Drawer . The drawer attempts to recreate a pre-drawn design they cannot see. They take directions from the talker. They stand with their back to the talker and viewer and may not talk.
  • Talker . The talker describes the design to the drawer, without seeing the design. They may question the viewer. They may not use hand gestures.
  • Viewer . The viewer sees the design. However, they are not allowed to talk and must communicate nonverbally to the talker.  Additionally, they must not draw the design in the air or actually show the design with their gestures.

The activity ends when the viewers say they are satisfied with the drawings. You may wish to award a prize to the best drawing.

Prior to playing this game, write on individual slips of paper the names of animal pairs, one name on each slip. Distribute the slips of paper to each group, instructing them not to share which animal name they received. The kids then move around performing activities their animal might do. The goal is for the kids to get into pairs successfully in a set amount of time without talking or making any noises. Suggest the following activities:

  • Cleaning or grooming
  • Eating and drinking
  • Walking or running

Alphabet Game

Have your players sit or stand in a circle. The goal is to shout out words in alphabetical order. Give the kids one of the following categories (or choose your own):

If a player takes longer than five seconds to think of a word, they are out. The last player remaining wins the game.

People achieve more when they solve problems and make decisions together. Our problem solving activities teach participants how to work out a solution, a talent useful in many different environments. Problem solving:

  • Improves team work
  • Helps participants address complex situations
  • Utilizes different thinking styles
  • Increases creativity
  • Collectively leads to decision making
  • Teaches both negotiation and cooperation

After completing a problem solving activity, encourage participants to discuss what process(es) they used in the exercise. Even kids are able to participate in such discussions. Also ask what was learned and if they have any opinions about how they could have solved the problem more efficiently.

Team-building exercises can improve problem solving and decision making in a new or established team. They work with every age group and in many different environments. Use our exercises to help solve problems and have some fun doing so.

Susan majored in English with a double minor in Humanities and Business at Arizona State University and earned a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Liberty University. She taught grades four through twelve in both public and private schools. Subjects included English, U.S. and world history and geography, math, earth and physical science, Bible, information technologies, and creative writing.

Susan has been freelance writing for over ten years, during which time she has written and edited books, newspaper articles, biographies, book reviews, guidelines, neighborhood descriptions for realtors, Power Point presentations, resumes, and numerous other projects.

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Thanks for your help!!

excellent ideas – thanks !

Excellent ideas.

Thank you. My students have requested we do team-building activities; I thought we would start with problem-solving.

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Kids' Coding Corner | Create & Learn

15 Problem-Solving Activities for Kids & Teens: Critical Thinking

Create & Learn Team

What is one of the most important skills all students must learn? Is it math or coding? Reading? Writing? While all these skills are indeed vital to success, the one skill that underlines all disciplines is problem solving. All lines of work need great problem solvers to find tomorrow’s solutions, and students of any age can be honing their problem-solving skills. Check out some of these fun problem-solving activities for kids and teens below!

Problem-solving activities for elementary school kids (ages 5-10)

From traditional paper-and-pencil activities to online tools, below are some great activities for kids ages 5-10.

1. Coding Courses for Kids

It’s never too early to start learning the foundational concepts of computer programming! There are a number of courses appropriate for young students to start building their problem solving skills, including the award-winning Scratch Ninja course . For the uninitiated, Scratch is a user-friendly colorful drag-and-drop coding tool developed by MIT for making awesome games and animations while learning important coding logic. Or, for students who are visual learners, try a Minecraft Redstone Engineering course to find out how to build awesome inventions! There are many free coding classes to start with, to find your child's interests.

2. Tower Building

Turns out that kindergartners might be better engineers than grownups (at least according to this experiment)! The challenge was as follows: given 20 pieces of spaghetti, a yard of tape, and a yard of string, build the tallest possible tower that can support 1 marshmallow on top. After various groups of people tried it from Stanford and other universities, kindergartners ended up beating them for creating the tallest tower. Challenge your student to see how tall they can make their tower too!

3. Crosswords

Whether taken out of the newspaper or off of the web, crosswords are a useful logic puzzle for kids to work on. Crosswords encourage students to use context clues, as well as their reasoning skills by eliminating possible options as they progress. Plus, it’s easy to vary the difficulty of the puzzles, as well as find fun, themed crosswords for different holidays! There's even a Thanksgiving crossword for your student to try.

4. Jigsaw Puzzles

There’s nothing like a good, ole’ fashioned puzzle to challenge the mind. Each person takes a different approach to puzzle solving, whether they organize their pieces first, find all the corners, or do something totally different. Exploring different strategies for solving puzzles is an effective introduction to independently creating strategies for problem solving. This is a solid choice for students who are visual learners.

An age-old classic, LEGOs are a fantastic way to combine creative skills with problem solving. Students need to follow sequential steps and visualize to create their LEGO designs. It’s even better when students go beyond the kit instructions to create their own LEGO build, as students will have to learn to utilize limited resources while coming up with a structured plan for designing their idea. LEGO Mindstorms is a popular starting point.

Problem-solving activities for middle school tweens (ages 11-13)

Middle schoolers (ages 11-13) will want to be challenged more with their activities, and these are some effective activities for encouraging growth.

6. Middle School Coding Courses

By the time they reach middle school, students will be ready to take on more advanced coding concepts, regardless of their prior coding experience. For those who have no prior coding experience, the Accelerated Scratch course is an excellent option, as it will introduce students to basic coding concepts while allowing them to make their games and animations. Students with some prior coding experience may want to try the Minecraft Code to Mod course, builds upon basic coding concepts like loops, conditionals, and more while building students' creativity and critical thinking.

7. Birthday Ordering

An activity commonly done at summer camps, the silent birthday lineup is an excellent problem-solving activity for groups. The goal is for students to line up in chronological order based on their birthdays, without talking at all. Working in total science requires students to think outside the box to accomplish their goal, and to prioritize teamwork. Try timing the students to see how quickly they can get it done, then let them reflect on the activity afterwards to see what strategies worked and what didn’t.

8. Event Planning

Have students plan their own event, like a fundraiser, a social, or a competition for their coding club . This will require students to collaborate by delegating tasks, coordinating supplies, budgeting, and more. Even planning something as simple as a pizza party still requires some logistical planning, and students will benefit from struggling through the process. Plus, they can get to enjoy the results of their work when the event finally arrives!

Arduino circuit boards are an excellent choice for children interested in engineering. Because Arduino is widely-popular, there are countless tutorials demonstrating its capabilities, such as creating a controller, custom RGB lighting, robotics, or more. Once students learn the basics, they can use Arduino boards to come up with creative solutions to their own problems. This is an excellent idea for highly-motivated kids who like to work by themselves.

Sudoku is an excellent number puzzle and a great problem-solving exercise. It requires students to evaluate multiple possible options as they try to fill in the puzzles, so students need to be able to create an organized approach to be successful. There are various difficulty levels for sudoku, so students can start easy, then advance as they become proficient at solving the puzzles.

Problem-solving activities for high school teens (ages 14+)

High school (14+) is a good time to incorporate group work into the activities, as students will need to learn to work collaboratively for their future in college and beyond.

11. Coding for Teens

Once reaching high school age, students are ready to tackle the complexities of text-based coding. This is where students can focus on their interests, whether it be web design , AI, app design , and more. Create & Learn’s Python for AI course is a good option, as Python is one of the most widely-used programming languages in the world. Students interested in game design might try the Roblox Studio course , which teaches students how to program their own Roblox games (or try the Beginner Roblox Game Coding course if they have limited previous coding experience.)

12. Robotics Club

Many different school programs offer robotics teams and robotics competitions , using tools such as VEX robotics . Robotics is a great way to combine computer science, mechanical engineering, and problem-solving skills. If there is no robotics team at your student’s school, consider trying a robotics kit such as the Makeblock mBot Ranger .

13. Egg Drop

This classic experiment is a lot of fun for students, and makes for a good competition as well. Students must build some sort of structure that will prevent an egg from breaking when dropped from a certain height (like the top of a staircase). It works best when students are restricted with the resources they can use; for instance, define a “ budget ” for parts that they can’t exceed, or give everyone the same materials to work with .

14. Debate Club

Whether deciding public policy or the best ice cream place in town, having the ability to engage in meaningful debate is critical. Debate forces students to self-analyze, listen, and think critically before making decisions. These skills benefit students’ futures by making them strong, independent thinkers. Check out these speech and debate competitions . And here are some tips for starting a debate club .

15. Science Fair

Science fairs pose an excellent opportunity for exploring the scientific method, both through creating personal projects and checking out other students’ presentations. By encouraging students to come up with their own projects, they must identify some question or problem and find a way to solve it. This can be the most challenging kind of problem-solving, as it requires the student to take initiative in finding their own ideas, but also can be the most rewarding. Try the Google Science Fair Competition .

Enjoy problem-solving activities for kids

And there you have it: problem-solving activities for students from elementary through high school age. Of course, there are many more ways to build critical-thinking abilities like problem-solving. For more ideas, check this list of awesome after-school enrichment activities !

Written by Create & Learn instructor Dominic Occhietti. Dominic is a graduate of Michigan State University, where he studied music performance and computer science. He thoroughly enjoys teaching, whether that be coding classes, French horn lessons, or even downhill skiing lessons!

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Educationise

11 Activities That Promote Critical Thinking In The Class

Ignite your child’s curiosity with our exclusive “Learning Adventures Activity Workbook for Kids” a perfect blend of education and adventure!

Critical thinking activities encourage individuals to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to develop informed opinions and make reasoned decisions. Engaging in such exercises cultivates intellectual agility, fostering a deeper understanding of complex issues and honing problem-solving skills for navigating an increasingly intricate world.

Through critical thinking, individuals empower themselves to challenge assumptions, uncover biases, and constructively contribute to discourse, thereby enriching both personal growth and societal progress.

Critical thinking serves as the cornerstone of effective problem-solving, enabling individuals to dissect challenges, explore diverse perspectives, and devise innovative solutions grounded in logic and evidence. For engaging problem solving activities, read our article problem solving activities that enhance student’s interest.

52 Critical Thinking Flashcards for Problem Solving

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is a 21st-century skill that enables a person to think rationally and logically in order to reach a plausible conclusion. A critical thinker assesses facts and figures and data objectively and determines what to believe and what not to believe. Critical thinking skills empower a person to decipher complex problems and make impartial and better decisions based on effective information.

More Articles from Educationise

  • 10 Innovative Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom
  • How to Foster Critical Thinking Skills in Students? Creative Strategies and Real-World Examples
  • 9 Must-Have AI Tools for Teachers to Create Interactive Learning Materials
  • The Future of Education: 8 Predictions for the Next Decade
  • The Latest in EdTech: 5 Innovative Tools and Technologies for the Classroom
  • 8 Free Math Problem Solving Websites and Applications

Importance of Acquiring Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking skills cultivate habits of mind such as strategic thinking, skepticism, discerning fallacy from the facts, asking good questions and probing deep into the issues to find the truth. Acquiring critical thinking skills was never as valuable as it is today because of the prevalence of the modern knowledge economy.

Today, information and technology are the driving forces behind the global economy. To keep pace with ever-changing technology and new inventions, one has to be flexible enough to embrace changes swiftly.

Today critical thinking skills are one of the most sought-after skills by the companies. In fact, critical thinking skills are paramount not only for active learning and academic achievement but also for the professional career of the students.

The lack of critical thinking skills catalyzes memorization of the topics without a deeper insight, egocentrism, closed-mindedness, reduced student interest in the classroom and not being able to make timely and better decisions.

Incorporating critical thinking lessons into the curriculum equips students with the tools they need to navigate the complexities of the modern world, fostering a mindset that is adaptable, inquisitive, and capable of discerning truth from misinformation.

Benefits of Critical Thinking for Students

Certain strategies are more eloquent than others in teaching students how to think critically. Encouraging critical thinking in the classroom is indispensable for the learning and growth of the students. In this way, we can raise a generation of innovators and thinkers rather than followers. Some of the benefits offered by thinking critically in the classroom are given below:

  • It allows a student to decipher problems and think through the situations in a disciplined and systematic manner
  • Through a critical thinking ability, a student can comprehend the logical correlation between distinct ideas
  • The student is able to rethink and re-justify his beliefs and ideas based on facts and figures
  • Critical thinking skills make the students curious about things around them
  • A student who is a critical thinker is creative and always strives to come up with out of the box solutions to intricate problems

Read our article: How to Foster Critical Thinking Skills in Students? Creative Strategies and Real-World Examples

  • Critical thinking skills assist in the enhanced student learning experience in the classroom and prepares the students for lifelong learning and success
  • The critical thinking process is the foundation of new discoveries and inventions in the world of science and technology
  • The ability to think critically allows the students to think intellectually and enhances their presentation skills, hence they can convey their ideas and thoughts in a logical and convincing manner
  • Critical thinking skills make students a terrific communicator because they have logical reasons behind their ideas

Critical Thinking Lessons and Activities

11 Activities that Promote Critical Thinking in the Class

We have compiled a list of 11 critical thinking activities for students that will facilitate you to promote critical thinking abilities in the students. By incorporating these activities, educators can introduce real-world examples of critical thinking in the classroom, empowering students to apply these skills in everyday situations.

We have also covered problem solving activities that enhance student’s interest in our another article. Click here to read it.

1. Worst Case Scenario

Divide students into teams and introduce each team with a hypothetical challenging scenario. Allocate minimum resources and time to each team and ask them to reach a viable conclusion using those resources.

The scenarios can include situations like stranded on an island or stuck in a forest. Students will come up with creative solutions to come out from the imaginary problematic situation they are encountering. Besides encouraging students to think critically, this activity will enhance teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills of the students.

This critical thinking activity not only pushes students to devise innovative solutions in challenging scenarios but also strengthens their teamwork, communication, and problem-solving abilities, making it an engaging and educational experience.

Read our article: 10 Innovative Strategies for Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom

2. If You Build It

It is a very flexible game that allows students to think creatively. To start this activity, divide students into groups. Give each group a limited amount of resources such as pipe cleaners, blocks, and marshmallows etc.

Every group is supposed to use these resources and construct a certain item such as building, tower or a bridge in a limited time. You can use a variety of materials in the classroom to challenge the students. This activity is helpful in promoting teamwork and creative skills among the students.

Incorporating critical thinking games like this into your classroom not only promotes teamwork and creativity but also challenges students to think outside the box as they work together to build their structures.

It is also one of the classics which can be used in the classroom to encourage critical thinking. Print pictures of objects, animals or concepts and start by telling a unique story about the printed picture. The next student is supposed to continue the story and pass the picture to the other student and so on.

This engaging exercise is one of the most effective critical thinking activities for kids, as it encourages them to use their creativity and problem-solving skills while working together to construct innovative structures with limited resources.

4. Keeping it Real

In this activity, you can ask students to identify a real-world problem in their schools, community or city. After the problem is recognized, students should work in teams to come up with the best possible outcome of that problem.

5. Save the Egg

Make groups of three or four in the class. Ask them to drop an egg from a certain height and think of creative ideas to save the egg from breaking. Students can come up with diverse ideas to conserve the egg like a soft-landing material or any other device. Remember that this activity can get chaotic, so select the area in the school that can be cleaned easily afterward and where there are no chances of damaging the school property.

6. Start a Debate

In this activity, the teacher can act as a facilitator and spark an interesting conversation in the class on any given topic. Give a small introductory speech on an open-ended topic. The topic can be related to current affairs, technological development or a new discovery in the field of science. Encourage students to participate in the debate by expressing their views and ideas on the topic. Conclude the debate with a viable solution or fresh ideas generated during the activity through brainstorming.

7. Create and Invent

This project-based learning activity is best for teaching in the engineering class. Divide students into groups. Present a problem to the students and ask them to build a model or simulate a product using computer animations or graphics that will solve the problem. After students are done with building models, each group is supposed to explain their proposed product to the rest of the class. The primary objective of this activity is to promote creative thinking and problem-solving skills among the students.

8. Select from Alternatives

This activity can be used in computer science, engineering or any of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) classes. Introduce a variety of alternatives such as different formulas for solving the same problem, different computer codes, product designs or distinct explanations of the same topic.

Form groups in the class and ask them to select the best alternative. Each group will then explain its chosen alternative to the rest of the class with reasonable justification of its preference. During the process, the rest of the class can participate by asking questions from the group. This activity is very helpful in nurturing logical thinking and analytical skills among the students.

9. Reading and Critiquing

Present an article from a journal related to any topic that you are teaching. Ask the students to read the article critically and evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the article. Students can write about what they think about the article, any misleading statement or biases of the author and critique it by using their own judgments.

In this way, students can challenge the fallacies and rationality of judgments in the article. Hence, they can use their own thinking to come up with novel ideas pertaining to the topic.

10. Think Pair Share

In this activity, students will come up with their own questions. Make pairs or groups in the class and ask the students to discuss the questions together. The activity will be useful if the teacher gives students a topic on which the question should be based.

For example, if the teacher is teaching biology, the questions of the students can be based on reverse osmosis, human heart, respiratory system and so on. This activity drives student engagement and supports higher-order thinking skills among students.

11. Big Paper – Silent Conversation

Silence is a great way to slow down thinking and promote deep reflection on any subject. Present a driving question to the students and divide them into groups. The students will discuss the question with their teammates and brainstorm their ideas on a big paper.

After reflection and discussion, students can write their findings in silence. This is a great learning activity for students who are introverts and love to ruminate silently rather than thinking aloud.

Incorporating critical thinking activities for high school students, like silent reflection and group brainstorming, encourages deep thought and collaboration, making it an effective strategy for engaging both introverted and extroverted learners.

Finally, for students with critical thinking, you can go to GS-JJ.co m to customize exclusive rewards, which not only enlivens the classroom, but also promotes the development and training of students for critical thinking.

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Thanks for the great article! Especially with the post-pandemic learning gap, these critical thinking skills are essential! It’s also important to teach them a growth mindset. If you are interested in that, please check out The Teachers’ Blog!

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Problem solving

Problem solving lesson plan

problem solving scenarios students

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Download the full lesson plan pack including all related resources

Choose to download one or more individual resources

Problem Solving: Lesson plan

Problem solving: Presentation slides

Demonstrating your skills quick fire activity

Problem solving in practice: Interactive worksheet

Our problem solving content focuses on one of these skills and develops understanding of the six stages of problem solving, as well as identifying different types of situations in which young people might already be using these skills. Furthermore, it encourages them to use an adaptive approach, explaining that different types of problems can be approached in different ways.

The activities on this page support your teaching of these skills through an independent activity, quick activities or a full length, curriculum-linked lesson plan. 

Teaching resources:

  • Problem solving: Lesson plan and presentation slides – full lesson plan including icebreaker for use with a group of students in the classroom
  • Demonstrating your skills: Quick-fire activity  – 10 minute activity for a group of students in the classroom, can be used as an icebreaker for the lesson plan
  • Problem solving in practice: Interactive worksheet – activity for independent learning whether remote or in class

Lesson plan

(60 -75 minutes)

This lesson is designed to equip young people with an adaptable approach to solving problems, large or small. It includes a short film and scenarios that encourage development of practical problem solving skills which can be useful for learning, day to day life, and when in employment.

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

  • Identify problems of different scales and what is needed to solve them
  • Illustrate the use of an adaptable approach to solving problems
  • Understand that problem solving is a core transferable skill and identify its usefulness in a work setting
  • Work on a problem solving activity in a team

The lesson aims to reinforce students’ understanding of the potential future applications of this skill as they move into the world of work, particularly in an activity differentiated for an older or more able group on creating new opportunities.

Quick-fire activity

(5 - 10 minutes)

The demonstrating your skills quick-fire activity focuses on helping young people understand the key skills that are needed in the workplace, including the importance of problem solving.

Students will be asked to name the skills being demonstrated in a variety of scenarios, and identify ways they’re already using those skills in this short activity.

You might find it useful as a starter or icebreaker activity to begin a lesson, or at the end to allow students to put what they have just learnt in the Problem solving lesson into practice.

Interactive worksheet

(20 - 25 minutes)

Please note that students below the age of 14 cannot sign up for their own LifeSkills account. Any independent tasks must be printed or downloaded and provided digitally for them to complete as they are currently hosted on educator pages.

The Problem solving in practice interactive worksheet introduces some of the themes from the full lesson plan and gives students some practical strategies for problem solving, including introducing the six stages of problem solving. The worksheet can be printed or completed digitally, so can be used flexibly to give students practise putting their problem solving skills into action. You might choose to assign it:

  • As homework following the Problem solving lesson
  • For independent study
  • For remote learning

Looking for more ways to boost self confidence with LifeSkills?

Other lessons that may prove useful for students to build on these activities include the  Adaptability  and  Innovation and idea generation  lessons. Alternatively, consider encouraging them to apply their skills through  Steps to starting a business  or the  Social action toolkit .

Why not build problem solving in as a focus in your students’ wider curriculum? Refer to our  Content guide to find out how this resources can be used as part of your teaching.

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Why not try one of these next?

Staying positive (resilience)

Staying positive (resilience)

Staying positive and learning through experience are key to succeeding in challenging situations. Try this lesson and help your students succeed at work.

Leadership

Good leadership styles and effective teamwork can help students excel in their future workplace. Read more about team leader skills in this lesson.

Social action toolkit

Social action toolkit

Build a comprehensive social action programme and support young people to access enriching experiences that build transferable skills for work.

Number Dyslexia

10 Problem Solving Activities for College Students

Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines – Robert H. Schuller. 

Rightly quoted by Schuller, every problem comes with a solution that needs exploration through creative thinking and analysis. Problems appear in different sizes and nature and any one solution does not apply to all of them. Hence, it is essential to acquire and practice the necessary problem-solving skills that help students deal with various challenges at different stages and areas of life.

Problems cannot be avoided however, we can always equip young adults with the necessary skills to tackle them. As college students start their journey of making new friends, building networks, and understanding a fresh world of opportunities, they are likely to come across various difficulties. For example, some college-going students might find it hard to communicate with their fellow mates while others may find it awkward to offer answers to a question asked by teachers.

Know that it is not wrong to have minor difficulties in the college year. However, it is significant to indulge students in problem-solving skills through creative games and exercises. Problem-solving skills include time management, critical thinking, and decision-making. These skills can be fostered through interesting problem-solving activities. Activities that indulge students in communication and coordination also help them become better problem solvers. In this blog post, we will explore different activities that help a growth mindset in college students.

Engaging problem-solving activities for college students

Real-life problem solving does not follow any standard procedures or formulas just like solving a mathematical problem does. It requires one to critically analyze the problem from every possible angle and come up with creative, innovative, and practical possible solutions for the same. Given that, the below-mentioned activities are based on a combination of various essential skills that play an important role in overall development.

1. What’s the Situation?

College students are likely to come across many problems in everyday group discussions and projects. This activity focuses on expanding their thought process and building a growth mindset.

What's the Situation?

  • To conduct this activity, divide students into teams of 3 each
  • Now, write different situations on a chit of paper and put them all in a bowl
  • Call each team and let them read the situation aloud
  • For example, the situation can be about hierarchical problems in a group, lack of coordination with other students, or dealing with a bully
  • Give 5 minutes to the team for brainstorming and invite an open discussion of the solution 
  • Inspire the students to contribute and share their views

Being an analytical thinking activity , it helps students carefully analyze situations and brainstorm potential solutions. Teachers can also offer thoughtful insights into situations. 

2. Clarity of Words

Communication is an important aspect of a problem as it is needed for analyzing the problem and discussing solutions. This activity purely focuses on joint efforts to solve a problem within a stipulated time frame.

Clarity of Words

  • To conduct this activity, get building blocks and divide the students into teams of 4 
  • Now, give the structure of the final product to an only team member
  • The other team members should have all the building blocks
  • One team member guides the other 3 members to start with the construction without having the final image
  • The team member with the image is responsible for communication 
  • Calculate the time taken by each team and share results at the end 

Problem-solving skills enhance when teams come together to only focus on the solution and get it done. Such an activity inspires teams to think creatively and also improve their active listening skills. 

3. Where’s the Key?

Treasure hunts are always fun; however, this activity comes with a twist. The activity incorporates communication, coordination, and brainstorming between team members.

.  Where's the Key?

  • To conduct this activity, divide the students into teams of 3 members each
  • Now, hide a key somewhere in the college 
  • Give teams different hints at different levels to find the key
  • For example, the first hint can be in the library and the second one can be in the auditorium 
  • As students find the hint, offer them the next one and that’s how the leading team shall find the key

Solving realistic problems and getting solutions from different clues enhances creative thinking in students. They are more likely to develop a problem-solving mindset due to the challenging environment.

4. Survival of the Fittest!

When students face a real situation, they are more likely to broaden their horizons and think practically. This activity focuses on understanding life situations and being active throughout the process.

Survival of the Fittest!

  • To conduct this activity, set a situation for students 
  • For example, the situation can be how students are stranded on an island
  • Now, write the names of different elements that are needed for survival on an island 
  • Out of the list, students can only select 5 elements to survive
  • Once they have selected, present different scenarios where they need to think about the usage of elements to solve the problem 
  • Invite an open discussion about solutions and cross-question them to make it interesting 

This activity can either be conducted individually or in teams. It offers practical learning where students learn the application of solutions rather than just finding them. 

5. How many Solutions?

At times, there might be no problem but many solutions that one can think of. This tricky activity tests the critical thinking of students with reference to everyday life.

How many Solutions?

  • To conduct this activity, have many different products in a box
  • Now, ask students to pick one and think of different uses 
  • For example, if it is toothpaste, it can be used to clean teeth, clean mirrors, and even clean glass surfaces
  • Have many such products and let students think of as many solutions a product can offer 

With creative thinking, students get an opportunity to understand and maximize the usage of existing products. It helps develop realistic solutions for everyday life with common products. 

6. Puzzled Us!

Puzzles are commonly used in various activities to motivate communication, thinking, and problem-solving in students. The activity is focused to help students solve something really common in an uncommon manner.

Puzzled Us!

  • To conduct this activity, get two huge puzzles and divide the class into two teams
  • Let the class turn into an activity area 
  • Now, jumble some pieces of the puzzle and let students find the missing pieces from the other team
  • Here, both teams shall start building the final puzzle but simultaneously keep finding the missing pieces too
  • Reward the team that finishes the puzzle first

As you mismatch some pieces of the puzzle, you are indirectly asking students to focus on the big picture. Along with problem-solving skills, leadership skills are also enhanced in this activity.

7. Quick Fix!

Finding solutions to a problem is a time-consuming process, however, some situations demand promptness. This activity focuses on empowering college students to think creatively in a quick manner. 

 Quick Fix!

  • To conduct this activity, have many balloons in the class
  • Each balloon should have a problem stated in a chit 
  • Now, divide the students into teams and make chits of all roll numbers of students
  • Pick one chit and that roll number needs to burst the balloon 
  • As the student bursts, he/she needs to read the problem aloud and offer a quick solution to it within a minute 
  • Reward the student who successfully offers creative solutions at the end

When students are set in a challenging mood, they are more likely to arrive at solutions at a faster pace. It enables individualistic thought processes without worrying about right and wrong.

8. Hey, Challenge Me!

Everyday problems are also a unique way to foster this skill in students. This activity mainly focuses on analyzing everyday problems and finding solutions in a creative way.

  • To conduct this activity, divide students into teams of 4 members each
  • Now, let 2 teams sit opposite each other for the round
  • Team A needs to vocalize their everyday problems and Team B needs to find creative solutions that are workable in nature
  • For example, a member from Team A might say how he/she faces problems when communicating with senior teachers 
  • To this, Team B now has to come up with viable solutions and solve the problem. For example, Team B might suggest Team A’s member take his/her friend along when communicating with senior teachers 
  • The teacher needs to be the decider if the solutions offered are valid and workable 

As students get an opportunity to vocalize their issues, other students are likely to get motivated and raise their voices too. In such a way, students can find common ground and deal with bigger problems in unity. 

Problems come in different natures and situations. It is equally important to teach students how to deal with different problems in different ways. This activity purely focuses on taking the right course of action to solve the matter at hand.

3 Cards

  • To conduct this activity, make 3 cards – Act, Confront, and Apologize
  • Now, place the 3 cards on the table and be ready with as many situations as possible
  • Call one student and speak the situation aloud
  • After listening, students need to decide the course of action to solve the problem at hand
  • My friend did not choose me for the group project. It is bothering me but I am not able to do anything.
  • I was scolded by a teacher for an imperfect presentation. However, I’m not very good at it.
  • My mind is occupied with the thought of flood conditions in other countries.
  • For such situations, students have to choose if they want to act, confront or apologize 
  • Ask them to state reasons as to why they would choose a particular card and how will it solve the problem

Students are more likely to broaden their thinking capabilities when given situations that they don’t exactly relate to. With such an activity, instruct them about examples of self-management skills which allows them to better understand their choices in the problem-solving concept.

10. Brand Failure!

Giving realistic situations to students helps them become better at problem-solving. It also allows them to look at the big picture and solve problems from different perspectives.

Brand Failure

  • To conduct this activity, turn the classroom into an office
  • Now, make teams of 10 students each and let them sit just the way employees sit for a conference 
  • For example, you may present the case study of how the product of Nestlé, Maggi, was banned due to contents of lead and MSG found in it
  • After this, invite an open discussion as to how they would tackle the problem 
  • Ask them to think of marketing campaigns or advertisement initiatives to deal with the problem

As students learn about branding and facing problems from the consumer perspective, they get a border opportunity to think like marketing managers. It boosts their confidence as no solution is right or wrong.

Wrapping up…

Problem-solving activities are an effective way to showcase students’ various problems and how to deal with them. Practical application of skills helps to boost their morale. As college students are also exposed to problems of different levels and perspectives, they are more likely to learn, evolve and become thoughtful of their actions. It should be noted that every student learns at a different pace and encouraging them to arrive at creative solutions is a must-do! 

Along with this, teachers can also use different examples of problem-solving skills , games, and interesting quotes to create a diversified learning environment. In conclusion, the skill is an essential step for students to perform better in their future endeavors with a growth-oriented focus.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of  Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

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Kathy B SLP

Problem Solving Scenarios for Kids

social problem solving - boys fighting over toy

What is Social Problem Solving?

Social problem solving is a process of recognizing difficulties and adapting or changing to resolve problems that we encounter in everyday living.  Social problem solving is an essential life skill.  Strong problem-solving skills are important in social interactions throughout life.  Young children learn social problem-solving skills like learning to share and asking for preferred items.  They learn to use the right words, tone of voice, and body language.  They also learn to read the body language and tone of voice of others.  They learn to make social inferences and understand the perspectives of others.  As children grow and develop social problem-solving skills become more complex.  Children with strong social problem-solving skills respond better to stress.  They are also more likely to be successful in personal and professional interactions as they get older.

Kids have to solve social problems throughout their days in school.  These issues range from requesting help in the classroom to joining in with a basketball game on the playground.  Kids learn many of these problem-solving skills through maturity, experience, and adult direction.  Other times more direct teaching is necessary.

How Can we help students learn Social Problem Solving Skills?

  •  Teach kids to communicate their feelings in a calm way.  As adults, we know that misunderstanding causes many problems in social interactions.  Difficulty understanding the perspective of someone else also causes problems.
  • Help students learn to identify problems.  Sometimes kids don’t recognize nonverbal clues that there is a social problem.
  • Model social problem skills for students.  Talk about social problems that occur throughout the day.  Model social problem solving and talk about your thinking.
  • Use problem-solving scenarios for kids to practice social problem-solving.  By using hypothetical problems kids can gain important social skills.

What are problem solving scenarios?

Jill’s class is on a field trip to a museum.  Jill wasn’t paying attention and lost her group.  Now she is by herself.  What is the problem?  How can Jill solve her problem? 

Your classmate is passing out cupcakes and she did not give one to you.  How do you feel?  What can you do?

Y ou are doing a math paper in class but you are confused about how to do some of it.  What can you do?

It is your birthday and your grandmother just gave you a present.  It’s a really boring sweater.  What should you do?

Your friend at school is sitting by himself at recess and looking really sad.  What can you do?  

Jack and Yasine want to play a game but they want to play different games.  They are arguing.  What can they do?

You are at a friend’s house for dinner and they are going to eat lobster.  You are allergic to lobster and shellfish.  What should you do?  What would you say?  

These are some examples of  problem solving scenario for kids.  In using scenarios, students can identify problems, talk about perspectives and come up with solutions.  There is usually not just one solution.  It is great for students to brainstorm and come up with different ways to solve problems.

Here are more problem solving scenarios for kids:

problem solving scenarios

Try this fun set of problem solving scenarios with a superhero twist!

problem solving scenarios

Social Skills All Year is a comprehensive set of social skills questions for the whole year.

social problem solvimg for back to school

Get ready for back-to-school with this set of back-to-school problem-solving scenarios.  

Try some of these other social problem-solving scenarios that I like:

Social and safety skill question cards

Social Skills for Teenagers

Social Skills Bundle 

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11 Scenarios to Help Teens Work Through Sticky Social Situations

Tweens and teens increasing encounter social situations that they must have skills to navigate independently. In this article, you’ll read through scenarios that teens might experience as they spend time with friends. For each scenario, prompts are provided for consideration and discussion. These prompts can be used as talking points with the teens at your home or school. You’ll also have the opportunity to download a free Classroom Etiquette Do’s and Don’ts Resource for both teachers and students.

Why Manners Matter

As tweens and teens spend a lot more time with their friends, they may encounter new situations that they need to navigate with skill and polite manners. Etiquette and manners are important—because people who know how to handle themselves in social situations come out on top, get what they want, feel good about themselves, and enjoy life to the fullest.

Why Scenarios Can Be Powerful Teen Learning Experiences

Preparing to manage experiences before they occur will allow kids to better manage them in real time.

Hypothetical scenarios can be a great tool for learning on this topic. They present real-life examples that students may not anticipate. They allow students to remove heightened emotions that they may experience in social settings so that they can think clearly on the issues presented. They also allow students to work together, collaboratively, to tackle these challenges with peers.

11 Manners Challenges for Teens

In group discussions, use these eleven relatable manners challenges to get teens talking about how they can politely deal with problems, before they occur, at home or school.

FREE DOWNLOAD   Do’s and Don’ts of Classroom Etiquette Resource   Classroom manners matter too! This free resource includes two handouts with 30 tips for teachers and another 30 tips for students to support classroom etiquette.  

Too-Hot Soup

You’re eating dinner at a friend’s house. You take a mouthful of soup and discover it’s burning hot. Other than spitting it out, burning your tongue, and suing your hostess for $4 million, how could you deal (politely) with this situation?

Text Troubles

Your best friend spends half the time you’re together texting other friends. You think of sending your friend a text saying, “PUT DOWN YOUR STUPID PHONE AND BE WITH ME!” Maybe there’s a better solution. What is it?

You brought a great present for your friend to his Bar Mitzvah party. Three months later you’ve heard nothing from him, and you’re wondering why. You could send a “Thanks for nothing” note, or… What’s a better way to handle this?

Your friends are great one-on-one. But when they get together, they’re like boorish marauders. It really bothers you when they make fun of people with disabilities. How can you address this without being drawn and quartered yourself?

Chew on View

One of your friends always chews with his mouth open. It’s gross—all those saliva-slimed, maggoty, masticated morsels of chopper-chomped chow. (Told you it was gross.) How could you address this delicate subject with your friend?

etiquette-dos-donts

Embarrassed Online

A friend posted a photo on social media of you drooling in your sleep. You’re angry and humiliated. Think of a rude way to respond and then a polite way. Which is better and why?

Your friend is chronically late and always shrugs it off with lame excuses. You could give him some of his own medicine by standing him up, but that just brings more rudeness into the world. What’s a better way to resolve this?

Your friend always invites herself over to your house and then never leaves. Short of screaming, “INCOMING MISSILE!” and locking the doors after she dives out the window, what would be a polite way to deal with this?

Too Much Texting

A friend floods you with hundreds of unwanted texts a day. Think of a rude way to respond and a polite way. Which do you think would work better and why?

Tips Needed

You’re at a restaurant with friends. You all chip in, but as you leave, you notice the kid who paid the bill didn’t leave a tip. How can you handle this so the server isn’t stiffed and your friend isn’t miffed?

Your friend bailed on going to the movies with you by saying she was sick. Later you learn she went out with someone else. Instead of getting even by giving her measles, how could you handle this politely?

Manners matter. Good etiquette helps us all get what we want, feel good about ourselves, and enjoy life to the fullest. Giving tweens and teens resources—like the 11 scenarios and the Do’s and Don’ts of Classroom Etiquette Resource for students included in this article—gives them the opportunity to prepare for sticky social situations both out in the world and at school. For more relevant etiquette challenges, check out How Rude! The Teen Guide to Good Manners, Proper Behavior, and Not Grossing People Out by Alex J. Packer, Ph.D.

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Author bio:, alex j.packer, ph.d..

'Etiquette Guru to the Youth of America', Alex J. Packer, Ph.D., is an educator, psychologist, and award-winning author of numerous books for parents and teenagers including How Rude! The Teen Guide to Good Manners, Proper Behavior, and Not Grossing People Out. Alex's books have been translated into many languages including Spanish, German, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Mandarin, Greek, Romanian, and Serbian. Alex is sought after by the media for his provocative commentary on manners, child-rearing,...

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Using scenarios to get students problem solving

Professor Eva Sorensen explains how Chemical Engineering students tackle six week-long real-world problem-based scenarios during their first two years as undergraduates.

Students in UCL Chemical Engineering

21 July 2016

Each year, 140 to 160 students, working in groups of six or seven, take on an “open-ended, complex and ill-defined” real-world problem, based on the topics they are covering during that term.

The students are tasked with the scenario problem on a Monday and then given a full week to come up with a solution, attending formal ‘client meetings’ and facilitation drop-in sessions along the way, before submitting their findings – usually as a report and a presentation - by the end of the week on the Friday.

  • The UCL Engineering website outlines more about what scenarios are, including example videos

Students apply their academic learning to real-world problems

Each scenario is new and created by the programme team in advance based on real-world issues and topics focussing on different parts of the chemical processing sector including energy, bulk chemicals and pharma to ensure the students get to experience a whole breadth of industry topics over the course of their two years.

Although fictitious companies are used (Bentham Chemicals, Ramsay Ltd, Fizer etc.), students tackle the problems in a way that builds their professional awareness and responsibilities.

The scenarios are designed to build in complexity as students take part in them, and they get to try different techniques to see how their academic learning can be made relevant in a mock professional setting. The scenarios purposely contain conflicting, or missing, information so that students must decide for themselves, as a group, how to solve it.

Students experience:

  • exploring the fundamental technical principles of each topic
  • the challenges of team working
  • getting to grips with the practical, hands-on aspects of each scenario requiring them to come up with solutions to the design problem and to the implementation of their solution
  • agreeing how best to present their findings, both orally and in writing

Some of the scenarios also give students the opportunity to undertake independent research in the lab.

Working in a group and conducting peer assessment

The programme team ensure the groups are mixed for each scenario with students placed in random, ability, mixed ability etc. teams, as well as given a chance to choose their own colleagues.

They have the opportunity to assess the performance of those in their group through peer marking, and the individual and team grades awarded are adjusted accordingly, although the programme team reserve the right to ignore the peer marks if deemed necessary. The cohort is given a detailed explanation in advance as to how peer marking works and the impact it will have.

Recognising achievements through prizes

For each scenario there is a prize awarded to the group with the highest marks, and in some cases a separate prize chosen for excellent in a given area of the scenario.

For instance, one group won a ‘People's Choice Award’ for their video describing a complex engineering problem in a digestible format targeted at AS-level students.

The videos were reviewed by secondary school students at ELUTEC, an East London academy sponsored by UCL’s Faculty of Engineering, based on quality, level of detail, and how easy the videos were to understand. In parallel, the programme team marked the same videos with criteria based on academic evaluation.

Feedback on the approach

Professor Sorensen says:

“Scenarios are part of the Faculty’s Integrated Engineering Programme (IEP) and take place in all Faculty departments at the same time. For all departments, the scenarios aim to give all our students a chance to put their learning into action in order to tackle real-world problems.

The engineering industry requires a strong ability to work in a variety of teams and to be able to present findings and show leadership.

The feedback from students shows that, whilst the work is challenging, scenarios continue to prove a great addition to the student experience with many students using them as examples of professional development.”

Student feedback is collected after each scenario.

  • One student said: “Really good, if not the best, teamwork I have ever experienced.”
  • Another commented: “Really liked the idea of the lab sessions - putting into practice and actually seeing stuff happening felt so much better than theoretical analysis or using a programming software.”

View videos students created in one of their scenarios

Valves, pumps and p&id's.

YouTube Widget Placeholder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elIPY6YnAJk

How It Works: Valves and P&IDs

Youtube widget placeholder https://www.youtube.com/watchv=fl7l2fj18k0, professional industrial piping engineers, p.i.p.e..

YouTube Widget Placeholder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a3BYo2LGsY&feature=youtu.be

The Hidden Heroes Instructional Video

YouTube Widget Placeholder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVc9-fIeFHw

Further information

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5 Examples of Problem Solving Scenarios + ROLE PLAY SCRIPTS

Problem-solving is an essential skill in our daily lives. It enables us to analyze situations, identify challenges, and find suitable solutions. In this article, we’ll explore five real-life problem-solving scenarios from various areas, including business, education, and personal growth. By understanding these examples, you can develop your problem-solving abilities and effectively tackle challenges in your life.

Examples of Problem Solving Scenarios

Examples of Problem Solving Scenarios

Improving Customer Service Scenario:

Solution : The store manager assembles a team to analyze customer feedback, identify key issues, and propose solutions. They implement a new training program focused on customer service skills, streamline the checkout process, and introduce an incentive system to motivate employees. As a result, customer satisfaction improves, and the store’s reputation is restored.

Enhancing Learning Outcomes Scenario:

A high school teacher notices that her students struggle with understanding complex concepts in her science class, leading to poor performance on tests.

Overcoming Procrastination Scenario:

An individual consistently procrastinates, leading to increased stress and reduced productivity.

Solution : The person identifies the root cause of their procrastination, such as fear of failure or lack of motivation. They establish clear goals and deadlines, break tasks into manageable steps, and use time management tools, like the Pomodoro Technique , to stay focused. By consistently applying these strategies, they successfully overcome procrastination and enhance their productivity.

Reducing Patient Wait Times Scenario:

Solution : The clinic’s management team conducts a thorough analysis of the appointment scheduling process and identifies bottlenecks. They implement a new appointment system, hire additional staff, and optimize the workflow to reduce wait times. As a result, patient satisfaction increases, and staff stress levels decrease.

Reducing Plastic Waste Scenario:

Solution : Community leaders organize a task force to address the issue. They implement a recycling program, educate residents about the environmental impact of plastic waste, and collaborate with local businesses to promote the use of eco-friendly packaging alternatives. These actions lead to a significant reduction in plastic waste and a cleaner, healthier community.

Conclusion : These five examples of problem-solving scenarios demonstrate how effective problem-solving strategies can lead to successful outcomes in various aspects of life. By learning from these scenarios, you can develop your problem-solving skills and become better equipped to face challenges in your personal and professional life. Remember to analyze situations carefully, identify the root causes, and implement solutions that address these issues for optimal results.

Role Play: Improving Customer Service in a Retail Store

Scenario : A retail store is experiencing a decline in customer satisfaction, with clients complaining about slow service and unhelpful staff.

Role Play Script:

Assistant Manager : I agree. We could also implement a new training program for our staff, focusing on customer service skills and techniques.

Sales Associate : (Smiling) Of course! I’d be happy to help. What product are you looking for?

Sales Associate : Let me check our inventory system to see if we have it in stock. (Checks inventory) I’m sorry, but it seems we’re currently out of stock. However, we’re expecting a new shipment within two days. I can take your contact information and let you know as soon as it arrives.

Customer : That would be great! Thank you for your help.

More Examples of Problem Solving Scenarios on the next page…

Problem Solving Scenarios | Social Skills Activities for Teens

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Description

This is an activity pack of 42 problem solving task cards providing difficult social scenarios that students can work through. Practice using and applying problem solving skills to determine what to do in an everyday problem scenario.

This activity can be used for therapy sessions, social skills online groups, teachers, special education teachers and home-schooling parents.

This resource will help students work through the ability to put themselves in a situation, identify (and justify) an appropriate response, and learn to draw upon their own past experiences to apply them to future situations.

Would you rather these cards be in BOOM card format? Click here for the BOOM version of these cards instead.

SAVE TIME SESSION PLANNING!

These task cards will help to take therapy session planning and brainstorming OUT of your hands and should last you several therapy sessions. When mixed with other task card decks or therapy activities , this deck alone should last months for a weekly student!!

Very low prep (print and go, or even just read from your laptop/tablet!). A quick and easy "go to" to pull out from your therapy tool bag!

WHAT'S INCLUDED?

- A printable PDF with 42x task cards 42x different problem solving scenarios

- Coloured AND black and white versions included

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Regular education teachers, special education teachers, SLPs, OTs and other support professionals could all benefit from using these task cards with their students!These cards are specifically designed for middle and high school aged students.

HOW DO I USE THEM?

*These task cards can be used for an individual, a small group or a class*

Individual ideas:

o Side activity during a board game or other therapy activity!

o A “break” between therapy activities if the other activities are worksheet-heavy or targeting another skill!

o Use these cards as a therapy activity itself (I absolutely do!)

o “Warm up cards” for the start of each session.

o Quick assessment of skills.

o Homework.

o Use them as conversation prompts/starters.

You can even use them to simultaneously target additional skills like expressive language, speech, reading comprehension/decoding.

Small group and/or classroom ideas:

o Put the task cards up in different parts of the room (or outside!) and have students walk around with the room with their answer sheets and clip boards.

o Have students get into pairs and talk about their answers and thoughts together.

o Use a card or two each morning as part of a guided class discussion.

o Use the cards as a guide for an open ended quiz. Use the flashcards to ask the class the questions, and get the students to write their answers on a sheet to hand up.

Want this resource, but for your younger students? I've got you covered!

WANT TO ADD MORE TO YOUR "GO TO" TOOL BAG?

The below resources pair very well with this resource!

You can use them together, or one after the other to work on problem solving skills using scenarios for months! No scenarios are the same!

- Is it a big or small problem?

- Predicting consequences

- Do I keep the secret ... or tell an adult?

- Everyday problem solving scenarios set 1 and set 2

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First of all, thank you for supporting me and purchasing my resources from my store. As a huge thank you for your support, from me to you, here is a freebie resource just for you! A full, complete resource just for you :)

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A Better Tomorrow

Discover caring financial guidance and expert insights to help you achieve your financial goals for an even better tomorrow

Entrepreneurship Games for Students: Engage & Educate Innovators

August 29, 2024

Entrepreneurship games for students

In today's education world, helping students develop entrepreneurial skills is essential. These skills prepare students for the tricky parts of the modern economy. Entrepreneurship games are a fun way to learn that mix creativity, critical thinking, and hands-on experience. 

Did you know that approximately 60% of Indiana residents have participated in entrepreneurship? [1] If the next generation is better educated, more Hoosier entrepreneurs are sure to be successful. 

This guide will look at different games designed to get young people excited about entrepreneurship and teach them the basics.

How To Engage Students in Entrepreneurship

Educators play a crucial role in shaping the entrepreneurial mindset of their students. To create a dynamic and engaging learning environment, consider incorporating activities and challenges. Use games that bring abstract business concepts to life. 

Encourage students to explore different aspects of entrepreneurship, such as marketing, finance, and innovation, through hands-on activities. Foster a collaborative classroom culture where students can share ideas, learn from one another, and nurture their creativity. 

By providing opportunities for active engagement and exploration, you'll help your students develop the skills and confidence they need to thrive.

You might also like:  10 Best Resources for Small Business Owners to Learn & Grow  

What Are Entrepreneurship Activities?

Entrepreneurship activities are like real-world simulations for entrepreneurs. They're carefully designed to help you think critically and see challenges like a business leader. 

These activities teach you to: 

  • Spot opportunities.
  • Make tough choices.

Bounce back from both wins and losses. 

They're not just games — they're immersive experiences that give you skills to use in any career, whether you start your own business or work for someone else.

You might also like:  Small Business vs. Micro Business: Differences Explained  

How Entrepreneurship Games for Students Work to Teach Problem-solving Skills

Entrepreneurship games are structured activities that simulate real-world business challenges in an educational setting. Students engage in hands-on exercises where they make decisions, solve problems, and manage resources — mirroring the experiences of entrepreneurs. 

These games foster critical thinking, creativity, and practical skills such as teamwork and decision-making. By providing a dynamic learning environment, entrepreneurship games prepare students to navigate complexities, innovate, and thrive in entrepreneurial or professional settings.

You might also like:  Small Business Budget Example  

4 Top Entrepreneurship Games to Engage & Teach Students / Children

There are countless entrepreneurial games that can be used for engaging and interactive learning experiences. The following games are designed to teach the basics of business while encouraging creativity and critical thinking. They provide immersive simulations of different aspects of business, from coming up with new ideas to dealing with challenges and making strategic decisions. 

By playing these games, your students can experience the complexities of entrepreneurship. If you include these games in your lessons, students will gain valuable skills that will help them in their future careers.

You might also like:  10 Steps to Start Your Business  

1. The Innovation Auction

The Innovation Auction game is designed to help students practice investing in business ideas with a virtual budget. Students will learn skills for presenting, evaluating, and investing in promising business ideas.

Instructions:

Assign each student a set budget (e.g., $100 play or virtual dollars).

Students present their business ideas in a structured format, such as an elevator pitch.

Conduct a silent auction where students bid on the ideas presented by their peers. Then students or student teams must invest a portion of their money into three or more business ideas, not including their own idea. 

The business idea with the highest investment at the end of the auction wins the game.

This activity teaches students how to assess business opportunities, manage resources effectively, and make strategic investment decisions (think shark tank).

You might also like:  List of Monthly Expenses for Small Business  

2. The Pivot Challenge

The Pivot Challenge game encourages teams to adapt their business ideas based on feedback and changing market conditions. Teams will pivot and add to their original initial business concept significantly to better meet market demands or overcome obstacles.

Guide team sessions to brainstorm and develop a basic business concept.

Provide feedback from classmates or mentors to prompt teams to rethink their ideas.

Based on the feedback they receive, teams should make substantial changes to their target market, product features, or business model.

The Pivot Challenge helps to foster adaptability, creative problem-solving skills, and the ability to respond effectively to market changes.

You might also like:  How Can I Fund My Business Without a Bank Loan?  

3. The Marketing Challenge

problem solving scenarios students

The Marketing Challenge game focuses on developing and executing a comprehensive marketing strategy for a new product or service. Students will create and implement an effective marketing plan within given constraints, such as budget and/or timeframe.

Guide students in identifying target audiences and researching their preferences and needs.

Help students choose appropriate marketing channels (e.g., social media, print) and design promotional materials.

Students should implement their marketing plan to effectively communicate the product’s benefits to potential customers.

This game helps students understand the importance of market research, customer engagement, and clear communication strategies in business.

Recommended:  Typical Marketing Budget for Small Business to Unlock Success  

4. The Business Banking Simulation

The Business Banking Simulation game immerses students in real-world scenarios where they manage financial transactions and utilize banking products relevant to business. Students will learn to navigate and utilize essential business banking products and services effectively.

Divide students into teams representing virtual businesses (e.g., retail store, tech startup, consultancy).

Begin with a session where students learn about various business banking products:

–          Business checking accounts . Explain the features and benefits, such as transaction limits, fees, and online banking capabilities.

–          Commercial cards . Discuss how credit limits, rewards programs, and interest rates impact business finances.

–          Business loans and lines of credit . Introduce different types of loans (e.g., term loans, SBA loans) and lines of credit available for business expansion and operational needs.

–          Merchant services . Cover payment processing solutions, including POS systems, online payment gateways, and associated fees.

Provide teams with simulated business scenarios. This might include purchasing inventory, paying suppliers, or replacing broken equipment.

Teams must decide which banking products to use for each transaction based on cost-effectiveness, cash flow management, and financial planning. Require teams to create budgets and forecasts using real banking data and transaction history.

Assess teams based on their financial decisions, budget accuracy, and ability to effectively manage cash flow using the provided banking products.

Conclude with a debriefing session where teams reflect on their decisions, discuss challenges faced, and identify strategies for improving financial management in future simulations.

The Business Banking Simulation game enhances students' understanding of business banking, financial management, and decision-making in a simulated environment. It prepares them for real-world scenarios where effective use of banking services is crucial for business success.

You might also like:  Best Practices to Establish Good Business Credit  

Advance Your Entrepreneurial Journey with Centier

These entrepreneurship fun games are more than just play—they're powerful tools for learning and growth. By participating, you'll gain hands-on experience in business fundamentals, develop essential skills for future success, and ignite your entrepreneurial spirit. Whether you're a student exploring career options or an educator looking to inspire the next generation of innovators, these games are an excellent way to engage and educate.

Want to learn more about entrepreneurship and level up your business skills?  Explore Centier’s small business tools and resources today . 

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  • DOI: 10.52902/kjsc.2024.28.121
  • Corpus ID: 269039411

Correlation between Communication Competence, Problem-Solving Skills, Clinical Competence, and Critical Thinking Competence on Person-Centered Care Competence of Nursing Students in who Experienced Clinical Practice

  • Mi Young Moon
  • Published in Forum of Public Safety and… 30 March 2024
  • Education, Medicine

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S&E from Campus to Career: Gavin Byrne - PhD by research in Heart Biomechanics at TU Delft

Gavin Byrne

Tipperary native Gavin Byrne has just graduated from the integrated Masters in Biomedical Engineering at University of Limerick.

Now pursuing a 4 year PhD in heart biomechanics in TU Delft in the Netherlands, We caught up with Gavin to ask about the course, his time at UL, and any advice he might have for Leaving Certificate students.

Why did you choose to Study at University of Limerick?

I was born and raised in Clonmel in Co. Tipperary, surrounded by a dense network of industrial manufacturing companies ranging from all forms of pharmaceutical and engineering. This gave an incentive to engross myself in all things science and engineering and allowed me to become interested in technical problem solving and take on as many science subjects as possible in school. Following secondary school I identified UL as my university of choice due to its vast facilities that would satisfy my pursuit of problem solving while allowing the freedom to relax, explore, and try new things.

Why did you choose the integrated ME in Biomedical Engineering?

As a type 1 diabetic, I have always been enthralled with medical devices and how they help patients. With my keen interest in all things STEM, combined with my desire to create new and innovative ways to transform peoples’ lives, I decided to choose biomedical engineering.

What did you enjoy most about the course?

I was part of the first cohort to undertake the integrated ME in Biomedical Engineering. Due to this, in the later years of the 5 year course, we began to design biomedical devices and materials and showcase them in seminars both in the college and nationally. This gave a well rounded  experience as to the fine details of solving a biomedical engineering problem, solving the problems that the original solution created and repeating this to then identify the best method of presenting/selling this solution to a market – reflecting the in depth reality of biomedical engineering.

What did you enjoy about UL and what is student life like here?

UL is a great campus that has something for everyone. I was introduced to various alternate sports and activities that I still participate in. The student life is good in UL and allows a balance between social life and work.

Where did you complete your Cooperative Education Experience?

I completed my Cooperative Education Experience in Johnson & Johnson Medtech (then DePuy Synthes) in Ringaskiddy in Co. Cork.

How did UL support you throughout your studies?

UL was good in supporting me and provided additional assistance that allowed me to complete my studies with my diabetes.

Can you update us on your career, does it still hold relevance to what you would have studied in UL?

I am pursuing a 4 year PhD in TU Delft in the Netherlands. This career surrounds heart research and links directly with my studies in UL as it based on biomechanics and computational modelling, both topics that are vital parts of biomedical engineering in UL.

What advice would you give to Leaving Certificate students considering the next step in their career journey?

I would suggest that students identify the subjects they enjoyed in secondary school and search for careers and courses that these subjects are primary parts of. Students should research and filter these to identify a career path that combines topics they enjoy, and provides a good path to a job that is personally and financially satisfactory.

More information on the BE/ME in Biomedical Engineering can be found on the UL website .

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COMMENTS

  1. 10 Problem-Solving Scenarios for High School Students

    The below-mentioned scenarios are perfect for implementing problem-solving skills simply by allowing open discussions and contributions by students. 1. Uninvited Guests. You have arranged a party at your home after successfully winning the competition at the Science Fair. You invite everyone involved in the project however, one of your friends ...

  2. 30 Problem Solving Scenarios for Kids & Teens

    Home practice will make progress toward meeting individual language goals much faster. Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are only able to see students/clients 30-60 mins (or less) per week. This is not enough time or practice for someone to handle Problem solving scenarios. Every day that your loved one goes without practice it becomes more ...

  3. 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios

    71+ Social Problem Scenarios + 6 Blank Scenarios. Use the 71 social problem-solving scenarios to have your students get great experience practicing how to solve a social problem. Also, included are 6 blank scenarios. Then laminate them so you can use them over and over again. Therefore, create social problems that the student experiences and ...

  4. Engaging Problem-Solving Activities That Spark Student Interest

    Discuss lessons learned and the importance of problem-solving skills. This is one of the problem solving activities for students that can create a simulated environmental crisis scenario, fostering collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in students. 5. Mathematical Escape Puzzle: Crack the Code.

  5. Developing Critical Thinking: Problem Solving Scenarios for Elementary

    Developing critical thinking skills in elementary students is crucial for their academic and personal growth. Problem-solving scenarios provide an effective and engaging way to foster these skills. By incorporating everyday life, academic, and social scenarios into the curriculum, we can help students develop the ability to think critically ...

  6. 5 Problem-Solving Activities for the Classroom

    Here are five classroom problem solving activities your students are sure to benefit from as well as enjoy doing: 1. Brainstorm bonanza. Having your students create lists related to whatever you are currently studying can be a great way to help them to enrich their understanding of a topic while learning to problem-solve.

  7. Fun and Effective Problem Solving Scenarios for Elementary Students

    Scenario 3: The Group Project. Description: A group of students is working on a project together, but they are having difficulty agreeing on a topic. Steps to solve the problem: Identify the problem: The group is struggling to agree on a project topic. Brainstorm possible solutions: Encourage each student to suggest project topics and discuss ...

  8. 15 Problem Solving Activities For Students

    Problem solving activities can range from simple to complex and short to long. 1) The detective game. Gather 5-10 clues about a person, place, historical event, pop culture phenomenon, animal, etc. these can be physical clues or images of clues. Place the clues to a bag and have students draw one clue at a time.

  9. Teaching Problem Solving

    Make students articulate their problem solving process . In a one-on-one tutoring session, ask the student to work his/her problem out loud. This slows down the thinking process, making it more accurate and allowing you to access understanding. When working with larger groups you can ask students to provide a written "two-column solution.".

  10. 20 Problem-Solving Activities for Middle School Students

    Sudoku: Introduce sudoku puzzles as a fun and challenging math-based activity. 4. Chess Club: Encourage students to participate in chess clubs or tournaments to practice strategic thinking. 5. Escape Rooms: Plan an age-appropriate escape room activity to develop teamwork and problem-solving skills among the students. 6.

  11. Building Students' Problem-Solving Skills

    Our approach includes cooperative games and design challenges as well as good-to-know and problem jars. Each part is designed to allow our students to encounter consistent developmentally appropriate and varying types of conflict in order to build problem-solving skills. Throughout each activity, students are put in a variety of mixed groupings ...

  12. 17 Fun Problem Solving Activities & Games [for Kids ...

    For this problem solving activity for older kids or teens, you will need four 2×6 boards. Divide your group into two teams with an equal number of children on each team. Place two of the four boards end to end on the ground or floor. Set the other two parallel to the first two about two or three feet apart.

  13. 44 Powerful Problem Solving Activities for Kids

    By honing their problem-solving abilities, we're preparing kids to face the unforeseen challenges of the world outside. Enhances Cognitive Growth: Otherwise known as cognitive development. Problem-solving isn't just about finding solutions. It's about thinking critically, analyzing situations, and making decisions.

  14. 15 Fun Problem-Solving Activities for Kids & Teens

    Robotics is a great way to combine computer science, mechanical engineering, and problem-solving skills. If there is no robotics team at your student's school, consider trying a robotics kit such as the Makeblock mBot Ranger. 13. Egg Drop.

  15. Problem-solving Activities: The Real MVPs for Students

    Top Problem-Solving Activities for Students. 1. Open-Ended Questions. Open-ended questions are questions that require more than one word or sentence to answer. They can't be answered with a standard response and require thoughtful answers. They can be used in a variety of ways, but they're particularly helpful in promoting problem-solving ...

  16. 11 Activities That Promote Critical Thinking In The Class

    For engaging problem solving activities, read our article problem solving activities that enhance student's interest. 52 Critical Thinking Flashcards for Problem Solving. What is Critical Thinking? Critical thinking is a 21st-century skill that enables a person to think rationally and logically in order to reach a plausible conclusion.

  17. Problem Solving Lesson Plan

    This lesson is designed to equip young people with an adaptable approach to solving problems, large or small. It includes a short film and scenarios that encourage development of practical problem solving skills which can be useful for learning, day to day life, and when in employment. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

  18. 10 Problem Solving Activities for College Students

    Along with problem-solving skills, leadership skills are also enhanced in this activity. 7. Quick Fix! Finding solutions to a problem is a time-consuming process, however, some situations demand promptness. This activity focuses on empowering college students to think creatively in a quick manner.

  19. Problem Solving Scenarios for Kids

    Sometimes kids don't recognize nonverbal clues that there is a social problem. Model social problem skills for students. Talk about social problems that occur throughout the day. Model social problem solving and talk about your thinking. Use problem-solving scenarios for kids to practice social problem-solving.

  20. 11 Scenarios to Help Teens Work Through Sticky Social Situations

    Hypothetical scenarios can be a great tool for learning on this topic. They present real-life examples that students may not anticipate. They allow students to remove heightened emotions that they may experience in social settings so that they can think clearly on the issues presented. They also allow students to work together, collaboratively ...

  21. Using scenarios to get students problem solving

    Some of the scenarios also give students the opportunity to undertake independent research in the lab. Working in a group and conducting peer assessment. The programme team ensure the groups are mixed for each scenario with students placed in random, ability, mixed ability etc. teams, as well as given a chance to choose their own colleagues.

  22. 5 Examples of Problem Solving Scenarios + ROLE PLAY SCRIPTS

    Customer. Assistant Manager. Role Play Script: Scene 1: Store Manager's Office Store Manager: (Addressing the Assistant Manager and Sales Associate) I've noticed that our customer satisfaction has been declining lately. We've received several complaints about slow service and unhelpful staff. We need to address these issues immediately.

  23. Problem Solving Scenarios

    Social Problem Solving Scenarios Activities. This is an activity pack of full of over 300 common problem solving scenarios providing PLENTY of practice for your students, both young and old! Practice using and applying problem solving skills to determine to do in everyday problem scenarios.This activity can be used for therapy sessions, socia. 9.

  24. Entrepreneurship Games for Students: Activities for the Student

    How Entrepreneurship Games for Students Work to Teach Problem-solving Skills. Entrepreneurship games are structured activities that simulate real-world business challenges in an educational setting. Students engage in hands-on exercises where they make decisions, solve problems, and manage resources — mirroring the experiences of entrepreneurs.

  25. Correlation between Communication Competence, Problem-Solving Skills

    It is necessary to induce nursing students to use a lot of volunteer programs in order to increase their person-centered care competence, and it is necessary to develop and actively guide convergence extracurricular activities linked to subjects. Purpose: This study is a descriptive research study conducted to identify the relationship and influencing factors between communication competence ...

  26. S&E from Campus to Career: Gavin Byrne

    This gave a well rounded experience as to the fine details of solving a biomedical engineering problem, solving the problems that the original solution created and repeating this to then identify the best method of presenting/selling this solution to a market - reflecting the in depth reality of biomedical engineering.