From the biggest 'wicked' problems on down, finding solutions to challenges depends on working together collaboratively. Students think they're good at this, but they aren't. Here's what could help.
The study examined more than 100 interactions and found that when airline staff were effusive in their apologies it actually diminished their ability to be efficient problem solvers.
Mark Hodson/Flickr
Distance education for teacher training has its problems. Improved support can address these issues - but some of it should come from students themselves.
Teaching students skills such as creative thinking and problem solving will become part of the curriculum from 2017. But in order to assess these capabilities, teaching styles will have to change.
Dagne Mojo (centre) and Petr Matous (right) discuss resource-conserving technologies with the inhabitants of Arsi Zone, Ethiopia.
Tatsuya Ishikawa
The role of an engineer has diversified over the years to be something more than just building structures. But that is yet to be reflected in the way we teach the engineers of the future.
Exams aren’t testing 21st century skills.
Luke MacGregor/Reuters
Ask a parent what a school should teach and they’ll tell you, “When my child leaves school, I want them to be able to understand money, to work well with others, go to university or to get a good job…
Manu Kapur, National Institute of Education of Singapore
The upcoming ban on the use of calculators in most maths exams for 11-year-olds in UK schools reminds me of a persistent concern in education: when do the tools we use to learn become crutches we can’t…
Inexperience may make you better at thinking outside the box.
Adam Graddy
Are adults superior problem solvers to children? Most people would say yes. From buttoning a jacket to operating a projector to multiplying complex numbers, our abilities exceed those of children. And…
Question 1: Where is the leaning tower of Pisa?
Niall Carson/PA Archive
With a heavy feeling of déjà vu, here we are again with another round of introspection on the OECD’s international Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings and the mediocre education…
Can I be a puzzle-maker when I grow up?
Child with puzzle via Shutterstock
It’s no longer enough for children just to be able to read, count or multiply. With computers now doing many mundane repetitive tasks for us, many jobs in today’s world require analytical skills and the…