Creating and Using a Problem Bank
Sourcing problems from the community is an opportunity for students to engage in an authentic design process for a client
by Rich Lehrer
Looking for a way to provide students with an authentic, project based learning experience? At the Alexander Dawson School in Las Vegas, NV, we have recently implemented an approach called The Problem Bank that allows our students to find and solve real world problems. Essentially, the Problem Bank is a tool that allows teachers to turn their schools into repositories of authentic problems to be solved.
Students in our seventh and eighth grade elective, Tech for Good, educate our community about the types of problems they can solve through our Problem Bank website, and then people who have problems (or, as we call them “design opportunities”) to be solved submit them through an online form. As problems come in, students select problems that resonate with them, or in which they feel invested in solving, and then a design relationship between the student and the client begins. Students employ our “Dawson Design Process”, in which they explore the problem, brainstorm solutions, propose one to go forward, and then take multiple trips through the iterative process until they have refined their solution enough for it to be shared with their client.
My passion for Project Based Learning, human centered design, and providing students with meaningful and authentic problem solving experiences started in earnest 10 years ago when I worked with a group of my 8th grade students at Brookwood School in Massachusetts to build one of the first 3D printed prosthetics for my son, Max. That project allowed me to personally see the profound impact on students and their clients when they not only work on a problem in their community, but also actually create a highly effective solution. For the past decade I have been on a quest to provide all of my students with these sorts of opportunities. It is my firm belief that in working through the struggles that arise when trying to iterate a solution to an actual problem that an actual person in their community has, students can truly become empowered and develop into the agents of positive change our society needs.
In addition to the twin benefits of teaching students how to solve problems and a person in a community having their actual problem solved, we are finding many other benefits to this approach. Among them:
The authenticity of the fact that there is a client with whom students work increases the stakes and encourages students to do their best work
Students gain experience in receiving feedback from their clients and classmates and learn how to effectively act on that feedback
Gaining fluency with the use of the iterative process to continue redesigning and testing a solution until their client is satisfied teaches students that failure is a natural part of any problem solving experience and helps them develop resiliency and persistence
Admittedly, the majority of equipment that Dawson students use in our Middle School Design Lab to solve problems submitted to our Problem Bank are high tech tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters, printer cutters, and CNC mills. But we are quick to let our students know that one does not need a top-of-the line piece of technology to become a changemaker. In fact, we are finding that the use of our digital fabrication equipment is a highly engaging way to introduce students to the idea of solving community problems, but our ultimate goal is that all students developing the interest, mindset, and ability to solve any problem, whether it requires a “high tech”, “low tech”, or “no tech” solution. We have also had great success helping our students to become problem finders and solvers. Our “Good Problem” tool allows a student to analyze a submitted problem in order to determine if this is a good fit for our time and energy. By having students run a problem through a series of criteria including urgency, degree of difficulty, potential for student growth, impact, etc. students increasingly see themselves as the drivers of the problem solving experience and, we feel, are more likely to transfer these skills to their out-of-school life.
Here’s an example. We put up new tool boards in the design lab but didn't have hangers for certain specialty items. One of our students, Amelia, created this document of her formal design process.
Here’s the pegboard ratchet and attachments holder she made.
I've included a photo of some laser cut shelves some students created in response to a need we had to display 3 dimensional student work more effectively.
The Problem Bank has provided our school with a systematic way to help students practice and realize what it takes to be an agent of positive change. The benefits to all members of our community are tangible and, we feel, replicable in any school setting. If you think you might be interested in setting up a Problem Bank at your school, please either visit the “Create a Problem Bank” page of our website or contact me, Rich Lehrer, at rlehrer@adsrm.org.