Puzzle-Based Learning for Engineering and Computer Science

Abstract

A number of universities are introducing courses, modules, or freshman seminars that relate to the puzzle-based learning paradigm. The purpose of such units is to attract, motivate and retain engineering/computer science students, and to increase their mathematical awareness and their problem-solving skills. This is essential in developing students as general problem-solvers, rather than training students to limit their thinking to the problems that are immediately pertinent to the specific area that they are studying. The business world has already recognised that problem-solving skills are valuable and some major companies actively recruit good puzzle-solvers. We introduce and define our puzzle-based learning approach, provide an example of the syllabus and course material and provide evidence of two current implementations, including early student feedback. IntroductionA recent article describes a puzzle-based freshman seminar introduced at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to motivate and retain computer engineering students (Parhami, 2009). The author argues that attracting students to computer science and engineering programs represents only one aspect of a broader problem of the shortage of a skilled information technology workforce, and that recruitment efforts must be augmented with additional strategies for retaining and motivating students -strategies that are missing in curricula recommendations of the IEEE Computer Society and the ACM.The problem may be even broader. Today's marketplace needs graduates capable of solving real problems of innovation and a changing environment -we need more skilled graduates. What is missing in most engineering/computer science curricula is coursework focused on the development of problem-solving skills. Most engineering students never learn how to think about solving problems in general -throughout their education, they are constrained to concentrate on textbook questions at the back of each chapter, solved using material discussed earlier in the chapter. This constrained form of "problem solving," is not sufficient preparation for addressing real-world problems. On entering the real world, students find that problems do not come with instructions or guidebooks. One of our favourite examples to illustrate this point is a puzzle on breaking a chocolate bar: If you do not know the answer, which textbook would you search to discover the solution? The same applies to solving many real world problems: which textbook should you search to find a solution, if that is the solution strategy that you've learned?Students often have difficulties in independent thinking or problem-solving skills regardless of the nature of a problem. At the same time, educators are interested in teaching "thinking skills" rather than "teaching information and content." The latter approach has dominated in the past. As Alex Fisher wrote in his book (Fisher, 2001) The puzzle-based learning approachThe puzzle-based learning approach aims at encouraging engineering/computer scien...

Puzzle-based learning in engineering mathematics: students’ attitudes

“…As Falkner et al [15] put it: "the ultimate goal of puzzlebased learning is to lay a foundation for students to be effective problem solvers in the real world".…”

“…There are good discussions of the relationships between the three concepts in [14,15] and between Problem-Based Learning and Puzzle-Based Learning in [3].…”

“…Falkner et al [15] claim: "The puzzle-based learning approach aims to encourage engineering and computer science students to think about how they frame and solve problems not encountered at the end of some textbook chapter. Our goal is to motivate students while increasing their mathematical awareness and problem-solving skills by discussing a variety of puzzles and their solution strategies."…”

PUZZLE-BASED LEARNING: AN APPROACH TO CREATIVITY, DESIGN THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING. IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION.

“…As per Falkner et al (2010) [8], "The goal of puzzlebased learning is to lay a foundation for students to be effective problem solvers in the real world. At the highest level, problem-solving in the real-world calls into play three categories of skills: "dealing with the vagaries of uncertain and changing conditions; harnessing domainspecific knowledge and methods; and critical thinking and applying general problem-solving strategies."…”

Teaching puzzle-based learning: development of transferable skills

“…In (Falkner et al 2010) and (Falkner et al 2011) we have identified goals for developing learning in a puzzle-based, domain-free, context, and presented Copyright c 2012 by University of Debrecen a plan for a course that developed puzzle-solving skills in a variety of contexts. To review the core points, puzzles were used in order to teach problem-solving, because:…”