Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills Induction
Unit 6 – 6.1a
Scenario
O Evan Evans has just been arrested. It is 8.30am.
O He has been caught on the roof of Tesco’s.O In his rucksack police have found 10 fillet
steaks, 2 bottles of champagne, a passport in the name of Robert Williams, a hedge trimmer and a ruby necklace.
O Evan has amnesia. He remembers watching the 6.oopm news yesterday evening while sat on the sofa at his friend’s house.
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Your briefO Evan Evans has hired you as his defence
solicitor. O Come up with an hourly schedule of his
movements that led up to his arrest. This covers sometime after 6pm until his actual arrest at 8.30am.
O As his solicitor you are trying to ensure that he is not kept in custody. Therefore, you need to demonstrate that the content of Evan Evan’s rucksack is both legal and convincing.
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ConstraintsO You have 15 minutes to complete
your time schedule.O Once your time is up, you will need
to present your case to the rest of the group in order to convince them that your team’s explanation is the most plausible.
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Support of an eye witness
O Having heard all of the explanations for Evan Evan’s dilemma, you can now call on an eye witness to collaborate your explanation.
O As a team decide on who you are going to ask and come up with a statement from your eye witness. It should be no longer than 200 words.
O Each team to present this additional eye witness testimony.
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Weight of evidenceO Having heard each team’s explanation and
eye witness testimony, you are now able to carry out a cross examination of each team’s account.
O You have 10 minutes to come up with 2 questions for each team. The questions should be designed to show flaws in the other teams’ explanations.
O Each team to nominate a representative(s) and take it in turns to be asked questions from the other teams.
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PlausibilityO In your own team, using your worksheet,
rate each of the other teams according to the following criteria:
O How plausible (believable) is each team’s account?
O How reliable is each team’s eye witness?O How plausible (believable) is each team’s
eye witness account?O Which team has come up with the most
convincing case for Evan Evans (excluding your own team)?
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You have just been critically thinking!
O In your teams, come up with a definition of critical thinking and write it down on your work sheet
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How can I improve my Critical Thinking skills?
Are you prepared to ask yourself the following questions?
O Do you prefer being given the correct answers rather than figuring them out yourself?
O Do you like to think a lot about your decisions or do you rely only on gut feelings?
O Do you review the mistakes you have made or do you just forget about them?
O Do you like to be criticized?
Rate yourself on these questions in your worksheet.
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Individual ActivityO Look at your worksheet.O How many puzzles can you complete
within 15 minutes?
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What is Problem Solving?
O Problems consist of 3 components:O A goal state – what you want to
achieve.O A starting state – where you are
currently.O A set of available actions to move
from the starting state to the goal state.
O A problem isn't a problem if there are no obstacles stopping you from moving from the starting state to the goal state.
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Answers
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Question 1
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Answers
Matchstick answers:Share your answers with other classmates.Are there any matchstick you have been unable to solve?How could you solve the remaining puzzles?
Using the GROWTH ModelO An effective way to tackle a problem is to use GROWTH:
O Goal: What do you want to achieve next?O Reality: What is the current situation? How have you
carried out a similar goal before? Were you successful?O Options: What could you do? What did you do before and
was this approach successful?O Will: What will you do now based on previous experience?O Timescale: How long will it take?O How: How will you measure whether you are successful?This model will be useful in responding to your Welsh Bacc. Challenges
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Why do I need to be able to Problem Solve?
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Take the OECD problem solving test to see your current level
O http://www.oecd.org/pisa/test/
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