The use of ill-defined problems for developing problem-solving and empirical skills in CS1

  • Authors:

  • David Reed

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Math and Computer Science, Creighton University, Omaha, NE

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
  • Year:
  • 2002

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Abstract

Education research has shown that an effective technique for developing problem-solving and critical-thinking skills is to expose students early and often to "ill-defined" problems in their field. An ill-defined problem is one that addresses complex issues and thus cannot easily be described in a concise, complete manner. Furthermore, competing factors may suggest several approaches to the problem, requiring careful analysis to determine the best approach. This paper describes a specific ill-defined problem that was successfully used as an assignment in a recent CS1 course. In completing this assignment, students actively participated in the entire process of problem solving and scientific inquiry, from the formulation of a hypothesis, to the design and implementation of experiments (via a program), to the collection and analysis of the experimental data. As a result, students developed empirical and critical-thinking skills, while also experiencing the use of programming as a tool for investigative inquiry. Experiences using this particular assignment will be discussed, as well as general approaches to identifying ill-defined problems and integrating them into a CS1 course.