For Students
How to help students problem solve with the meta-problem
Teaching students problem-solving skills usually focuses on teaching them methods to solve specific problems. While the methods are important, we often leave out the general skills that allow students to be better problem solvers.
​
"Meta-problem" is a term which lets us talk about any specific problem we want to solve given many possible options. When teaching students, a meta-problem might look like one of these:
-
Which math problem should I give my students to help them practice fractions?
-
Which math problem should I give my students to help them practice recognizing if they should use fractions or not?
-
Which text should I give my students to help them practice understanding the difference between opinions and facts?
-
What questions should I ask my students to check if they know the difference between opinions and facts?
Helping students with classwork
These meta-problems are focused on goals from the teacher, so you might wonder how it helps students be better problem solvers. The next step is the insight that makes the meta-problem such a useful framing.
​
Students are rarely told why a problem has been set up the way it was. It might seem a little cruel for example that multiple choice questions are designed to have wrong answers that are the obvious mistakes. But if you think about why they are designed that way it makes sense: multiple choice questions are about making it easier to accurately grade many students, not about making it easier to pick the right answer.
When a student gets a wrong answer, it could be because they did not understand the method, but other times it is because they did not understand the meta-problem. Here are some scenarios with small tweaks to show how you could give your students a window into the meta-problem:
-
A student makes a mistake - support them by helping them find for themself where the error crept in. Did they miss that they needed to divide by 2? Did they multiply where they should have divided? What strategies can they use in the future to check their work? You can also put a more positive framing on the situation by pointing out that they just "solved a different problem than they meant to. And now we have a bonus puzzle / challenge to find the difference!"
-
A student uses the wrong method - support them by talking about how the methods are similar or different. What did they miss that was supposed to help them know which method to use? Which clues should they be looking for to know the right approach in the future? Are these clues only true in a classroom, or are they useful in the real world too? (Example: neat round numbers happen more in math class than in the real world). When you are learning something, all your options often look the same until you learn the clues that set things apart. Teachers often present those clues, but it can take more exposures than you think to really see the differences.
Helping students solve real-world problems
More often, the kinds of problems that are hard to solve for students have to do with choices they can make with their behavior. We see how they get "locked in" to a specific point of view, and their inability to make it better. Talking about their goals and options can help:
-
A student is fighting with a friend - support them by helping them think about the difference between how they wanted things to go and how they actually went. What decisions can they make to improve the situation? Is everyone on the same page about what they are trying to accomplish together? This is the heart of the meta-problem, talking directly about what your goals are and what decisions you can make to try to achieve those goals.
-
A student broke a classroom rule - support them by seeing if they had a goal which they could have achieved with other choices. Did they think about the downsides of breaking a rule, or did they hope no one would care? Even if it would have been a little less fun to make a different choice, wouldn't that have been better than what's happening now?
-
A student is upset with a situation - support them by focusing on what is in their control and what isn't. In a lot of cases all we can do is change our own behaviors or how we talk to ourselves about the situation. Was a friend mean, or was that friend having a bad day? Should we demand an apology from someone who seems to be upset, or just take a break?
​
None of this is a huge difference from how teachers already support their students. But providing that little extra support by understanding and talking about the goals and choices students have can dramatically shift their views.
If you work with students and are looking to incorporate the meta-problem into your classroom, please use the Contact page to share your thoughts.