The Large Number of Reasonable Strategies
People differ in their proficiency in learning, in reasoning, and in problem
solving, and in the strategies they employ to do these things. It seems reason-
abletoteachthestrategiesusedbygoodlearnersandthinkerstothosewhoare
less proficient. I teach a course at Carnegie Mellon University intended to do
just this. It is a freshman course that assumes little sophistication on the part
of the student. Its structure is reflected in my text,The Complete Problem Solver
(1981). In the course, I teach basic strategies in problem finding, representa-
tion, solution search, decision making, memory, and learning. In examining
the course materials, I was surprised to find that I present at least 50 differ-
ent strategies during the semester. The strategies, listed in table 23.1, include
such diverse procedures as searching for counterexamples, working backward,
perspective drawing, brainstorming, fractionation, satisficing, the keyword
method, and time managementskills.
WhenIsaythatthestrategiesarediverse,Imeanthattheyarequitedistinct.
They are not simple variants of a few general strategies. They have different
purposes and different contexts and must be taught separately. I am not sug-
gesting that the strategies taught in my course are exactly the right ones. Of
Figure23.6
A graph ofthe careers of all the paintersin Hayes’study.
558 John R.Hayes