Puzzle-based Learning is a foundational approach to develop the critical thinking skills and mental stamina essential for solving real-world problems.

This Guide to Teaching Puzzle-based Learning provides invaluable insights drawn from the authors' extensive experience in teaching Puzzle-based Learning. Practical advice is provided for teachers and lecturers evaluating a range of different formats for varying class sizes, based on results from classes taught in many different countries.

Topics and features:

• Suggests numerous entertaining puzzles designed to motivate students to think about framing and solving unstructured problems
• Discusses models for student engagement, setting up puzzle clubs, hosting a puzzle competition, and various warm-up activities
• Presents an overview of effective teaching approaches used in Puzzle-based Learning, covering a variety of class activities, assignment settings and assessment strategies
• Examines the issues involved in framing a problem, and reviews a range of problem-solving strategies
• Contains tips for teachers and notes on common student pitfalls throughout the text
• Provides a collection of puzzle sets for use during a Puzzle-based Learning event, including puzzles that require probabilistic reasoning, and logic and geometry puzzles This unique textbook/guide will be of great interest to instructors on all levels who wish to experiment with the Puzzle-based Learning approach. This approach has been successfully applied in universities, high schools, professional organizations and leading companies.

Autorentext

Dr. Edwin F. Meyer is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Baldwin Wallace University, Berea, OH, USA.

Dr. Nickolas Falkner is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean of Information Technology in the School of Computer Science at the University of Adelaide, Australia.

Dr. Raja Sooriamurthi is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Information Systems Program at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Dr. Zbigniew Michalewicz is an Emeritus Professor of the School of Computer Science at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He also holds Professor positions at the Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy of Sciences and at the Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology.

Klappentext

This book provides insights drawn from the authors' extensive experience in teaching Puzzle-based Learning. Practical advice is provided for teachers and lecturers evaluating a range of different formats for varying class sizes. Features: suggests numerous entertaining puzzles designed to motivate students to think about framing and solving unstructured problems; discusses models for student engagement, setting up puzzle clubs, hosting a puzzle competition, and warm-up activities; presents an overview of effective teaching approaches used in Puzzle-based Learning, covering a variety of class activities, assignment settings and assessment strategies; examines the issues involved in framing a problem and reviews a range of problem-solving strategies; contains tips for teachers and notes on common student pitfalls throughout the text; provides a collection of puzzle sets for use during a Puzzle-based Learning event, including puzzles that require probabilistic reasoning, and logic and geometry puzzles.

Inhalt

Part I: Motivation and Teaching

Motivation

Getting Started

Icebreakers

Effective Teaching Approaches

Part II: Tools, Tips, and Strategies

Understand the Problem

Reasoning: Logic and Reasoning Backwards

Pattern Recognition

Enumerate and Eliminate

Simplify!

Perform a Gedanken: "What If?" and "So What?"

Simulation and Optimization

Part III: Challenges

Probabilistic Reasoning

Logical Reasoning

Geometric Reasoning

Grand Challenges

Summary

List of Puzzles