Introduction to real-world problem solving and innovation

Our world faces complex and challenging problems.  

• Climate change 
• Pollution 
• Habitat and biodiversity loss 
• Ocean conservation 
• Water scarcity 
• Food security 
• Disease 
• Gender equality 
• Poverty  

The global challenges are numerous, and our children need to be prepared to solve them. Our youth won't find solutions to these problems in textbooks or multiple-choice tests. Instead, society requires problem solvers who are capable of working on a multidisciplinary team to tackle hard problems in creative and innovative ways.

The 21st century has already brought unimaginable changes to the world of work. The need for knowledge workers to create new products and services that meet the needs of clients is a major driving force for economic growth. In our global, knowledge-based economy, employers actively seek workers who skillfully generate and test creative ideas. According to employers, the most important skills in new recruits include:

• Teamwork 
• Problem solving 
• Innovative thinking 

To help learners develop these skills and become innovative thinkers, educators must design learning activities that engage learners in problem solving. The key is to design a learning scenario with a defined challenge in a real-world context. This challenge requires learners to innovate by implementing their solutions, designs, or ideas to audiences outside the classroom. 

To create these learning activities, educators may ask learners to engage with a challenge that exists in their community. For example, a community may have a problem with children accessing the school safely when walking. In such a case, learners might propose getting a traffic officer to help them cross the street safely. They must convince the City Council that there’s a need for the expense. In this scenario, learners work on an unresolved real-world problem. They have a specific explicit problem, and they must use real-world data to solve it. In working to find a solution, learners create, adapt, evaluate, and apply ideas. Most importantly, they complete this work for a specific, plausible audience. In this way, learners are accountable to actual stakeholders outside the classroom. Finally, this problem provides learners an opportunity for innovation. Innovation requires putting learners' ideas or solutions into practice in the real world or communicating their ideas to someone outside the classroom who may implement them. 

In today's workplace, problem solving tasks abound, whether it’s finding new ways to reach global markets or redesigning a product with new materials. Successful workers must be adept at generating and testing creative ideas to solve a problem with specific requirements and constraints.