Mini-Overview  (of website)

We can help students learn more from

their experiences with Problem Solving,

and be more motivated to learn when they
build Transfer-Bridges from School into Life.

How?  You can help students achieve both goals – with more learning and more motivation – by using my model for Design Process, for a Design-Thinking Process that is Problem-Solving Process, for a Process of Problem Solving (PS). 

Why?  Two closely-related reasons are because Design Process has two Wide Scopes, for what students do (in their PS-Activities) and how they do it (with their PS-Process).

Why?  When we use a broad definition of problem — it's any opportunity to make something better, in any area of life — our Problem-Solving Activities include most things people do in life.  More important, most people use a similar General PS-Process for most of our PS-Activities (thus for most things we do), AND this General Process is accurately described by Design Process.

understanding the model   ( Part 1 )

What?  You can understand the model for Design Process by studying this Actions-Diagram`.   After awhile, use these tips for two ways to learn, with...

• Discovery Learning:  To thoroughly study the diagram, observe (and think about ) its words & colors and spatial relationships,  find the Actions & logical structures that produce two kinds of Essential Action-Sequences, one in the Top Part and another (with three variations, used for General Design & Science-Design) in the Bottom Part ;  and solve a Mystery — “Why does the Cycle have a right-side arrow, pointing from Evaluate to Generate?” — and actively construct your understanding for how this “why” is a third kind of Essential Action-Sequence.    /    When you also study an Overview-Diagram` – with a “big-picture overview” of Design Process – you will see (in its Top Text and Bottom Text) the PS-Actions that people do before, during, and after we do the PS-Actions of Generating Options and Evaluating Options.

• Recognition Learning:  During your Discovery Learning you also can do Recognition Learning by asking yourself “do The Actions of Design Process (in its diagram) describe My Actions (in everyday life)?”  You will recognize familiar Actions, and you will realize that Design Process is Your Process.  But ...

     If you see "Experiments" and think “I rarely do experiments, so this is an unfamiliar Action,” you can use my broad definition;  in the context of Design Process, an Experiment is any situation that produces Experiences and provides an opportunity to make Predictions (by imagining in a Mental Experiment) or to make Observations (during the actualizing in a Physical Experiment ),  so any Prediction-Situation is a Mental Experiment , and any Observation-Situation is a Physical Experiment .   With this perspective – by thinking “Experiments produce Experiences” – you will recognize that many of your everyday Experiences happen due to “experiments” that are done by yourself and by others.

In "understanding the model  (Part 2)" you also — in addition to learning from Your Discoveries and Your Recognitions — can learn from My Explanations for key features of Design Process:  how you're asking The Design Question in a Quality Check, and The Science Question in a Reality Check;  how “3 Comparisons of 3 Elements” integrates Design Thinking with Science Thinking;  [here I'll add one or two more topics, including descriptions of Action Sequences], and more.

The overview-title begins with a goal, to "help students learn more from their experiences with Problem Solving" and we can do this with...

two ways to learn more:  Students can learn more in two related ways, when they GET MORE PS-Experiences, and they LEARN MORE from these PS-Experiences by using my model for Design Process – i.e. for Problem-Solving Process – plus other models (from d.school of Stanford,...) to promote metacognitive Thinking Strategies.    /    educational benefits:  Abundant research shows that when students use metacognition, this is highly effective for helping them improve their academic skills — to boost their Learning and Performing in many contexts, including their scores on standardized exams — and their social-emotional skills.

differences in the two ways:  The model for Design Process can directly help students LEARN MORE from Experiences, by promoting metacognition.  But its value is indirect for helping them GET MORE Experiences, when it helps them recognize that most of their Experiences are PS-Experiences so they will be metacognively aware more often, and this frequent metacognition will help them LEARN MORE.

Cognitive-and-Metacognitive Thinking Strategies

How?  The essential foundation of metacognition is for you (or a student) to “observe your thinking,” but you also can think about (reflect on) and evaluate so you can regulate (adjust) as in the Self-Regulation of Self-Regulated Learning.  During an activity, skillful metacognition could involve doing none of these, or some, or all.  Why?  Because skillful using of metacognition requires skillful Regulation of Metacognition.  How?  In a particular situation you might decide to stimulate higher-quality Learning by using metacognition of a particular type, in a particular way (re: its amount, timing,...).  But at other times you will want to “go with the flow” by just thinking-and-doing (instead of thinking about thinking) to allow higher-quality Learning by avoiding metacognition.

Students can Regulate their Thinking-and-Feeling* — to produce Regulation by Metacognition (as in Self-Regulated Learning) — with an intention to Achieve a Goal, with Goal-Directed Metacognition.     { * it's "Thinking-and-Feeling" because students can improve their Whole-Person Living when metacognition helps them improve their academic skills AND social-emotional skills. }

using Design Process for Cognition-and-Metacognition

How?  Three ways (with each combining cognition-and-metacognition) are by Coordinating your Problem-Solving Process and by Self-Questioning (as with a Metacognitive Checklist) and with Self-Regulated Learning.

coordinate your process:  You are Coordinating your Problem-Solving Process when you ask “what is the best way to make progress in my process?” and decide “what to do next” and do this Action.  How?  During a skillful Coordinating of Process – by making effective Action-Decisions – you combine cognitive-and-metacognitive awareness of Your Situation (of “where you are” in your process, and “where you want to go”) with conditional knowledge for each Action-Option (by knowing "what this Action can achieve" and "when it can be useful").

Research scientists have found that two effective ways to use metacognition are Self-Questioning and (especially beneficial) Self-Regulated Learning.  Therefore we should help students...

use metacognitive self-questioning:  During {or after} a PS-Process, two simple self-questions are to ask “am I effectively Generating Options?” and “am I effectively Evaluating Options?” and each question can help them perform a better Process and design a better Solution.  Or a student can self-question {afterward} to help themself learn more from their PS-Experience and grow so they will “do it better” the next time.

use metacognitive Self-Regulated Learning:  This is [ to be continued ]

iou – Today, June 28, I will continue making this Mini-Overview by condensing sections in the longer Overview.

Overview  (of HomePage)

We can help students learn more from

their experiences with Problem Solving,

and be more motivated to learn when they
build Transfer-Bridges from School into Life.

How can we help students learn more from their experiences, and be more motivated to learn?  You already know many ways, and this Overview explains how you can supplement your own teaching methods by using my model for Design Process, for the Design-Thinking Process that is Problem-Solving Process.     { put section on right side }

It's easier to make progress toward both educational goals – more learning and more motivation – because my model for Problem Solving (PS) has two Wide Scopes, for what students do (in their PS-Activities) and how they do it (with their PS-Process).

Why?  One reason occurs when we choose to use an educationally-useful broad definition of problem — it's any opportunity to make something better, in any area of life — so Problem-Solving Activities include most things people do in life;  students are problem solving (verb) whenever they are trying to make something better, and they are a problem solver (noun) whenever they do make something better.  But more important, it's because people use a General PS-Process that is similar – but is not identical – for most of our PS-Activities (for most things we do), AND this General Process is accurately described by Design Process.

Before we examine the educational benefits of my model for Design Process (for the Design-Thinking Process that is Problem-Solving Process), it will be useful to understand the model.  You will “learn by discovering” when you study this Actions-Diagram.  After awhile, use the following checklist for...

• Discovery Learning:  You can study the diagram thoroughly by observing (and thinking about ) its words & colors and spatial relationships,  noticing the Actions and finding the logical structures that produce two kinds of Essential Action-Sequences, one in the Top Part and another (with three variations, when we do General Design & Science-Design) in the Bottom Part ;  and by solving a Mystery — “Why does the Cycle have a right-side arrow, pointing from Evaluate to Generate?” — and actively constructing your understanding for how this “why” produces a third kind of Essential Action-Sequence.    /    Also study Diagram 1 and you will see – in its Top Text and Bottom Text – the PS-Actions that people do before, during, and after we do the PS-Actions of Generating Options and Evaluating Options.

• Recognition Learning:  During your Discovery Learning you also can do Recognition Learning by asking “do these Actions (in the diagram) describe My Actions (in everyday life)?” and – when you recognize familiar Actions – realizing that Design Process is Your Process.  But ...

     If you see "Experiments" and think “I rarely do experiments, so this is an unfamiliar Action,” you can use my broad definition;  in the context of Design Process, an Experiment is any situation that produces Experiences and provides an opportunity to make Predictions (by imagining in a Mental Experiment) or to make Observations (during the actualizing in a Physical Experiment ),  so any Prediction-Situation is a Mental Experiment , and any Observation-Situation is a Physical Experiment .   With this perspective – by thinking “Experiments produce Experiences” – you will recognize that many of your everyday Experiences happen due to Experiments.     { more about Experiments-and-Experiences }

• My Explanations:  It can be fun-and-effective to learn from Your Experiences and My Explanations.   Each “way to learn” offers benefits, so I encourage using both.  To increase your short-term knowledge, maybe it's wise to shift your focus (at some point) so instead of mainly Learning by Your Discovering you also (or perhaps mainly) are Learning from My Explanations.  It's "maybe" because each way-to-learn "offers benefits" that vary with time.     { My Explanations of Design Process }

And you can learn more in the Expanded Overview about how “3 Comparisons of 3 Elements” integrates Design Thinking with Science Thinking, and more.     { every link to the Expanded Overview has a gray background }

using Design Process can help students

get more Problem-Solving Experiences,

and learn more from these Experiences

with metacognitive Thinking Strategies.

A useful definition of education is learning from experience.  Students will have better education, with more learning, when we help them effectively use...

two ways to learn more:  Students can learn more in two related ways, when they GET MORE PS-Experiences, and they LEARN MORE from these PS-Experiences by using my model for Design Process – i.e. for Problem-Solving Process – plus other models (from d.school of Stanford,...) to promote metacognitive Thinking Strategies.    /    educational benefits:  Abundant research shows that when students use metacognition, this is highly effective for helping them improve their academic skills — in many ways (to boost their Learning and Performing) in most contexts, including their scores on standardized exams — and their social-emotional skills.

differences in the two ways:  My model can directly help students LEARN MORE from Experiences, by promoting metacognition.  But its value is indirect for helping them GET MORE Experiences, because they will recognize* that most of their Experiences (in all areas of life) are PS-Experiences so they will be metacognively aware more often, and this frequent metacognition will help them LEARN MORE.     { * A teacher can promote this recognition by saying “the Wide Scope of Design Process includes most things you do” and by sometimes calling attention to the Wide Scope with reminders – during a wide variety of School Activities – that “what you're doing now is Problem Solving.” }

Cognitive-and-Metacognitive Thinking Strategies

How?  The essential foundation of metacognition is for you (or a student) to “observe your thinking,” but you also can think about (reflect on) and evaluate so you can regulate (adjust) as in the Self-Regulation of Self-Regulated Learning.  In five levels of metacognition, your Metacognitive Actions can be...

      0 )   none,

      1 )   observe,

      2 )   observe  +  ( think about ),

     3a)    observe  +  ( think about  &  evaluate ),

     3b)    observe  +  ( think about  &  evaluate-and-regulate ).

You can Regulate your Thinking (and Feeling)* — to produce Regulation by Metacognition — with the intention of Achieving a Goal, with Goal-Oriented Metacognition.     { * Many educators think it's useful for students to Regulate their Thinking-AND-Feeling because this can make their life better in a wide range of important ways by improving their academic skills AND social-emotional skills. }

A process of Regulation by Metacognition will be more skillfully effective when you do Regulation of Metacognition.  Why?  Because you sometimes will decide to stimulate higher-quality Learning by using metacognition of a particular type, in a particular way (re: its amount, timing,...).  But at other times you will “go with the flow” by just thinking-and-doing (instead of thinking about thinking) to allow higher-quality Learning by avoiding metacognition (at Level 0) or by only observing (Level 1), or by using only 2 or 3a or 3b.

using Design Process for Cognition-and-Metacognition

How?  Three ways are by Coordinating your Problem-Solving Process and by Self-Questioning (as with a Metacognitive Checklist) and doing Self-Regulated Learning.  Each of these combines cognition with metacognition, therefore is cognition-and-metacognition.

coordinate your process:  Design Process can help you (and your students) improve your strategies for coordinating your problem-solving process when you ask “what is the best way to make progress in my process?” and decide “what to do next” and do this Action.  How?  During a skillful Coordinating of Process with the goal of making effective Action-Decisions, you combine cognitive-and-metacognitive awareness of Your Situation (of “where you are” in your process, and “where you want to go”) with conditional knowledge of your Action-Options (by knowing the functions that each Action can do, and the conditions when this Action can be useful).     { On average, this skill is more cognition-focused than the next two skills. }

Scientists have found that two effective strategies for using metacognition are self-questioning and (especially beneficial) Self-Regulated Learning, and that combining both is more effective than either by itself.

use metacognitive self-questioning:  When I've made a mistake and then asked “why?” so I could learn from the experience for self-education, my answer often included “ineffective process” because I had done some Problem-Solving Action(s) ineffectively, and sometimes had not even done the Action(s).  Often it would have been easy to “do it better” and avoid the mistake, with better Problem-Solving Process.  Therefore — in an effort to reduce mistakes and to grow by learning from experience — I have found it beneficial to develop-and-use a Metacognitive Checklist for Problem-Solving Actions, to guide my Self-Questioning.  And others (you, students,...) also can benefit from this habit.    /    proactivity and consistency:  When you develop the habit of using metacognition proactively (with a Checklist for Self-Questioning, and in other ways) by often “paying attention” throughout your day, this will help you learn-and-perform more consistently so you can “do things better {in your present moments}” instead of thinking “oops” and asking “why {during past moments} did I make the mistake?”     { how to develop a checklist }

use metacognitive Self-Regulated Learning:   [ iou – I'll write this section during June 27-28. ]

iou – June 27-28, I will write an intro-transition to connect what is above (about Learning More) with what's below (about educational benefits that include More Motivation) because these two goals are stated in the Overview-Title.

In the HomePage, 

    Part 1 helps you learn from Your Discoveries (as described above) and My Explanations, so you will understand my model for problem-solving Design Process.

    Part 2 explains how this model can help us achieve worthy educational goals.

    Basically, Part 1 is the “what” of my model, then Part 2 answers the “so what ?” about educational benefits.

To explain how using Design Process can help us produce educational benefits, Part 2 describes three claims (in Sections A-B-C) and explains the causal connections between these claims:

     Wide Scopes of Design Process  (for Activities & Process)  { A }

     ➞  Transfers of Learning  (Across Areas, Through Time)  { in B }

     ➞  Transfer Bridges to Motivate for Personal Education  { in C }.

Section A  —  Wide Scopes and Educational Benefits

This section has three sub-sections, to explain why Design Process...  A1) has a Wide Scope for Process,   A2) has a Wide Scope for Activities,   A3) can be educationally beneficial with two main benefits, by helping students learn more (this is examined in A3) and (described in B & C) by producing Transfers of Learning that will help students be more motivated.

iou – between now and June 29, I will continue developing Pairs-of-Subsections for the rest of A (for A1-A2-A3) to use in the Pair-of-Overviews (Short & Expanded).

B – The Wide Scopes increase Transfers of Learning.

Design Process (DP) has two Wide Scopes, and is logically organized.  These characteristics of DP let us teach its procedural knowledge (for the skills of Solving Problems, of Designing Solutions to Make Things Better) in ways that will increase Transfers of Learning,* both Across Areas (in School & in Life) and Through Time (Past ➞ Present ➞ Future).  How?  Transfers increase when we teach the procedural knowledge...  • in multiple contexts (allowed by DP's Wide Scope for Activities)   • in a generalized form (allowed by DP's Wide Scope for Process),   • for deep understanding (promoted by DP's logically organized verbal-and-visual framework).     { * we have reasons to be confident — by knowing evidence-based research and using common-sense logic — that these “ways to teach” will increase Transfers of Learning and will be useful for a Goal-Directed Designing of Curriculum & Instruction when we Define Goals for a Curriculum and Design Instruction to achieve these Goals. }

C – Transfers help students build Motivational Transfer-Bridges.

       We can motivate with Bridges plus Metaphors & Adventures.

When we explain how we're using methods of teaching that (as described in B) increase Transfers of Learning, many students will expect Transfers to occur Across Areas (from School-Life into Their Whole-Life) and Through Time (from Past to Present and into Their Future).  They will think “Learning in School is Learning for Life” and they will build Transfer-Bridges that motivate them to invest effort in proactively pursuing their own Personal Education.  Why?  Because they believe that improving their School Learning will improve their Life Living in ways they want, will help them achieve their whole-person Goals for Life.

We can help students motivate themselves by building Bridges (from School into Life) and in other ways,

     with Metaphors by explaining how to metacognitively “Drive Your Brain” (and Increase its ‘Horsepower’), and “Be CEO of Your Thinking” and

     with Adventures by inviting them to explore  [ iou – Tonight, June 26, I will revise the rest of this section. ]

     with Adventures in Thinking, by inviting them to explore the fascinating world of thinking when they LEARN Thinking Strategies and USE Thinking Strategies.

     [ iou – more in Expanded Overview

Get students excited about thinking creatively-and-critically,

with Metaphors about Metacognition;  encourage students to "Drive your Brain (and increase its 'horsepower') and "Be CEO of Your Thinking"

and Adventures in Thinking when they learn Thinking Strategies — cognitive Strategies for Problem Solving metacognitive Thinking Strategies — and using these Strategies for

Principles for Motivating Students:   [ iou – I'll develop this later, maybe June 27-28. ]

Growth Mindset

A student is responding with an optimistic growth mindset – not a fixed mindset – if they ask themself “how well am I doing in this area of life?” and honestly answer “not well enough” BUT they are thinking “not yet” (instead of “not ever”) because they expect that in this area* they can “grow” and improve their abilities, when they invest intelligent effort.  As one way to promote this realistic-and-optimistic view of self, a teacher can explain how a student's "intelligent effort" can include cognitive & metacognitive Thinking Strategies that they now can use more often (and more effectively) than they have in the past, and these strategies will help their future abilities “grow” beyond their past abilities.    /    * it's "in this area" because attitudes vary from one area to another, re: expectations for personal growth. }

Promoting a productive growth mindset is one of the best things a teacher can do for their students, to help them thrive in school and in life.  But you already know this, so we'll move onward to other topics.

Learning that improves Performing

When you want your best possible Performing Now, you have a Performance Goal.  When you want your best possible Learning Now so you can improve your best possible Performing Later, you have a Learning Goal.  Or you can want some of both, with a combination of Performing-and-Learning.     { For example, compare the main goals for a basketball team during an early-season practice and late-season tournament game. }    { more }

Differences in Goals – for best Learning Now and/or best Performing Now – will affect strategies (of students & teachers) in ways that are important and complex.

iou – during June 27-28, maybe I will write a brief "conclusion" for the Short Overview.

iou – I will continue developing-and-revising this Mini-Page from now to June 29.

Expanded Overview

iou – soon, before June 29, I'll finish writing this introduction – so it's a reminder of ideas from the Page-Intro – by explaining how the Expanded Overview lets you expand your knowledge (by providing useful explanations and extra ideas) and (with links to corresponding sections in the HomePage) extend your explorations to develop understandings that are wider-and-deeper.   /   three ways it can be expanded (it's "can" because it's "and/or" with the 3 ways are not used in every section, some sections are expanded in only some of the 3 ways but not all) with explanations that are more thorough, and extra ideas that "add value", and links to the HomePage.

Viewing Tips (Part 2):  If necessary, put this section on the right side (as in Tips - Part 1) or make a Split-Window Pair so you can see two versions of a section — in the Short Overview (SO) on left side, and Expanded Overview (EO) on right side — when you "click { EO then SO }",  i.e. when you first click "EO" to put the Expanded Overview on right side, and then click "SO" to put the Short Overview on left side.  To test this 2-click process, use the "{ EO then SO }" below.

As explained above, click { EO then SO }

Expanded Overview:

We can help students learn more from

their experiences with Problem Solving,

and build motivational Transfer Bridges.

Why?  We have logical reasons to conclude that my model for Problem-Solving Process (usually I call it Design Process) has these two Wide Scopes, because...

     • we can choose to use an educationally-beneficial broad definition of problem — it's any opportunity to make something better, in any area of life — so Problem-Solving Activities include most things people do in life;  students are problem solving (verb) whenever they are trying to make something better, and they are a problem solver (noun) whenever they do make something better. 
     But a more important reason is that ...
     • most people use a similar (but not identical) General PS-Process for most of our PS-Activities that include most things we do,
     • AND this General Process is described by Design Process in ways that are accurate and are educationally beneficial.

 put section on right side 

Part 1  –  The Model for Design Process   Before we examine the educational benefits of my model for Design Process (for the Design-Thinking Process that is Problem-Solving Process), it will be useful to understand the model.  You will “learn by discovering” when you study this Actions-Diagram.  After awhile, use the following checklist for... Discovery Learning:  You can study the diagram thoroughly by observing (and thinking about ) its words & colors and spatial relationships,  noticing the Actions and finding the logical structures that produce two kinds of Essential Action-Sequences, one in the Top Part and another (with three variations, when we do General Design & Science-Design) in the Bottom Part ;  and by solving a Mystery — “Why does the Cycle have a right-side arrow, pointing from Evaluate to Generate?” — and actively constructing your understanding for how this “why” produces a third kind of Essential Action-Sequence. Recognition Learning:  During your Discovery Learning you also can do Recognition Learning by asking “do these Actions (in the diagram) describe My Actions (in everyday life)?” and – when you recognize familiar Actions – realizing that Design Process is Your Process.  But ... If you see "Experiments" and think “I rarely do experiments, so this is an unfamiliar Action,” you can use my broad definition;  in the context of Design Process, an Experiment is any situation that produces Experiences and provides an opportunity to make Predictions (by imagining in a Mental Experiment) or to make Observations (during the actualizing in a Physical Experiment ),  so any Prediction-Situation is a Mental Experiment , and any Observation-Situation is a Physical Experiment .   With this perspective – by thinking “Experiments produce Experiences” – you will recognize that many of your everyday Experiences happen due to Experiments.     { more about Experiments-and-Experiences }   Also study Diagram 1 and you will see – in its Top Text and Bottom Text – the PS-Actions that people do before, during, and after we do the PS-Actions of Generating Options and Evaluating Options.  A Context for Problem Solving:  When you study Diagram 1 you will see – in the Top Text and Bottom Text – a wider context for Problem Solving;  you see the PS-Actions that people do before, during, and after our PS-Actions of Generating Options (for a Problem-Solution) and Evaluating Options.  We first (before Generating & Evaluating) Learn and Define & Define;  then (during) we "continue to Evaluate Options" until we finally "Choose an Option" to be the Solution, and (after) we "Actualize This Option with Actions."   And you can learn more in the Expanded Overview about how “3 Comparisons of 3 Elements” integrates Design Thinking with Science Thinking, and more.     { every link to the Expanded Overview has a gray background }

Design Thinking includes Science Thinking:  Above, one tip is to discover an Essential Action-Sequence "with three variations, when we do General Design & Science-Design."  These variations are connected in a logical verbal-and-visual structure that is (afaik) unique for Design Process, so – unlike other models that describe either Design Process or Science Process – my model describes both and shows their logical relationship in 3 Comparisons of 3 Elements.  With effective teaching (to combine understanding the concept and using it during Problem Solving), the logical integration of Design-and-Science in the model can help students integrate Design-and-Science in their thinking.  This could be a very useful benefit of Design Process.     { more about Science Thinking within Design Thinking }

 put section on right side 

iou – Below here you'll see two sub-sections (A1 & A2) that originally were written for the Short Overview;  but while writing these I wasn't making a clear distinction between the two lengths (in Short Overview & Expanded Overview) so the "Short" Overview became much too long.  In the near future I will be revising the current A1 and A2 (that you see below) for this Expanded Overview, and I also will condense each subsection to make corresponding versions for the Short Overview.  Basically I'll return to a "writing strategy" that I used earlier, and should have continued using;  I will be developing each section as a pair-of-sections that will be used for the Pair-of-Overviews.

A1  –  A Wide Scope for Process

Why does the model for Design Process have a Wide Scope for Problem-Solving Process?  It's mainly due to the model's modular structure — because each Action Diagram uses action-verbs (Generate, Choose, Evaluate, DO, imagine to make, compare,...) to describe the PS-Actions typically used by people when we are Solving Problems (during our PS-Activities) — and this modular structure gives the model a modular flexibility that lets it be used to accurately describe the General Process.  How?  Analogous to the way modular flexibility lets you combine simple Lego Bricks to form many kinds of Lego Structures, the modular flexibility of Design Process lets you combine simple Problem-Solving Actions (Thinking Actions) to construct many variations of a Problem-Solving Process.  There are "many variations" so – for different people and different PS-Activities – the PS-Process will be similar but not identical, because the General Process will be customized by a Specific Person to solve a Specific Problem.

To get personal “anecdotal evidence” for this Wide Scope, Part 1 encourages you to study the diagram for Design Process and "think about the actions you use (naturally & intuitively) while you are solving problems, and you will recognize that your Problem-Solving Actions in Your Everyday Life are the Problem-Solving Actions in Design Process" so "your Discovery Learning becomes Recognition Learning and you see that Design Process is Your Process."

But even though I'm confident that using Design Process can be educationally valuable, its utility is limited by an important principle:  all models-for-process have an inherent limitation, because it's impossible to construct any model that describes a “best process” for all Problem-Situations.  Therefore an extremely useful teaching strategy is recognizing that ...

By itself, Design Process often isn't sufficient for an optimal Problem-Solving Process – for a “best Process (and Solution)” – so my model should be combined with other models.  For many Problems it's useful to supplement the principles & strategies of Design Process with the principles & strategies of other Models-for-Process.  We can combine models effectively because Design Process has a modular flexibility that lets it “play well” with other models.  It's a solid foundation for with other models, allowing interactions that are synergistically supportive, that make the combination of models better than any single model by itself.     { exploring our possibilities for combining models is an exciting aspect of “thinking adventures” in Section C }

A2  –  A Wide Scope for Activities

Why?  Because choosing a broad definition for problem – it's any opportunity to make something better, in any area of life – produces a Wide Scope.   /   But this broad definition can be used with most other models for Problem Solving, so they also can have a Wide Scope for PS-Activities.  For this reason, it's more important that a model has a Wide Scope for Process;  and Design Process does accurately describe the General Process that is used by most people for most things we do. (see A1)

What?  You decide this when (quoting the third line of Diagram 1) you "Define a Problem-Solving Goal (for What to Achieve)" and choose What to Make Better.  Your choice can be in...

five categories of PS-Goals:  You can choose to design a better product, activity, relationship, and/or strategy (in General Design, aka Design) and/or (in Science-Design, aka Science) a better theory about “how things work in the world.”  These PS-Goals – extending far beyond traditional “design fields” – include most things you do in life.   /   The main reason I confidently claim "most things" is because many times each day you use strategies to make decisions, most often by asking Time Questions — “what is the best use of my time right now?  and later?” — so you can Design Your Life-Experiences (as part of long-term to wisely use your time, and – because “time is the stuff life is made of ” (Ben Franklin) – you will wisely use your life.

other ways to categorize:  A teacher may want to define another set of categories, customized so it's a better fit for their students, so it more closely matches their life-experiences, who thus are more likely to recognize the personal relevance of School Activities, and to be motivated by expecting that “my learning in School-Life will improve my Whole-Life, and I want a better Whole-Life, so I want to proactively pursue my own Personal Education.”

Despite a common perception, a “problem” doesn't necessarily begin with a bad situation.  When we broadly define a problem as "any opportunity to make something better," the change could be from miserable to adequate, or from pleasant to wonderful.  Each of these is problem solving because things have become better.

(in A1) having a Wide Scope it's more important the To understand why Design Process has a Wide Scope for Activities, by using additional ideas in Diagram 1.  It shows what people do before, during, and after we are Generating Options (for a Problem-Solution) and Evaluating Options.  We first (before Generating & Evaluating) Learn and Define & Define, then (during) we "continue to Evaluate Options" until we finally "Choose an Option" to be the Solution, and (after) we "Actualize This Option with Actions."

To begin a Problem-Solving Activity (a Problem-Solving Project) you ask “What do I want to achieve? to make better?  what problem do I want to solve?”   With this decision you Define your Problem-Solving Goal that is your Goal-Purpose, is the reason for doing Your Process of Problem Solving (of Solution-Designing by Design Thinking).

five categories of PS-Goals:  You Define your Problem-Solving Goal when you choose to design a better product, activity, relationship, and/or strategy (in General Design, aka Design) and/or (in Science-Design, aka Science) a better theory about “how things work in the world.”  These PS-Goals – extending far beyond traditional “design fields” – include most things you do in life.   /   The main reason I confidently claim "most things" is because you use strategies MANY times each day, including every time you make a decision;  most often it's by asking Time Questions (“what is the best use of my time right now?  and later?”) so you can wisely use your time, and – because “time is the stuff life is made of ” (Ben Franklin) – you will wisely use your life.

other ways to categorize:  A teacher may want to define another set of categories, customized so it's a better fit for students in their educational context.  They want the categories (for PS-Goals) to closely match the life-experiences of students who thus are more likely to recognize the personal relevance of School Activities, and to be motivated by expecting that “my learning in School-Life will improve my Whole-Life, and I want a better Whole-Life, so I want to proactively pursue my own Personal Education.”

Despite a common perception, a “problem” doesn't necessarily begin with a bad situation.  When we broadly define a problem as "any opportunity to make something better," the change could be from miserable to adequate, or from pleasant to wonderful.  Each of these is problem solving because things have become better.

The “what-and-how” of Problems & Problem Solving covers a wide range because you can "make something better" if ...

     with reactive Problem Solving you “make it better” by improving it (to fix it) after it already exists, or

     with proactive Problem Solving you “do it better” the first time, so there is less need to "fix it" with reactive improving.     { This is the “measure twice, cut once” of carpenters, to take advantage of the only opportunity to make a high-quality first cut. }

If the “something to make better” is an ongoing situation – like a relationship – and you imagine the “possible futures” that could happen, your Predictions (by imagining “if this Action, then probably that future”) can help you make things better in two ways, when...

     with proactive Problem Solving you do positive Actions (producing beneficial effects) that either will increase quality (by making the future situation more-good than it would have been without your positive Actions) or help maintain quality (by making the situation less-bad than if you had not done the positive Actions), and/or

     with protective Problem Solving you use “wise filtering” to avoid negative Actions (that would produce detrimental effects) and your proactive self-control leads to wise non-Action that makes things better (compared with doing the negative Actions) by either increasing quality or maintaining quality.

A3  –  Educational Benefits

your options:  You can read whatever looks interesting.  You may want to just read things in order.  Or you can click a link – to open a section (then if necessary you can put section on right side)* – for

Section A with SubSections A1 (Wide Scope for Process)  or  A2 (Wide Scope for Activities)  or  A3 (Educational Benefits) 

Section B (Wide Scopes ➞ Transfers of Learning) 

Section C (Wide Scopes ➞ Transfer-Bridges for Motivation) 

General Principles for Education:  Principles for Motivating Students – Growth Mindset – Learning that improves Performing – Goal-Directed Designing of Curriculum & Instruction.

Those sections are below;  above, the sections are  Reasons for the Wide Scopes – Understanding The Model – Part 1 & Part 2 of the HomePage.     /    * If necessary, make a split screen (a “two-page pair”) with this Mini-Page on right side.

 put section on right side 

B  –  The Wide Scopes ➞ Two Transfers of Learning

C  –  Motivating Students with Bridges, Metaphors, and Adventure

[ Design Process can be beneficial – it's just "can be" because benefits aren't automatic or always. ]

iou – between now and June 29, I will continue developing-and-revising this Mini-Page, including this

Appendix

iou – I'll be gradually developing this during late June.

Here are some of the ideas that will be added:

Experiments and Experiments:  Many of your everyday Eperiences are Mental Experiments (when you're imagining “what will happen”) or involve Physical Experiments (when your Experiencing-with-Observations occurs due to actions by yourself or others, or just because of a situation-in-life).    /   In one form of creative experimenting, an effective way to improve your musical improvising is to do musical experiments (try new musical ideas) that produce new musical experiences in a creative process of do-listen-learn.