How to Teach Kids Better Problem Solving | Michael Arnold | TEDxGreenville

We are not preparing our children for a future of AI, robotics, and autonomous driving. Our education system is comfortable with the status quo and that will not be enough in our global economy. Companies are looking for collaborative problem solvers that tackle complex problems yet our schools are teaching the scientific method.

Michael is an engineer that discovered his passion in high school, solving problems by changing the status quo.

He also found love marrying his high school sweetheart. They are both mechanical engineers and have two sons, both future engineers, one at the Citadel and one in high school. They all live in Anderson, SC.

Michael’s mentor in college told him "Don't become a quality engineer in the automotive industry." After almost 25 years in the automotive quality industry he understands why, it is a challenging, fast paced, just in time environment. But he also realized it is never boring and the experience and knowledge he received would enable him to help others solve their biggest problems.

He has worked as a quality engineer or manager for the last 15+ years solving problems. He is a certified Shainin Red X Journeyman and has taught and coached Six Sigma. Drawing on this experience he now trains and coaches others to resolve problems with creative solutions.

[MediaNSTEM]

Great message! At NSTEM, we are working to incorporate this exact thought process throughout education. "We need to change from lecturing, to project-based, hands-on learning in classes, without the hot sauce." We could not have said it better ourselves.

[ms.mn]

I totally agree....
Although, what we'll discover in the grand scheme of things is that it's best to buy less and be more responsibility for personal, societal and environmental purposes --- most businesses won't agree with outlook.

[codacreator]

You know what one thing Einstein had a lot of that today's students don't? Time. Einstein's mind experiments were hours of physically idle thought. More material, earlier isn't the only answer. It is, ironically, a complex problem without a simple solution. But essays in all subjects is a much better way to measure understanding than bubble tests.

[pradeepgundlupetraju]

I agree! practical learning is more important now.

[talhakhalid]

Amazing speech! I agree that we have lost Einstein's all over the world! But with changes to the educational curriculum, we can fix this!

[wghost]

Agreed and that is the reason why some nations have a very long way to go before they even understand the definition of "Evolving"

[Anayr]

Good message, however, is missing the practical part, because teaching children is another skill to develop.

[russesposito]

Good lecture, but the "scientific method" was not developed until the Italian Renaissance, and is generally attributed to Galileo, 1564–1642, the father of the scientific method. Newton, 1643 - 1727, and others were contributors to developing scientific experimentation.... and abandoned relying upon inductive or deductive reasoning which was used by ancient Greek philosophers.The Socratic method of Socrates is an argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions... but Socrates did not use scientific experimentation, i.e. the scientific method.

[charlesthorpe]

So where can i find these tactics for teaching my children?

[Pjblabla]

Great talk and very relevant for my situation

[marlaplunk]

Uh... he quoted the WEF. I can't bring myself to watch the rest of it.

[samm]

I thought he will give SOME activities or ways to implements something. So many people just tell the benefits, why. No one tells the how

[lexb]

lol, yes we did need to worry about the plague thing

[samifreeman]

The irony of his plague comment is striking.

[asies]

I'm not a very good problem solver, so are there any programs I can put my son in that will teach him how to problem solve?

[thatguynicky]

When I grew up, I wanted to be "homeless" for a living. But I'm such a failure, that instead I became a ceo and now I have multiple houses.

Strange how things pan out.

[UmesShrestha]

"We need to teach our kids complex problem solving skills." Yes. But the question is: Can we?
He is a classic example of "expert bias" and now falsely believes that complex problem solving skills can be "transferred" to kids whose brains are just growing. Novices cannot think like Experts, and Experts cannot "transfer" skills to Novices.

[jimh]

I think he has some good points but "Peyton Manning, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods were not born great at sports" is dead wrong. They were all born with tremendous gifts of talent that no amount of practice could give them. 99.9% of people could start at age 1 and practice all they want and still not accomplish near what they did in their respective sports. Because they do not have the athletic talent and coordination these 3 were born with.

[KayleeDavisBlueBox]

that plague comment... the words of the prophets are indeed written on the subway walls

[jwh]

11:12 well, he's right on plague-infected zombies, maybe attacking aliens and killer robots will arrive soon.