Problem solving

Global societal and technological trends are shaping the future workplace, such as changes brought about by AI, automation and as the world looks to reduce the impacts of climate change. Core transferable skills such as problem solving are becoming increasingly valuable to employers along with these shifts and can transfer across different roles and industries. 

Teach students that problem solving is about creating a solution to a complex situation or challenge, by using creative and analytical thinking. Introduce them to the five stages of problem solving and help them recognise the different types of situations where they may already be using these skills, often without realising it. 

The activities in this lesson help students understand challenges, think critically, and apply structured approaches to find effective solutions.

Teaching resources:

• Problem solving: lesson plan and presentation slides - for use with a group of students in the classroom
• Problem solving: Student worksheets
• Problem solving animation and transcript: featured in the lesson plan and explores 5 stages of problem solving
• Secondary school: Skills tracker – an optional resource to support students keep track of the skills they have developed and plan how they can practise them
• Problem solving icon: available to download and incorporate in your wider teaching materials to help students recognise other contexts where they are learning and utilising problem solving skills. 

Lesson learning outcomes:

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify problems of different scales and what is needed to solve them
• Illustrate the use of an adaptable approach to solving problems
• Understand that problem solving is a core transferable skill and identify its usefulness in a work setting
• Work in a team to solve a problem
• Recognise that the future of work is being influenced by societal trends and what this means in the context of developing core transferable skills such as problem solving. 

Continue developing your students’ problem-solving skills

This lesson features in the employability skills scheme of learning for 14-16 year olds.  They provide a ready-made sequence of curriculum linked resources to help you build progression in your learners' knowledge over time. Visit the Schemes of learning homepage to support with your planning.