Page 135 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

The Problem Solving Methodology:

A Simple Example

Scenario: Evelyn has completed her first semester at college and has
available time during the Christmas holidays. Her husband is between
jobs. Since she will be home for five or six weeks, she wants to get a
short-term job to earn money to help her family pay bills and for when
she returns to school. Her husband can take care of the children so they
don’t need to pay for childcare.

Step Explanation

1 Define the problem Finding and choosing a job during the Christmas break.

2 Identify key issues It must be a short-term job, must make maximum money, and must be
within commuting distance from home.

3 Collect data and Obtain a list of temporary agencies from the phone book, names of
information stores in nearby malls, scan the “jobs” section from a local newspaper,
and peruse craigslist online.

4 Identify assumptions Retail businesses need short-term, full-time employees in December,
and employers reward initiative.

5 Break the problem Determine who is hiring for the most money, the most hours per week,
apart and how many weeks the employment will last.

6 Model sub-problems Amount of money = number of hours/week times hourly wage times
the number of weeks worked.

7 Integrate solutions The temporary agency can get Evelyn work for 5 weeks at 40 hours/week
for $7/hour, a possible total of $1,400. That is if they are satisfied with her
work evaluations. If they are not satisfied with her work evaluations, she
may get no other job offers from the agency. Evelyn has found two jobs
on her own. The best paying job is for $10/hour for 15 hours/week for 3
weeks, a possible total of $450. The other job is for 6 weeks at 40 hours/
week at $5.50/hour, a possible total of $1,320. She chooses the job offered
by the temporary agency.

8 Test and validate Evelyn calls possible employers to verify her information.

9 Generalize the Evelyn generalizes that the temporary agency is a good solution
solution because she can use the agency to seek summer employment also.

10 Communicate the Evelyn writes a letter to the agency accepting a job offer. She explains
solution the process used to make her decision to her husband.

Chapter 5 — Problem Solving Skills 129