Puzzle solving sharpens critical thinking and problem solving ability, and offers a higher potential to develop many of the multifaceted thinking skills. Many software companies include puzzle solving in their selection criteria of new software developers. Therefore, in 2009 at JIIT, we redesigned the delivery strategy of the first computing course, “Introduction to Computers and Programming,” by starting it with puzzle solving activity, even before the introduction of the basic syntax of any programming language. Before discussing the idea with my faculty colleagues at JIIT, I took the opinion of some friends and former students in the industry and got a positive feedback from most.
In 2009, in this course, at two different campuses of JIIT, over eight hundred first year engineering students were distributed in six lecture sections and twenty tutorial sections. More than twenty faculty members were involved in delivering lectures and running weekly tutorial classes. All the concerned lecturing faculty members (Prakash Kumar, Alok Agarwal, Vikas Saxena, Shikha Mehta, Anshul Gakhar, and Chetna Debas) accepted the idea and carried out the experiment in their lecture classes. The tuturial clases were also aligned with the lectures to give more, puzzle solving practice to students. Overall every student solved approximately 100 puzzles. Puzzles were asked in the exams as well. All these puzzles used in this course were collected and selected by the concerned faculty members under the overall leadership of course coordinator, Prakash Kumar.
Faculty members felt that puzzle solving activity improved students’ logical thinking ability, which is at the core for designing computer programs. A large number of students have reported multi-dimensional benefits in terms of enhancements in logical, creative, multi-perspective, and out-of-box thinking, attention, focus, concentration, patience, comprehension, urge for creation, etc.
Puzzle solving activity classes naturally create conditions for teachers to start their sessions with problems rather than concept. Hence, puzzle solving is excellent example of inquiry learning. As per the feedback from the faculty, these classes were highly active and collaborative. Even in the post-lunch sessions, students very enthusiastically came to these classes. The faculty members expressed that these were the most active and collaborative classes they had ever attended or conducted. It also helped them to directly experience the benefits of active and collaborative inquiry oriented classes.
Some final year students were guided to mentor puzzle solving activity among other students. These students organised open sessions for puzzle solving after the institute hours.
This experiment was continued in 2010 as well. More details of our experience in engaging 1st semester students in puzzle solving (2009 and 2010) will be described in a future article.
I strongly encourage are those students who aspire to improve their aptitude for algorithm design to seriously take up puzzle solving as a hobby. I also feel that those who do not enjoy puzzle solving, have little chances of succeeding as algorithm designers. In my personal experience, many of those students who turned out to be best algorithm designers and software developers, have had good interest in puzzle solving. However, this does not imply that all those who enjoy puzzle solving can necessarily succeed as algorithm designers. I personally know few such students as well who are good at puzzle solving, but are not good algorithm designers.
References:
Software Developers’ Desired Competencies: A Comprehensive Distilled View
PedagoNet
April 13, 2011
Thank you for your insight.
Puzzle solving is also fun.
Saurabh Jain
April 18, 2011
It’s a really nice idea to start programming course with puzzle solving. I always prefer logic bilding over programming it. But unfortunately Computer Sceince subject in Indian schools are focusing more on programming. Even in class X ICSE board, core Java has been introduced with concepts of Inheritance and polymorphism and all. I personally have thought one student of Class Xth and student has enjoyed solving problem when given as puzzle rather than routine programming exercise. He was quick in building logic rather than understanding concept of classes and all.