We live in a world where the answers to our questions are just the push of a button away. The name of a company has now become a verb, when we don’t understand something we are told to ‘google’ it. In many ways this is a good thing, we can find the answers to our problems quickly and sometimes getting answers speedily is truly beneficial.
However, when it comes to forming a deep understanding of concepts, our ‘google it’ culture has proven to be an agent of our demise rather than our enlightenment. I see the evidence of this everyday in my classroom. Students get stuck on a question and instead of wrestling with the question and trying to figure it out, they prefer to ask me the teacher to explain the solution to them. What they don’t realize is that like most things in life, the short term gratification of getting the correct answer immediately, pales in comparison to the long term benefits to be had by struggling with the question.
Here are some of the benefits of wrestling with questions:
You learn the process of problem solving
It has been said that the best players don’t necessarily make the best coaches. This is so because quite often whereas the skills of the game are instinctive to the best players, average to above average players have to give a lot of thought to the skills and tactics that lead to success. Consequently they can easily breakdown the ‘does and don’ts’ of success in their discipline.
When it comes to problems that students face in the classroom. Wrestling with the questions carries student through a long process of trial and error in which they learn what approaches work and which ones don’t for specific types of problems. This leads to efficiency when faced with new but similar problems. Eventually students will find that they can solve problems far more quickly, which becomes crucial in timed exams. Struggling with problems builds up your problem solving ‘toolkit’ so to speak to better equip you for problems that you will face in the future.
You develop stamina that prepares you for college and the real world
The truth is the problems that we face in the real world often don’t have quick solutions. We often have to work on them for days or even months to see their solutions. When your teacher opts to immediately give you the solution you crave he is doing you a grave disservice. When you get to college there will be problems that you will have to sit with for hours to arrive at a feasible solution. If you do not hone this skill from now you won’t have the stamina that is required to be successful at university. It’s best to work on building that stamina from now, so that you will develop the requisite skills to be successful at university and the real world at large.
It builds confidence
This is arguably the most important benefit to be gained from wrestling with problems. Nothing can compare to the satisfaction you get from solving a problem that you previously believed was impossible to crack. When you allow yourself to solve difficult problems on your own, you develop an internal reputation that you are someone who has the ability to figure stuff out. You are no longer daunted by challenging problems, because you have formed the self-belief that given enough time you will solve the problem at hand. This is a self-belief that will serve you well throughout your entire academic journey. It will come in handy when you have a challenging project to submit or when you are faced with a seemingly unsolvable problem on an exam. Words simply can’t express all the benefits to be had from being confident about your ability to solve whatever problems that are thrown your way.
The next time you are tempted to ask either your teacher or friend for help, think about all the benefits that can be gained from wrestling with the problem yourself. It is the more difficult and challenging route to take, but like most things in life, the more difficult they are to do the greater the long term benefit to be derived.
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