Thinking and Problem Solving Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The ineffective strategy is Overlooking relevant information.

Good problem-solving depends on noticing and using all the relevant information. Ignoring part of it leads to incomplete or wrong solutions, so overlooking relevant information is a barrier, not a strategy.

The other three are effective strategies. Breaking a complex problem into simpler parts makes it manageable; recognising patterns and relationships helps transfer known solutions to new problems; and logical reasoning lets the solver test each step and reach a justified answer.

Answer: B

Divergent thinking is the primary identifying feature of creativity.

The term comes from J.P. Guilford, who distinguished convergent thinking (finding the one correct answer) from divergent thinking (producing many varied and original answers to an open problem). Fluency, flexibility and originality of ideas are the marks of a creative child.

The other options are not features of creativity. Low comprehension is a learning difficulty, and hyperactivity and inattentiveness are behaviours associated with attention problems such as ADHD. A creative child may sometimes look restless, but restlessness is not what identifies creativity.

Answer: C

Problem-solving abilities can be facilitated by encouraging use of analogies.

An analogy lets a learner see that a new problem shares its structure with one already understood, so a known method can be transferred. Reasoning by analogy is one of the main heuristics in problem solving, and encouraging it helps children approach unfamiliar problems flexibly.

Drill and practice builds speed on familiar routines but not the ability to tackle new problems. Insisting on one fixed process produces rigid thinking. Generating fear raises anxiety, which narrows attention and makes problem solving worse.

Answer: B

The statement that is NOT correct is 'Children cannot think of concepts on their own and the primary role of teachers is to provide information.'

Children are active thinkers. They form their own ideas about the world, even if those ideas are sometimes misconceptions, and the teacher's main role is to facilitate their thinking, not simply to transmit information.

The other three statements are correct. Children build their own theories about phenomena around them, think actively and want to explore, and are born curious about the world. These are the starting points of a constructivist classroom.

Answer: A

The answer is encourages multiple answers; is fixed on one correct solution.

J.P. Guilford distinguished divergent thinking, which generates many possible ideas or solutions to an open problem and is linked with creativity, from convergent thinking, which narrows down to the single best or correct answer, as in most textbook exercises.

The second option reverses the two. Neither kind of thinking is tied to mathematical or verbal ability, so the last two options are wrong.

Answer: A

Problem solving is fostered by divergent thinking.

Divergent thinking produces many possible approaches and solutions, which helps learners look at a problem from different angles and find new ways around obstacles.

Functional fixedness, seeing an object only in its usual function, and a response set, sticking to a method that worked before, are well-known barriers to problem solving. Passive imitation also does not build the flexible thinking that problem solving needs.

Answer: C

Original, divergent solutions are the mark of creative children.

Creativity is closely linked to divergent thinking, the ability to produce many different and original ideas or solutions to an open problem, as described by Guilford. Creative children show fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration in their thinking.

Egocentric children, in Piaget's sense, find it hard to take another's point of view, which is unrelated to originality. 'Impaired' children and children with learning disabilities are defined by particular difficulties, not by divergent thinking, although any child may also be creative.

Answer: B

The characteristic that does not fit is it is based primarily on factual information.

A critical thinking question asks learners to analyse, evaluate, compare and justify. It is open-ended, allows more than one reasonable answer and leads to higher-level thinking and problem solving.

A question that rests mainly on recalling facts is a lower-order, knowledge-level question. The other three options describe genuine features of good critical thinking questions.

Answer: C

The primary purpose is to promote higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills.

Critical thinking questions ask students to analyse, evaluate, reason and create, rather than simply recall. Their purpose is to develop these higher-order thinking skills.

Building procedural knowledge, checking knowledge and understanding, and encouraging memorisation are aims of other kinds of questions; memorisation in particular is the opposite of what critical thinking questions are for.

Answer: C

The teacher should give questions that involve inferences and explanations.

Critical thinking means analysing information, weighing evidence, drawing inferences and justifying conclusions. Questions that ask students to infer, explain and give reasons make them do exactly this kind of thinking.

Questions with a single fixed answer test recall. Discouraging doubts and questions shuts down inquiry, and avoiding questions that need inference and analysis removes the very practice critical thinking requires.