Problem Solving
Problem solving as a pedagogical practice attempts to be pre-emptive in the planning and preparation stages to negate potential problems when teaching in the classroom (Lampert, 1985). The co-designers of Medical Mission discussed particular problems that could emerge as students engage in the activities from fine-motor coordination tasks, timing of the experiment, and gauging student abilities. For instance, students were expected to use pipe cleaners as a frame for a 3D structure, however, one researcher (English) noted from another school that “quite a few had fine-motor problems” when it came to using pipe cleaners, especially joining the ends of pipe cleaners, which was an unanticipated problem for the teacher to resolve. In addition, there was a timing difficulty when testing the insulation properties of the medical kits that is, timing how long it took ice cubes to melt in the sun as a control compared with the ice cube in the medical kit.