Sequential Problem Solving | Page 5

free association recall techniques. (These are
discussed in detail elsewhere.)
Students should be aware of what they learn and feel pride of
accomplishment. They should recognize for themselves when they
achieve success in learning. They should learn to constantly monitor
their own performance and the success of their strategies.
Learning occurs in well ordered ways:[2] first, the student gains
understanding of what is read or the teacher explains, then memorizes
the facts of the subject in order to analysis the information later through
comparing and contrasting. Next the student may use the information to
create something new, and finally he should use the memorized
information to evaluate his own performance. This sequence is known
to teachers as Bloom's taxonomy. [3]
Students need guidelines for making decisions. Those decisions may
involve physical, scientific problems, or they may involve interpersonal
problems, social values and moral decisions. Students should learn a
systematic workable framework for making decisions. All students
should develop the ability to evaluate their thought processes as a
learned skill. The mature learner should be able to recall the steps of
scientific problem solving, recognize specific personal values and
character traits, and remember the tests for sequential steps in moral
decision making. Students should then be able to use apply those
mature thinking skills to first literary scenarios and then to real life
problems. Studies of literature enable the student to extend the analysis

to television drama and ultimately to real life and to subsequently
imagine a variety of suitable alternative outcomes.
Students should learn to recognize and control certain biological
feelings. A student should know how the human brain is organized and
recognize those times when animal-like impulses jeopardize more
mature, rational thought. A student should also be able to recall and use
basic information about basic nutrition, rest, and exercise, in order to
minimize the danger of thoughtless impulsiveness.
Students should develop a sense of belonging to a caring, helpful
humanity, and develop their own short and long term goals in achieving
peace and joy through helping others in a responsible manner.
Students should learn the dynamics of basic childcare and the
importance of continuous parental attachment in the first two years of a
baby's life. Students should be aware of how "unattached" children are
set up for failure and antisocial behavior disorders, by poor bonding
with the parent in the first few months and years of life.
Students should be prepared to deal with manipulative people. Students
should learn how to recognize people without a conscience. Students
should have strategies for managing interpersonal relationships, both
good and bad.
Students should have a knowledge of the religions of the world and
develop a toleration for other people.
Finally, students should become citizens of the world, dedicated to
helping others while making their own dreams come true.
Developing and maintaining a systematic philosophy of life entails
becoming a lifelong learner.
* * * * *
Learning.

Learning has three basic components: specialized knowledge, basic
thinking skills, and mature thinking skills.
Specialized knowledge is that part of a study that must be memorized.
This "disciplinary based knowledge" contains unique terms and
definitions. Language studies have their unique terms: nominative,
comma, plot; mathematics has its: tangent, sum, parabola, etc. These
are terms that must be memorized in order to understand and use the
subject matter.
Basic thinking skills include memorization techniques, the stream of
consciousness technique, outlining, note taking, rapid reading, scanning
for main ideas and keywords, questioning, and reorganizing.
Mature thinking skills include procedures that require specialized
knowledge and basic thinking skills, like applying the sequential steps
of problem solving and following the sequential tests for moral
decision making.
* * * * *
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
The stream of consciousness technique is a "basic" thinking skill, along
side outlining, note taking, rapid reading. The stream of consciousness
skill is also known as the free-association recall technique.
Both creative writers, artists and scientific problem solvers use the
stream of consciousness or free-association skill. This skill is also
known as gestation, mulling things over, and getting a handle on things.
The process begins by letting our thoughts flow freely and then sorting
out the ones useful to our problem from the many that came to mind.
Often many of the random thoughts that come to mind have no
apparent connection to the problem; they are merely connected like
circular links in a spider's web to threads that interconnect with others
and run toward the center of the problem. The free association
technique begins by trying to think about nothing in a relaxed,
tension-free environment. Try as we might, something always intrudes

on our consciousness. It may a line running toward the center of the
web or it may be a seemingly meaningless, circular line. Every thought
should be written down as it comes to mind,