Welcome to the toolkit Strategies for Problem Solving of the Inter-American Teacher Education Network. This toolkit is aimed at professionals who work at different levels of teaching and want to learn about problem-solving strategies and their application in family, social and academic settings.

An important point to clarify is that the term “problem” does not refer exclusively to mathematics, but rather to the challenges that we face daily which are also problems to be solved through certain strategies. 

The Toolkit can be downloaded at no cost and shared freely.

Prerequisites: There are no pre-requisites.


Certificate: No certification is granted at this moment.


Modality: The Toolkit is self-guided and self-paced. 

Welcome to the Problem Solving Strategies Toolkit, we hope these materials will meet the professional development needs of teachers in the Americas.

Course Curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome

    • Welcome

    • Syllabus

    • Navigation Guide

    • Diagnostic Questionnaire
  • 2

    Section 1: What Do We Know About Problems?

    • Introduction

    • What Is A Problem?

    • What Are The Components Of A Problem?

    • What Types Of Problems Exist?

    • How Problem Solving Has Been Taught?

    • Why We Don't Solve Problems The Same Away?

    • Teacher's Role In Applying Problem Solving Strategies

    • Summary

    • Questionnaire 1
  • 3

    Section 2: Strategies To Understand A Problem

    • Introduction

    • Questions: What? How? What For? Why? When? Where?

    • Visual Representation

    • Breaking Down The Problem

    • Summary

    • Questionnaire 2
  • 4

    Section 3: Strategies To Propose Solutions

    • Introduction

    • Brainstorming

    • Teacher's Role In Implementing The Strategy

    • The Inverted Problem / The Already-Solved Problem

    • Visual Representation

    • The Problem In Parts

    • Using Analogies

    • Summary

    • Questionnaire 3
  • 5

    Section 4: Strategies To Select Solutions

    • Introduction

    • Selection By Criteria

    • Vote Or Ranking

    • Visual Matrix

    • The Devil's Advocate

    • Pros And Cons

    • Summary

    • Questionnaire 4
  • 6

    Section 5: Strategies To Implement And Test Solutions

    • Introduction

    • Diagram “How?”

    • Graphic Contrast Testing

    • Summary

    • Questionnaire 5

    • Survey
  • 7

    Table

    • Table
  • 8

    Bibliography and Resources

    • Bibliography And Resourses

About the instructor

Instructor Title

RIED ITEN

The Inter-American Teacher Education Network (ITEN) is a project led by the Department of Human Development Education and Employment of the OAS. ITEN has created a professional network which empowers its participants to take the lead and learn from each other. One of its goals is to generate change towards the professionalization of teachers and the improvement of education in the Americas.ITEN therefore promotes innovation in the classroom for teachers to learn and adapt their teaching methodologies. ITEN’s activities provide user-friendly and attractive tools for practitioners to engage in collaborative activities in massive numbers. Technology is a cross-cutting theme in the project, used in all activities and a key strategy for delivery of project support to the target audience.

What others have been saying about this course:

This is a self-paced toolkit about strategies to solve problems in any field

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