Microteaching Project 1

Collaborative Problem Solving

Background
The world has changed faster in the last century than it has in previous years. So has
knowledge, relationships, technology and ways of working and facing the requirements to suit in
such a changing world.
Due to the challenges that real world presents nowadays it is important to develop skills
that allow people to succeed in facing those challenges.
Some young people today do not strive to overcome difficulties or problems. When they
face an obstacle, they deter from achieving the goal. So they need to have the opportunity to
develop their skills in different areas such as ways of thinking and ways of working. As well as
skills for living in the world. It is also of main importance that students are familiar with the
tools for working that are available now.
Skills as creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making are highly
necessary for dealing with the requirements of this century.
It is also important for the students to be skillful regarding the information and
communication technology. As well as developing skills such as personal and social
responsibility.
They must be given activities and resources to develop the 21st century skills, such as
collaborative problem solving,

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In order to do so, we need to change the way we teach and the strategies and activities we
implement in our lessons.
The following activity is intended to promote the development of collaborative problem
solving skill. It would be developed with my seventh graders at the school where I work since I
am their English teacher and I have the opportunity to fix my schedule to have double periods
with them. Students will work on Problem-solving, creative collaboration.
Students will be presented a problem and will be asked to share perspectives, define the
issues, identify the interests, generate options, develop a fair standard or objective criteria for
deciding, and to evaluate options and reach agreement.
The Teaching Strategy
The activity consists of presenting the student a fictional situation in which they are in
danger, and they need to work collaboratively in order to save their lives.
Students are taken to the soccer field near the school. It is a big park with a basketball
court and a forest.
The situation: the class is going on a field trip to Tikal. All the class members are aboard
a private plane. They left Aurora Airport at 7:00 a.m. Two teachers are with them on the trip.
The group is going to meet a guide at Tikal Airport. A scout leader is also joining the group at
Tikal. They are flying over Petn. Eight minutes to landing; suddenly, there is a problem with
the engine and the pilot needs to make an emergency landing. The pilot cannot avoid a tree and
crashes against it. The front part of the plane is destroyed, also the luggage compartment. After
the crash, students realize that the pilot and the teachers are missing. Some of the students are

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injured: three boys have a broken leg, two girls have a broken arm, four students are
unconscious, three students have both legs broken, and three students are without any injury.
However, only the students with both legs broken can see. The rest of the group is in shock and
cannot see.
The problem: that area is controlled by drug dealers. They are on their way to check
who was aboard the plane, The group of students has only eight minutes to move to the other
side of the park, that means to cross the soccer field, the basketball court and get to the forest,
where they can be safe from drug dealers. However, there are some obstacles all over the area,
and if any student falls down, they must start from the beginning point.
Students need to organize themselves to move the unconscious ones and to help the
injured ones to get to the safe place.
Students get clear and specific instructions: everybody must get to the safe place at the
same time. No one can be left behind. If they do not get to the safe place on time, they get
killed by drug dealers. Students cannot use their injured part of the body.
As they have a short time to move to the safe area, they need to help and collaborate with
each other to complete the task in time. They need to carry on with the unconscious ones. To
help the injured ones. The only ones that can guide the students through the obstacles are the
ones that can see, but they have both legs broken, so the group needs to communicate effectively
in order to be able to pass through the obstacles.
Furthermore, communication and collaboration play such an important part through the
process. Even when the main focus is given to collaborative problem solving, different skills are
involved through the development of the activity.

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Only by putting into practice the 21st Century skills they will be able to accomplish the
goal. They will have twenty minutes to brainstorm ideas, to discuss the options they have, to
decide for the best solution, to organize themselves.
Assessment and Review
During the development of the activity the teacher will be observing the students,
listening to their comments and analyzing their attitudes.
A rubric to evaluate some aspects concerning these skills is attached. These aspects will
be taken into account when assessing the final outcome of the activity.
In addition to the teacher assessment, students will do both: self-assessment and peerassessment. When doing their self-assessment, students will have the opportunity to reflect on
their attitudes when dealing with the problem.
At the end of the activity, after having completed the self-assessment and the peerassessment, students and teacher will exchange opinions and comments about the activity, giving
ideas about how to improve their performance and how to deal with pressure and different
stressing situations.
For homework, students will write a short text about what they have learned today and
how they can apply it in their own lives.