Written Assignment 10: Proposing a Solution to a Problem - Admission/Application Essay Example

Teacher: Proposing a Solution to a Problem According to Polya (118), to solve a problem is “to search consciously for some actionthat is appropriate to attain a clearly conceived but not immediately attainable aim”. While this definition is clear and succinct it is not, in my opinion complete. Before one can establish an action appropriate for an attainable aim the problem must be clearly defined; what may be perceived as the problem may not in fact be the real problem. My parents and other family households within our community for example were continually complaining about high electrical bills, so I sought to identify the exact problem at hand before setting about generating possible solutions for a specific outcome.

After stating the broad problem – high energy bills – I then considered all possible solutions; this led to the realization that the real issue was not high energy bills but rather the need to save on energy and thus become shrewd energy savers.We rely heavily on electricity and the equipment used to dispense it, so the first thing to do was to ascertain where that energy was being channeled; I began to find the answer by undertaking some research on the internet, which provided me with the knowledge that air conditioning and heating are the biggest consumers of power.

I then sought to determine ways in which energy could be saved within any household and found a number of processes by which every household, by taking a few measures, could reduce their energy consumption quite easily; my next aim was to organize a meeting with each family in our community and address the issues.In order to create democratic cooperation rather than me merely providing the ideas I had found, I worked by brainstorming with those involved to generate a list of possible solutions; in other words to create a list of options and alternative ways in which to deal with the problem.

This took a lot of time and patience as different members of the group were affected to varying degrees, but systematically one by one we worked through the options, considered the advantages and disadvantages of each, the risks involved with each (if any), what care we needed to take, problems that could occur, whether or not they would have the same impact on all households and how each person or family intuitively felt about each alternative solution, until we reached an agreement as to which solutions to implement.

The next step in the problem solving process was to determine who would do what and when in order to carry out the preferred options. A plan of action was devised, wherein each household and each family member within that household was responsible for one or more particular tasks relating to the solution and each person was involved in the decision making relating to the action plan. For example, one person in the family was responsible for air conditioning, another for heating and another for appliances.

It was determined that each household would change from incandescent bulbs to fluorescent bulbs as they are claimed to use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last ten times longer. It was also decided to install motion sensors and dimmer switches in further effort to save on lighting energy.Each household would also adjust their thermostats – lower the temperatures of heating in the winter and raise the temperature of cooling in the summer. Another solution considered was to try to reduce usage of hot water by using less, washing clothes in cold water, taking showers rather than baths, and using short cycles on the dishwasher and washing machine.

Results have shown that energy is being consumed and thus electoral bills are reduced but continual monitoring, evaluation, review and if necessary adjustments will be made to ensure the problem is resolved to the most it can be and the aim attained. Each household meets on a monthly basis to consider the outcomes and provide constructive feedback on the entire process.In summary, the problem was identified, useful strategies were determined and applied in a systematic manner and the process necessitates ongoing monitoring to ensure the intended outcomes are not only attained but maintained.

Works citedPolya, George. Mathematical Discovery: On understanding, learning and teaching problem solving. Vol.1. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1966.