The Shuttle Puzzle- A Lesson in
Problem Solving, John S. Gray · 1998
SUCCESSFULLY SOLVING PROBLEMS requires higher level thinking skills. Knowledge, comprehension, analysis, application, synthesis and evaluation are key cognitive elements in this process (Bloom, et. al., 1956; Dufresne, 1989). When teaching problem solving in an introductory Computer Science setting, we often turn to puzzles (e.g., Tower o~f Hanoi, 8-Queens, Knights Tour). Puzzles offer a rich set of challenging vehicles (Simon & Reed, 1976; Kotovsky & Simon, 1990; Agostini, 1986). This paper uses a less known puzzle, the Shuttle Puzzle, as a means to elucidate the process of analyzing a problem and synthesizing observations into an algorithm that, in turn, can be used to generate a programming solution. The step-bystep process used to solve the problem is reflective of the process an expert goes through when solving the problem. While not directly presented as such, the material discussed could be easily adapted to allow for small-group cooperative learning (Davidson, 1990). (Keywords: algorithm, problem analysis, problem solving, program design, shuttle puzzle)