Principled Problem Solving: A Summary

Principled Problem Solving

Principled Problem Solving is the central, unifying theme of the transformative Guilford College education. Principled Problem Solving challenges Guilford students to solve real-world problems under the guidance of the college’s core values of community, diversity, equality, excellence, integrity, justice and stewardship. Student engagement in Principled Problem Solving contributes not only to a practical education but also, through active engagement in real world situations, contributes innovative solutions to existing and emerging problems in the community, state, nation and world. 

Guilford's Core Values: The Foundation of Principled Problem Solving

All colleges teach problem solving. Guilford College is unique in that the college's core values and Quaker testimonies inform all aspects of the institution and are at the heart of Principled Problem Solving. The core values listed below are a filter through which Guilford applies foundational knowledge from the liberal arts to the practice of problem solving.

 

• Community.  We are committed to the cultivation of positive relationships between, and common experiences among, students, faculty, and staff.

• Diversity.  We are committed to creating an academic institution where a variety of persons and perspectives are welcome. We are committed to providing an environment where students from all cultures and backgrounds may succeed.

• Integrity.  We are committed to creating a community that acts with honesty and forthrightness, holding ourselves to high academic and ethical standards, and dealing with everyone with respect.

• Equality.  We are committed to creating an institution and a society where everyone is appreciated and judged based on their contributions and performance rather than gender, race, religion, physical abilities, sexual identity, or socio-economic condition.  Through the work of this institution, we will both create awareness of, and work to eliminate, individual and institutional racism.

• Justice.  We are committed to the peaceful resolution of conflict, sharing of economic and natural resources, and parity in educational opportunity.

• Stewardship.  We are committed to making decisions that will ensure the long-term survival of this institution.  We must maximize the value of our human, financial, and physical resources in ways consistent with our Quaker heritage.

• Excellence.  We are committed to setting high standards of academic rigor in courses and creating high expectations for achievement by everyone.  We seek the personal and intellectual transformation of our students through the liberal arts.

The Curriculum of Principled Problem Solving

           

Across the curriculum, preparation for and participation in PPS will become a central feature of student, staff and faculty experiences at Guilford College. 

Principled Problem Solving is approached in one or a combination of the following educational tiers: 

• Foundations: critical thinking, analysis, skills, and values. 

• Practice: case studies in the classroom. 

• Application: real people addressing real world problems in innovative ways.

The first two years of the curriculum will focus on foundations, providing students with the necessary skills in reading, writing, quantitative reasoning, and creative and critical thinking necessary for Principled Problem Solving. From there, the curriculum will shift to practice, including analysis of complex problems through the introduction of various interdisciplinary seminars designed to challenge students to understand the systems and structures within which complex social problems tend to present themselves. Finally, Principled Problem Solving will encourage application through participation from outside institutions, community agencies and individuals, bringing the richness of diverse perspectives to the student experience.

Principled Problem Solving in Action

The following recent student project is one example of Principled Problem Solving in action:

Through international study, two students encountered water supply problems on a global scale; one student witnessed firsthand the shortage of clean drinking water while studying in Africa for a semester, while another worked at a low cost water filter factory in Nicaragua through Guilford's Bonner program (a service scholarship). When these students returned to Guilford, they continued to study water filtration in their chemistry classes. Upon graduation, they took the lessons learned – both scientific and humanitarian – and established the ClaySure Water Project, a foundation currently constructing a point source water filter factory in Mozambique.

Foundation: International study and science coursework

Practice: Research in the chemistry lab

Application: International aid project

Core values served: Stewardship, Community, Excellence, Justice, and Equality By helping to maintain natural resources through water treatment, stewardship was served. The scientific analysis that led to the creation of a highly successful product is a clear example of academic excellence. The community was strengthened by improving the health of its inhabitants, and in providing service the poor, both equality and justice were served.

                       

Such an example is indicative of the integrated efforts to generate Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College and how the Guilford education can result in a principled social impact.

Below are a series of examples that correspond directly to each of Guilford's core values:

Community. Students in residence halls often have problems getting along from noise to disagreements.  Facilitators from Guilford’s Conflict Resolution Resource Center work with a first-year residence hall to create community agreements. Students work together to define their rules and boundaries. Students are empowered to take an active role in shaping the community in which they live. 

Diversity. Today's students enter a world of increasing diversity. Dissimilar cultural norms, opposing political agendas, and racial and ethnic divisions are real-world problems that must be understood if they are to be resolved. Guilford students research, organize and run a Model United Nations conference for area middle school students. By simulating the processes of the United Nations, participants experience the ways in which the international community deals with economic and environmental concerns, human rights abuses, disarmament and conflict, and many other global problems. The conference enhances the communication and negotiation skills of participants, and teaches valuable lessons about other countries and cultures.

 

Equality.  Economic disadvantage is a major problem in urban America. Young residents in a local neighborhood lacked resources to attend summer camps. Guilford students realized that without some alternative activities, these kids could turn to gangs, drugs or worse. Students wrote a grant to the Bonner Foundation requesting support for initiatives to address the problem. They developed programs and activities that kept the children safe and occupied for the summer. Some of the kids who were in gangs left them to take part in the camp and some students received academic help to prepare them for the school year.

Excellence. How can animal life be understood and protected as species are threatened with extinction from urban sprawl, uses of pesticides, and more natural predators? Students in an Animal Behavior class spend an afternoon a week conducting independent research on various species of animals at the North Carolina Zoo. Some of the research reports were of such excellent caliber that the head of Zoo research not only asked for copies of the reports but also offered internships to these students.

Integrity.  The distortion of financial information to inflate profits and impress investors is a growing national concern, from the debacle of phantom revenues at Enron to the reported backdating of stock options at Apple Computer and other companies. An Introduction to Accounting course examines not only the fundamental skills of accounting, but also addresses ethical problems and issues.  Students examine the preparation and misuse of accounting information by studying current cases and learn how ethics can and should be applied.

Justice.  A philosophy professor helps to organize the Colloquium Voices from Palestine and Israel:  “Living for Peace” in a Holy Land to explore nonviolent approaches to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The twelve-session colloquium involved three leading Israelis and three leading Palestinians who have devoted much of their lives to seeking a nonviolent resolution to the conflict. The sessions were varied in topic, format and audience in an effort to accentuate multiple aspects of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the importance of multiple perspectives for any resolution of the conflict.

Stewardship.  The earth's resources are being depleted and pollution worsens.  The environmental stewardship of the planet for future generations is a problem today. The construction of a bioretention cell, a specialized system to treat storm water run-off from one of the residence halls was funded in part by a student’s grant from the National Wildlife federation. While the student used the experience and data gathered for her senior thesis, the project is a long-term study opportunity for the College.  This system will be studied in future environmental studies courses with plans to assess if it could be a viable alternative that can be used in Greensboro to protect ecosystems and our drinking water supply.

The Center for Principled Problem Solving

           

The Center for Principled Problem Solving, planned for a 2007 opening, is charged with organizing and coordinating campus efforts to incorporate Principled Problem Solving across the curriculum. The Center will serve as a resource for students, faculty, staff, and community-members to obtain funding and relevant contacts to enable students to realize ambitions for social change shaped by their Principled Problem Solving focus.

The Center Director and staff will assist in matching proposed projects with interested grantors and community members.  Students may go on to study and work in specific projects at the Center; they may alternately go on to advanced study in specific disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs and design internships and independent studies consonant with their interests. Visiting Core Values Scholars will provide further occasions for dialogue. By 2010, Guilford plans to host the college’s first conference on Principled Problem Solving.