Activity 6.1: Problem Solving

   I found this PowerPoint and reading to be interesting, as I tend to be quite indecisive when it comes to making decisions and I don't feel that I am a good problem solver.  Problem solving is the key process in learning; it is analogous to learning because when you problem solve, you make a goal familiar, which leads you to make similar goals similarly familiar in the future.  When you encounter those similar goals later on, the familiarity you have with those goals results in a change in behavior that is required for learning, as learning occurs through changes in behavior resulting from experience.  I think because learning is analogous to problem solving, and because the aforementioned explanation, learning is problem solving.  When you learn things, you have a goal you want to accomplish, whether it is changing a tire or mastering multiplication facts.  You have to problem solve in order to meet your learning goal. 
   I found the reading interesting because I am currently facing an ill-defined problem; last week my boyfriend broke up with me, and now I have to get myself back to the point where I am okay with being alone.  I didn't really see this issue in a problem-solving point of view, until I read this reading and made connections to what is happening in my life.  Obviously, the problem recognition is easy to see, because it was presented to me- he was unhappy, and he ended our relationship, and now I'm alone.  There's the problem.  However, I am having trouble defining the problem- am I unhappy because I miss him or am I unhappy because I am alone?  Is this problem due to my faults or his?  The list of questions goes on, trust me.  The problem representation is also tricky, because I am having trouble coming up with realistic goals that I like, probably because this issue is so personal.  However, as I have been dumped before, I remember things that worked then, and things that didn't, and so I am using my past experience to help me in my problem-solving.  I am also finding it helpful to talk to people about this problem, which as we know from the PowerPoint is a factor that enhances non-routine thinking and aides in problem solving, because discovery can take place when explaining issues to others.  I have realized incidences in which I am self-regulating, and I find myself brainstorming all the time to try and find reason.  I know it will take time, but I also know that in the end problem solving will win and I will discover my goal and work towards reaching it.