As teachers, we’ve all been in the position where we are watching a student’s frustration build when struggling to understand a concept or complete an assignment. We know we need to intervene, but it isn’t always clear when to jump in to help, or the best way to do it. One of the greatest challenges we have as educators is knowing how much help to give a student, and exactly when to intervene to alleviate students’ frustrations. Jump in too soon, and you’ve taken away a vital opportunity for that student to gain understanding and confidence as they solve their problem on their own. But, if you wait too long, and you risk the student becoming overwhelmed, and maybe even giving up.

There are a wide variety of open-ended challenges in VEX curricular materials, such as the EXP Clean Water Mission STEM Lab, Units 6 through the Extension of the CTE Workcell Automation Course, and the Coral Reef Cleanup Capstone in the CS Level 1 Blocks Course. When teaching with open-ended challenges like these, students will naturally struggle to solve the complex problems they present. That struggle is, in fact, essential to their learning. The trick is to provide just the right amount of support for each student, so their struggle is productive rather, than overwhelming.

Fortunately, there are several ways we can ensure students are able to dive into challenging, open-ended learning experiences and come out the other side having not just gained content knowledge, but feeling like accomplished and confident learners. We can support our students’ productive struggle before an open-ended challenge is introduced, throughout the challenge itself, and after students complete the challenge.

Cultivating a Positive Classroom Environment

We can help students to be confident when solving open-ended challenges before we even introduce them by intentionally creating a positive classroom environment. Students must feel known and supported in order to take the risks needed to learn when solving open-ended challenges. And although this may take some time on the front end, it will pay dividends when students are engaged and persistent problem solvers later. To help create this supportive environment in your classroom, consider:

• Taking the time to get to know each student. When students feel known and seen by their teachers, they are more likely to try out novel ideas, share thoughts, and contribute to projects. Plus, when you know your students well, it is much easier to know how and when to help them when they are struggling.
• Encouraging divergent thinking. Provide frequent opportunities for students to engage with questions where there is not one right answer, encouraging them to share ideas and perspectives without judgment. Students are more likely to feel comfortable with open-ended challenges when they have had time to become accustomed to this kind of thinking.
• Normalizing and celebrating differences. Look for opportunities to acknowledge the ideas and contributions of each student as often as possible. This can take the form of acknowledging the creative thinking a student applied to solving a problem, even when the solution doesn’t end up working, for example. Or, highlighting how a student's contribution laid the groundwork for a better idea as their group’s thinking evolved. When we as teachers model this kind of acceptance, our students are more likely to do the same.
• Giving students the opportunity to embrace their mistakes! Consider creating a classroom display where students can share their mistakes with one another, helping them to understand that mistakes are both inevitable and universal! See this PD+ Community Post for one VEX teacher’s idea about creating a ‘Bug Board’.

Facilitation During an Open-Ended Challenge

There are several facilitation strategies that can be used during the time students are actively working on an open-ended challenge. The following suggestions will help students to get the most out of their experiences.

Follow a problem solving process

Use a structured process, such as the cyclical challenge phases given in the Workcell Automation Course and the Coral Reef Clean Up Capstone in the CS Level 1 Blocks Course. This three-phase process sets expectations for students and keeps them on track as they wrestle with the Unit Challenges. The challenge phases break down the problem-solving process into manageable steps, and include a teacher check-in at the end of each one. This gives students and teachers a built-in time to discuss progress and any questions they might have as they work through the challenge.

Help for guiding students through the phases of an open-ended challenge can be found in each of the Units mentioned in this article:

• See the Challenge Phases section of the Facilitation Guides for the CTE Workcell Automation Units 6 and above.
• See Chapter 10, Lesson 5 of the CS Level One Blocks Intro Course in PD+. 
• See the Clean Water Mission STEM Lab Unit Teacher Facilitation Guide.

Ensure students understand how they will be evaluated

In each of the Units mentioned in this article, a Challenge Rubric is provided. See the Workcell Automation Open-Ended Challenge Rubric for an example. Students should be introduced to the rubric before they begin to work through the challenge, and given opportunities to discuss it with you and have any questions answered. This eliminates any uncertainty students may feel that could add to their frustration.

Observe students as they are working

Be ready to offer guiding questions when you notice frustration. Carefully chosen questions or prompts can help steer students towards having a new idea. Here are some questions or prompts to try to help students stay on the right track, or get unstuck if needed:

• Tell me more about your idea.
• Explain your thought process about this part of your project to me.
• Can you pinpoint the specific part of the challenge you are struggling with?
• How could you break this part of the challenge into smaller, more manageable steps?
  • Can these steps be tested individually, to ensure they will work before you move on?
• Do you have all the information you need to solve the problem? If not, where can you get more information?
• What is the simplest possible solution to the problem? Can you build on that solution?

Document students’ process

It may be helpful to jot down notes about students' progress and process as you circulate through the room when they are working. That way you can refer back to them when students need help, or in future challenges.

Debriefing After an Open-Ended Challenge

Time spent reflecting on students' experiences with open-ended challenges is always well spent, as it will carry forward into future challenges. Read on for ways to support students once the active phase of the challenge is complete.

Don’t skip the Debrief Conversation

Giving students time to think through their problem solving process is an integral part of supporting students in an open ended challenge. As they speak about how they approached a challenge, they may have realizations about what they would like to do differently next time, or what they could have done to avoid certain frustrations.

• Wrap-Up Reflection prompts are provided to students in the CTE Workcell Automation Course at the bottom of each Challenge Briefing page, as well as in each Stage Briefing page of the EXP Clean Water Mission STEM Lab and in the CS Level One Blocks Capstone. These prompts can be discussed first with students in their collaborative groups, then with you.
• For more information about having effective Debrief Conversations with students, see this VEX Library Article.

Give students time to share their problem-solving process with the entire class

It is helpful for students to hear others sharing about how they solved complex problems, and the challenges they faced in doing so. This gives them a chance to understand that others had to go through similar struggles to get to an answer, and helps to normalize the process of productive struggle. This is especially important for students who may not have had the opportunity to engage in this kind of problem solving in the past.

By knowing when to intervene and how to offer guidance in open-ended challenges, we empower our students to explore complex problems and develop essential skills that go beyond academic success. This approach not only enhances their learning experience but also prepares them for real-world challenges, reinforcing the importance of persistence, creativity, and collaboration. Employing the suggestions and strategies above will go a long way towards guiding your students through their productive struggle so they can advance confidently towards the next complex challenge!