The Handshake Problem

Today, our first day together, I assessed your basic knowledge of the four-step problem solving process. We did the classic handshake problem:

"If every student shakes hands once with all other students in the class, how many handshakes will occur?"

The informal assessment revealed that most students skip right to the third step of problem solving and begin computations. We then discussed and copied the four steps of problem solving:

1) Understand the problem
2) Make a plan
3) Carry out the plan
4) Look back

Thursday, we will look at how important it is to understand the problem. We will also look at several strategies that can be used to solve this particular one.