Polya’s steps in problem solving

1. Understand the problem.

Figure out what is being asked. What is known? What is not known? What type of answer is
required? Is the problem similar to other problems you’ve seen? Are there any important terms for
which you should look up definitions?

Example:
There are 22 total students. There are three groups of students: Students who only play recorder,
students who only sing in choir, and students who do both. Initially, we do not know how many
students are in any of these groups, but we know the total of the three groups adds up to 22. We
also know that a total of 8 students play the recorder, and a total of 20 students sing in the choir.
We must find the number of students who do both.

2. Make a plan.

Come up with some strategies for solving the problem. Common strategies include making a list,
drawing a picture, eliminating possibilities, using a formula, guessing and checking, and solving a
simpler, related problem.

Example:
We could list out the 22 students and then assign to each either recorder, choir, or both until we
got the right totals. We could draw a Venn Diagram that separates out the three types of
groups. We could try solving a similar problem with a class of fewer students.

3. Execute the plan.

Use the strategy chosen in Step 2 to solve the problem. If you encounter difficulties using the
strategy, you may want to use resources such as the textbook to help. If the strategy itself appears
not to be working, return to Step 2 and select a different strategy.

Ezample:
Let’s try solving a similar problem with a class of 6 students, 5 of whom play recorder and 3 of
whom are in the choir. In this case, we know that there is only one student who doesn’t play
recorder, and so this student must sing in the choir. That means the other two choir singers must
play the recorder, so there are 2 students who do both. Now, let’s try that same method with the
original problem. Since only 8 of the 22 students play recorder, the other 14 must sing in the choir
and not play recorder. But there are 20 students in the choir, so 6 of these choir students also play
the recorder. So the answer is 6.

4. Look back and reflect

Part of Step 4 is to find a way to check your answer, preferably using a different method than what
you used to solve the problem. Another part of Step 4 is to evaluate the method you used to solve
the problem. Was it effective? Are there ways you could have made it more effective? Are there
other types of problems with which you might be able to use this type of solution method?
 Example:

Let’s check our answer with a Venn Diagram, which was one of the other strategies we
considered in Step 2. We first fill in each region based on the results we found in Step 3. Now
we check to see if the numbers match the original problem. Notice that 2 + 6 + 14 = 22 total
students, 2 + 6 = 8 students playing the recorder, and 6 + 14 = 20 students in choir. So our
answer checks out!

Looking back on our answer, we now see that our process of subtracting from the total can be
used in any similar situation, as long as all students must be in at least one of the two groups.
In the future, we wouldn’t even have to use the simpler related problem since we’ve found a
more general pattern!