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Skill Gym · Execution

Problem Solving

Turn a vague mess into a defined problem with a plan you can check.

Rep 1 of 8 · difficulty 2/60 correct
Work Backwards

Adaptive rule: two correct in a row raises difficulty, one miss lowers it. Accuracy so far 0%.

Mastery
0
Score
0% of target 88
Reps logged0
Accuracy0%
Difficulty2 / 6
Method
Four-step plan
from George Pólya

Understand, plan, carry out, look back — the fourth step is the one people skip.

Game task
Work Backwards

Start at the answer and reason to the given.

See this skill on your development profile
Arcade · 60-second games

Play to train problem solving

🏆 0Memory Grid⏱ 60s
Visual working memory · 60 seconds
Memory Grid

Cells light up for a blink, then hide. Tap them all back from memory. One wrong tap and the round restarts smaller; clear it and the grid grows.

Your best: 0

Beginner level

Start here: learn it, check it, use it

Beginner lesson

Pólya's four steps: understand the problem, make a plan, carry it out, look back.

  1. Understand: restate it in your own words.
  2. Plan: draw it, try a smaller case, find a pattern.
  3. Carry out the plan carefully.
  4. Look back: does the answer make sense?
Worked example: Handshakes among 4 people? Try 2 (1), 3 (3), 4 (6) — the pattern gives the answer.
Beginner check · 0/3
Pólya's first step is:
A good planning trick:
'Looking back' means:
Real-life task

Solve a puzzle from a newspaper or book and write down which of Pólya's steps you used.

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