"The chart shows the wrong month"
A teacher walks up to an analyst. "The attendance chart shows the wrong month."
A weak analyst starts changing things at once. A strong one asks questions first, makes a plan, and checks the result afterwards. Strong analysts follow the same six steps every time.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can follow the six steps of problem solving, in order, on a data problem.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Strategy | A plan of how to go about a problem |
| Define | State exactly what the problem is |
| Gather | Collect facts about the problem |
| Analyse | Study the facts to find the likely cause |
| Implement | Carry out the fix |
| Review | Check if the fix worked and what you learned |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
The six steps in order
The steps are: define the problem, gather information, analyse the information, make a plan of action, implement a solution, and review the solution.
Order matters. If you skip to the fix, you may fix the wrong thing.
The six steps on the chart problem
| Step | What the analyst does |
|---|---|
| 1. Define | Attendance chart shows March, not April. Other charts are fine. Started this week. |
| 2. Gather | Ask: which file feeds it? Did the date range change? Any error message? |
| 3. Analyse | The date range is typed in by hand and still says March. |
| 4. Plan | Change the range, refresh the chart, then check the other charts. |
| 5. Implement | Change the range to April. The chart updates. |
| 6. Review | Check three totals by hand. Note the cause. Tell the team to use a date picker. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
Have a go
Check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.