"My laptop will not go online"
A student walks up to the help desk. "My laptop will not go online."
A weak technician starts clicking at once. A strong one asks questions first, makes a plan, and checks the result afterwards. Strong technicians 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 support 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 laptop problem
| Step | What the technician does |
|---|---|
| 1. Define | Laptop cannot reach the internet. Other apps work. Started this morning. |
| 2. Gather | Ask: wifi or cable? Do other laptops work? Any error message? |
| 3. Analyse | Other laptops work. This one shows "no wifi found". The wireless switch may be off. |
| 4. Plan | Turn on wireless, then restart, then check the settings if still broken. |
| 5. Implement | Turn on wireless. The laptop connects. |
| 6. Review | Test three websites. Note the cause. Tell the student how to avoid it. |
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.