Verso University Presents 'Thinking It Through: Solving Problems in All Areas of Your Life'

Problem-Solving is making a decision, accomplishing an objective, working towards a goal, dealing with a dilemma, and solving a problem. Most of us are interested in learning more about how to improve our problem-solving skills. With this new course, brought to you by the Library's Verso University lifelong learning initiative, we invite you to join us for this three-part program, taught by master problem-solving coaches, Mike Hibbard PhD and Patricia Cyganovich EdD (bios below).

The course will occur on three Mondays: May 15, May 22, and June 5, all at 2 pm in Brooks Place (Library main level).

Please register here.

Using Hibbard's and Cyganovich's innovative Thinking it Through problem-solving process, this course will teach you how to achieve the following goals, useful in any area of life:

• Learn how to think through a situation and use strategies to identify and solve the problem.
• Recognize frustration and anxiety as normal and use that energy to your advantage.
• Avoid the common mistakes made by problem-solvers.
• Approach “failure” as an opportunity to improve.
• Work independently and with others to solve problems.
• Present yourself as a problem-solver.
• Engage family members in solving problems.
• Apply problem-solving strategies to the transitions in your life.
• Use problem-solving thinking as a leadership tool.
• Take charge of your own growth as a problem-solver.

Hibbard and Cyganovich are the co-authors of Thinking It Through: Coaching Students to Be Problem-Solvers, which advocates for the integration of creative and critical thinking to empower the phases of problem-solving: problem finding and analyzing the audience, researching, generating ideas for solutions, selecting a solution and designing an implementation plan, and self-regulation and setting goals for improvement.

Hibbard is an international consultant and coach who spent much of his 47-year career in education in positions from science teacher to principal to assistant superintendent in school districts throughout Connecticut. Cyganovich was a teacher, assistant principal, and for 30 years was a high school principal before retiring.