Do You Have A Problem? Solve It By Using COST!

This week, I decided to use the COST problem-solving strategy in my SPA 102 and PSY 105 courses. This strategy is supposed to help you recognize what and how you need to change a current situation. I chose this strategy because I thought it would help me recognize some of my current problems and encourage me to implement a plan to solve them.

I have been having two different problems in some of my classes. In SPA 102, I have been having trouble preparing and studying for quizzes, which have reflected in my poor test grades. In my PSY 205 class, I have been having problems with taking notes while still being able to pay attention to the lecture. In order to try to solve these problems, I created a chart by utilizing the COST strategy.

What does COST stand for?
COST stands for Change, Option, Schedule, and Test.

• Within my chart, the change column is where I identified what I wanted to be changed or in other words, what my problem was and what I want to happen.

• The option column is where I wrote a list of possibilities that could result in change. Then, I picked the best option that I thought would be effective and that I would actually use.

• The schedule column includes when I could implement my option and how long it would take until I could see results.
  

• Finally, the test column is where I checked for progress of my option and revised it if I needed to.

Here is my COST chart for my SPA 102 and PSY 205 classes:



*The highlighted parts denote the options that I thought would be the most effective for me

This problem solving strategy helped me plan out how to solve a problem and when to implement it. It was effective in both my SPA 102 and PSY 205 courses, however I do not know if it could be consistent in solving all my problems. Nonetheless, I still may try to use this strategy in the future.