Problem Solving Skills Through Coding

In short

Problem solving is taught as a method: read the problem properly, break it into parts, solve a smaller version, generalise, then judge the result. Irish curriculum documents ask for exactly this, from the Junior Cycle outcome about decomposing a problem into manageable parts to the Leaving Certificate definition of a task whose solution is not immediately obvious. Coding is unusually good practice for it, because every attempt is tested immediately. Modern Age Coders teaches it live online, for ages 6 to 67, in groups of five to ten placed by level or one to one. The first class is free; continuing costs USD 100 a month in a group or USD 150 a month with a teacher to yourself. We make no promises about exam results.

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Three courses where problem solving is the subject

One for teenagers, one for college students and adults, one for younger children. Each card opens the syllabus.

SOLVE / 01

Problem Solving for Teens

Problems whose answers are not obvious, worked through with a method rather than guesswork, week after week.

Open the syllabus →

Data Structures & Algorithms Course course thumbnail

SOLVE / 02

Data Structures and Algorithms

For college students and adults: the classic structures, and how to reason about what a solution costs before writing it.

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SOLVE / 03

Maths Through Coding

For younger learners: school maths turned into small programs, so a method can be seen working instead of memorised.

Open the syllabus →

What PISA shows

Ireland in PISA 2022, and the step Irish students find hardest

PISA tests fifteen-year-olds across the OECD. Ireland's national report was published by the Educational Research Centre in December 2023. Here are its headline figures, and then the detail that matters for problem solving.

Ireland in PISA 2022, Educational Research Centre national report
Domain	Ireland	OECD average	Change since 2018
Mathematics	491.6	472.4	Down 8.0 points, while the OECD fell 14.9
Reading	516.0	475.6	Down 2.1 points, not statistically significant
Science	503.8	484.6	Up 7.7 points, statistically significant

The four steps of doing maths

PISA splits mathematics into four processes. Irish students score highest on interpreting (494.9) and employing (493.6), lower on reasoning (489.8), and lowest on formulating (486.8).

Formulating is the step where you turn a messy real situation into something you can actually calculate with. It is also the step a programmer performs every time they take a vague idea and decide what the program must do first.

The caveat the researchers insist on

The report is blunt about a limitation. In 2022, 1,689 students, 22.1% of the sample, did not participate or were absent, against 868 students, 12.8%, in 2018. The report says Ireland's performance must be read "with consideration of the upward bias in the estimates for Ireland".

So these numbers are useful, and they are not precise. Anyone quoting them without that sentence is not being straight with you.

Fewer struggling

19.0% of students in Ireland performed below Level 2 in mathematics, against an OECD average of 31.1%. That is a real strength of the system.

Fewer at the top

7.2% reached the highest levels, slightly below the OECD average of 8.7%, and 28 countries and economies had a larger share of top performers.

No creative-thinking score

Ireland did not sit the PISA 2022 creative thinking test, taking only the questionnaire. Any article giving Ireland a creative-thinking rank has it wrong.

Source: Education in a Dynamic World: the performance of students in Ireland in PISA 2022, Educational Research Centre, December 2023, read 16 September 2026. The creative-thinking point is confirmed against OECD PISA in Focus No. 125, whose list of the 64 participating countries does not include Ireland.

In the curriculum

What the Irish maths curriculum asks students to be able to do

Problem solving is not an extra in Irish mathematics. It is written into the specification as an element in its own right, with learning outcomes attached.

Junior Cycle Mathematics, the problem-solving learning outcomes, and their coding equivalents
Outcome	What the student does	The same move in code
U.7	Make sense of a given problem and, if necessary, mathematise a situation	Decide what the program must actually produce
U.8	Apply knowledge and skills to solve a problem, including decomposing it into manageable parts	Split the work into functions you can test one at a time
U.9	Interpret the solution in terms of the original question	Check the output answers the question that was asked
U.10	Evaluate different possible solutions, their reasonableness, improvements and limitations	Compare approaches for speed, clarity and edge cases

The specification defines the element itself as students being able to "investigate patterns, formulate conjectures, and engage in tasks in which the solution is not immediately obvious, in familiar and unfamiliar contexts".

Its rationale names the company problem solving keeps: the course develops "understanding, fluency, reasoning, computational thinking and problem solving". Computational thinking is in the maths curriculum, not only the computing one.

At senior cycle, the Leaving Certificate Mathematics syllabus, a 180-hour course of study, says students "learn to analyse the problem and break it down into manageable steps, to reflect on their strategies and those of others and to adjust their own approaches where necessary".

It also distinguishes the kind of task that builds the skill: "Problem-solving tasks activate creative mathematical thinking processes as opposed to imitative thinking processes activated by routine tasks." Routine exercises do not do this work.

Sources: Junior Cycle Mathematics specification and the Leaving Certificate Mathematics syllabus, read 16 September 2026. The third column is our own mapping, not part of either document. We do not teach the maths courses and make no claim about exam performance.

The method

The five moves we teach, and what they look like at each age

The method is the same for a seven year old making a game and an adult writing a data pipeline. Only the problems grow.

One method, three ages
Move	A child of eight	A teenager	An adult
Read it properly	Says back what the game should do	Writes the requirement in one sentence	Lists the inputs, outputs and constraints
Break it up	One part: make the cat move	Functions, each doing one thing	Modules with clear boundaries
Solve a smaller case	Make it work for one level	Run it on three rows of data	Prototype on a sample before the full set
Generalise	Make it work for every level	Handle the awkward cases too	Handle scale, errors and bad input
Judge it	Is it fun, does it break?	Is it right, is it readable?	Is it correct, fast enough, maintainable?

Being stuck is the lesson

Our teachers are trained to wait. A learner who is stuck and then finds a way forward has learned something a demonstration cannot teach.

A smaller case first

Most beginners attack the whole problem at once. Solving the two-row version, by hand if needed, is the single most useful habit we teach.

Say why, then run

The learner predicts the outcome before running the code, so every run tests their reasoning and not only their typing.

Where do AI tools come in? After the method is secure. A learner who can decompose a problem can use a tool to speed up a part they already understand, and can spot when its answer is wrong.

The habits that keep that honest are on understand the code, do not copy-paste, and the wider argument on learn to think, not just use AI tools.

The rungs

Five rungs of problem solving

A learner moves up when the teacher sees the rung used unprompted, not when a number of weeks has passed.

How problem solving is built
Rung	The learner can
1. Restate	Say what the problem is asking, in their own words
2. Decompose	Break it into parts that can be solved separately
3. Reduce	Solve a smaller version first and check it by hand
4. Generalise	Extend the working solution to all the cases
5. Evaluate	Compare approaches and defend the one chosen

Why restating comes first

A surprising share of wrong programs solve a problem nobody asked about. Restating catches that in thirty seconds, before an hour is spent.

The subjects these rungs run through are set out on the coding roadmap.

Beyond school

The same five moves are what technical interviews test, which is why our college and adult students work on them directly.

For students in Irish third level, coding for college students takes this further.

The catalogue

Nine live courses that drill problem solving

Grouped by stage. The free first class decides where a learner starts.

I

Younger learners

Method before machinery

SOLVE / YOUNG / 01

Maths Through Coding

School maths made visible and testable.

Open the syllabus

SOLVE / YOUNG / 02

Coding for Kids

Breaking a task into steps, with blocks.

Open the syllabus

SOLVE / YOUNG / 03

Python and AI for Kids

First typed code, first real debugging.

Open the syllabus

II

Secondary school

Problems without obvious answers

SOLVE / TEEN / 01

Problem Solving for Teens

The method, practised weekly on hard problems.

Open the syllabus

SOLVE / TEEN / 02

Python for Teens

Fluency, so the problem gets the attention.

Open the syllabus

SOLVE / TEEN / 03

Java for Teens

A stricter language that rewards planning.

Open the syllabus

III

College and adults

Cost, structure and trade-offs

SOLVE / ADULT / 01

Data Structures and Algorithms

Choosing a structure for a reason you can state.

Open the syllabus

SOLVE / ADULT / 02

Python Masterclass

From beginner to writing real programs alone.

Open the syllabus

SOLVE / ADULT / 03

Vibe Coding for College

Building fast with AI while reading every line.

Open the syllabus

How the classes run

Live classes with room to be stuck

Every class is live, because the teaching happens in the pause after a question. Our teachers work from India, whose clock stays put all year, so they are four and a half hours ahead of Irish time through the summer and five and a half once Ireland turns its clocks back in late October.

After school

Primary and secondary learners, Irish time.

Evening

College students and working adults.

Weekend

Longer problem sessions and project work.

A free first class

A real problem, worked through with a teacher, ending with an honest view of the right level.

Five to ten per group

Learners at one level, comparing approaches to the same problem each week.

One to one

For learners who want a faster pace or prefer to think without an audience.

Teachers who wait

Hints before answers, and the smallest hint that will do.

Problems, not only exercises

Tasks where the route is not given, because routine exercises build different skills.

Progress you can see

Learners keep their attempts, so improvement in method is visible over a term.

Student work

Problems our students solved and published

Four finished projects from our students, each one a problem somebody chose to take on. More are collected on the student labs page.

AI and ML

NutriLife

An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target.

by Bhavya · Open it

AI and ML

Misti

A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student.

by Harshit · Open it

AI and ML

GuardianX

An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online.

by Vivaan · Open it

Web app

SkyCast

A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location.

by Krish

Fees

A single monthly price in US dollars, the same in every country outside India and the same at every age. Nothing to pay to enrol, and no term or year to sign up for.

Free first class

USD 0

no card required

A genuine problem worked through
A clear view of the starting rung
No card taken

Book it

Group batch

USD 100

a month, billed in US dollars

Five to ten learners at one level
One teacher, week after week
Approaches compared, not just answers marked
A certificate at the end

Start here

One to one

USD 150

a month, billed in US dollars

A teacher for a single learner
Problems chosen for that learner
Good for fast movers and quiet thinkers

Enquire

What families say

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

From our Google reviews, unedited and unpaid, written by the families who sat through the lessons.

★★★★★

"The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content."

Ria Mukherjee

Parent

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease."

Samriddha Mondal

Student

★★★★★

"One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development."

Vansh Agarwal

Student

★★★★★

"My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative."

Sonam Oswal

Parent of Dhairya

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation."

Sonu Goyal

Parent

★★★★★

"I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding."

Ritu Kedia

Parent

Questions

What families in Ireland ask about problem solving

Can problem solving actually be taught?

The method can. Restating, decomposing, solving a smaller case, generalising and evaluating are moves that improve with practice, and the Irish maths curriculum names several of them as learning outcomes.

Will this improve my child's maths results?

We make no promises about grades or exam results. What we teach is a method for approaching problems, which many families find helps across subjects.

How does Ireland do in PISA maths?

Irish fifteen-year-olds averaged 491.6 in PISA 2022 against an OECD average of 472.4, though the national report notes an upward bias, since 22.1% of the sample did not participate or were absent.

Which part of maths do Irish students find hardest?

Of the four PISA processes, formulating scored lowest at 486.8. That is the step of turning a real situation into something you can calculate with, and it is the step coding practises constantly.

Is Ireland good at creative thinking?

There is no Irish score. Ireland took only the questionnaire part of the PISA 2022 creative thinking assessment, not the test, so any published Irish rank for it is mistaken.

What age should a child start?

From six, where problem solving means breaking a task into steps with blocks. Typed code and harder problems usually follow around ten.

Is this the same as competitive programming?

No. Competition problems are one source of practice, but the aim here is a method a learner uses on their own projects, school work and later at work.

What do the classes cost?

The first class is free. After that a group place is USD 100 a month and one-to-one lessons are USD 150 a month, billed in US dollars, with no enrolment fee.

When do classes run?

After school, evenings or weekends at a weekly hour agreed in the free class. Our teachers are four and a half hours ahead of Irish time in summer and five and a half in winter.

What happens when I send the form?

We phone at a reasonable Irish hour and book the free class. There is no charge unless the learner carries on.

Elsewhere on this site

Try a problem in a free first class

Leave a number and we will call at a time that works in Ireland. In the free class the learner takes on a real problem with a teacher who hints rather than tells, and you get an honest view of where they are.

Prefer to read first? Try how we teach, the list of courses or the projects our students finished.

WhatsApp us · +91 91233 66161 · contact@modernagecoders.com

A WhatsApp message is free from an Irish number and usually gets the quickest answer. The number is Indian because our team is based in India; we hold no premises in Ireland.

Three courses where problem solving is the subject

Problem Solving for Teens

Data Structures and Algorithms

Maths Through Coding

Ireland in PISA 2022, and the step Irish students find hardest

The four steps of doing maths

The caveat the researchers insist on

Fewer struggling

Fewer at the top

No creative-thinking score

What the Irish maths curriculum asks students to be able to do

The five moves we teach, and what they look like at each age

Being stuck is the lesson

A smaller case first

Say why, then run

Five rungs of problem solving

Why restating comes first

Beyond school

Nine live courses that drill problem solving

Younger learners

Maths Through Coding

Coding for Kids

Python and AI for Kids

Secondary school

Problem Solving for Teens

Python for Teens

Java for Teens

College and adults

Data Structures and Algorithms

Python Masterclass

Vibe Coding for College

Live classes with room to be stuck

A free first class

Five to ten per group

One to one

Teachers who wait

Problems, not only exercises

Progress you can see

Problems our students solved and published

NutriLife

Misti

GuardianX

SkyCast

Fees

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

What families in Ireland ask about problem solving

Can problem solving actually be taught?

Will this improve my child's maths results?

How does Ireland do in PISA maths?

Which part of maths do Irish students find hardest?

Is Ireland good at creative thinking?

What age should a child start?

Is this the same as competitive programming?

What do the classes cost?

When do classes run?

What happens when I send the form?

Related reading

Learn to think, not just use AI tools

Understand the code, do not copy-paste

Best coding classes for teens in Ireland

Coding for college students in Ireland

The best coding class in the world

Coding classes in Ireland

Try a problem in a free first class

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