--- title: "Problem Solving Skills Through Coding | Ireland" description: "Build problem-solving skills through coding in Ireland: what PISA 2022 and the maths curriculum say, and how decomposition is taught class by class." canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/problem-solving-skills-through-coding-ireland source: src/pages/problem-solving-skills-through-coding-ireland.html --- > Build problem-solving skills through coding in Ireland: what PISA 2022 and the maths curriculum say, and how decomposition is taught class by class. 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. Start here ## 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. [![Problem Solving for Teens course thumbnail](/images/problem-solving-teens.webp) 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 →](/courses/problem-solving-dsa-masterclass-teens)[![Data Structures & Algorithms Course course thumbnail](/images/dsa-college.webp) 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. Open the syllabus →](/courses/data-structures-algorithms-masterclass-college)[![Maths Through Coding course thumbnail](/images/maths-through-coding.webp) 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 →](/courses/maths-through-coding) 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. | 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](https://www.erc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/B23617-Education-in-a-Dynamic-World-Report-online-1.pdf), Educational Research Centre, December 2023, read 16 September 2026. The creative-thinking point is confirmed against [OECD PISA in Focus No. 125](https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2024/06/new-pisa-results-on-creative-thinking_7dccb55b/b3a46696-en.pdf), 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. | 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](https://www.curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/6a7f1ff5-9b9e-4d71-8e1f-6d4f932191db/JC_Mathematics_Specification.pdf) and the [Leaving Certificate Mathematics syllabus](https://curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/f6f2e822-2b0c-461e-bcd4-dfcde6decc0c/%20SCSEC25_Maths_syllabus_examination-2015_English.pdf), 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. | 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](/understand-the-code-dont-copy-paste-ireland), and the wider argument on [learn to think, not just use AI tools](/learn-to-think-not-just-use-ai-tools-ireland). 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. | 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](/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](/coding-for-college-students-ireland) 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](/courses/maths-through-coding) SOLVE / YOUNG / 02 #### Coding for Kids Breaking a task into steps, with blocks. [Open the syllabus](/courses/kids-coding-blocks-masterclass) SOLVE / YOUNG / 03 #### Python and AI for Kids First typed code, first real debugging. [Open the syllabus](/courses/python-ai-kids-masterclass)II ### Secondary school Problems without obvious answers SOLVE / TEEN / 01 #### Problem Solving for Teens The method, practised weekly on hard problems. [Open the syllabus](/courses/problem-solving-dsa-masterclass-teens) SOLVE / TEEN / 02 #### Python for Teens Fluency, so the problem gets the attention. [Open the syllabus](/courses/python-complete-masterclass-teens) SOLVE / TEEN / 03 #### Java for Teens A stricter language that rewards planning. [Open the syllabus](/courses/java-programming-masterclass-for-teens)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](/courses/data-structures-algorithms-masterclass-college) SOLVE / ADULT / 02 #### Python Masterclass From beginner to writing real programs alone. [Open the syllabus](/courses/python-programming-masterclass-zero-to-advanced-college) SOLVE / ADULT / 03 #### Vibe Coding for College Building fast with AI while reading every line. [Open the syllabus](/courses/vibe-coding-for-college-fullstack-ai-dsa-career-course) 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](/student-labs) page. ![NutriLife AI nutrition coach project screenshot](/images/projects/nutrilife.webp) AI and ML #### NutriLife An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target. by Bhavya · [Open it](https://nutrilife-bhavya.lovable.app) ![Misti AI chatbot for maths and coding screenshot](/images/projects/misti.webp) AI and ML #### Misti A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student. by Harshit · [Open it](https://misti.modernagecoders.com) ![GuardianX AI internet safety assistant screenshot](/images/projects/guardianx.webp) AI and ML #### GuardianX An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online. by Vivaan · [Open it](https://guardianx-cybersaver.lovable.app) ![SkyCast weather forecast application screenshot](/images/projects/skycast.webp) Web app #### SkyCast A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location. by Krish Fees ## 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 ## Related reading Pages that share this argument. ### [Learn to think, not just use AI tools](/learn-to-think-not-just-use-ai-tools-ireland) Thinking in the Irish curriculum. ### [Understand the code, do not copy-paste](/understand-the-code-dont-copy-paste-ireland) Keeping the learning when tools help. ### [Best coding classes for teens in Ireland](/best-coding-classes-for-teens-ireland) The secondary years. ### [Coding for college students in Ireland](/coding-for-college-students-ireland) Where these skills lead. ### [The best coding class in the world](/best-coding-class-in-the-world) The research on teaching. ### [Coding classes in Ireland](/coding-classes-in-ireland) The national page. Start here ## 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](/how-we-teach), the [list of courses](/courses) or the [projects our students finished](/student-labs). [WhatsApp us](https://wa.me/919123366161?text=Hello%20Modern%20Age%20Coders%2C%20I%20would%20like%20a%20free%20first%20class%20for%20a%20learner%20in%20Ireland%20who%20wants%20to%20build%20problem-solving%20skills.) · [+91 91233 66161](tel:+919123366161) · [contact@modernagecoders.com](mailto: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. ## Keep exploring Modern Age Coders ### Related courses and guides - [Prompt Engineering Course](/prompt-engineering-course) - [Privacy Policy](/privacy) - [RAG Systems Course](/rag-systems-course) - [Passion Project Ideas for Computer Science Students](/passion-project-ideas-computer-science) - [Real Coding Classes: Learn How Code Actually Works](/real-coding-classes) - [A Parent's Guide to Vibe Coding](/parents-guide-to-vibe-coding) - [Our Results](/results) - [How Large Language Models Work](/how-large-language-models-work) - [Homeschool Coding Curriculum](/homeschool-coding-curriculum) ### Learn more - [11 Plus Maths Tuition Online](/11-plus-maths-tuition) - [JEE Foundation Maths Class 8-10: Proofs & Problem Solving](/courses/jee-foundation-maths-course-class-8-10) - [KS3 Maths Tuition Online](/ks3-maths-tuition-online) ### Free resources - [AI & Machine Learning Tutorial: Basics to Deep Learning](/resources/ai-and-machine-learning) - [Data Preprocessing and Exploratory Data Analysis](/resources/ai-and-machine-learning/data-preprocessing-and-eda) - [Exception Handling in Java](/resources/java/exception-handling) - [Introduction to Neural Networks](/resources/ai-and-machine-learning/introduction-to-neural-networks) ### From the blog - [Robotics and Coding: How STEM Kits Build Logical Thinking](/blog/robotics-coding-stem-kits-build-logical-thinking) - [How to Help With Maths Homework (Without Solving It)](/blog/help-child-with-maths-homework) - [How Learning Coding Improves Mathematical Thinking in Children](/blog/how-coding-improves-mathematical-thinking-children) ### Start here - [Browse every live course at Modern Age Coders](/courses) - [Try a free trial class with a Modern Age Coders mentor](/free-trial) --- *Canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/problem-solving-skills-through-coding-ireland*