As the students work cooperatively towards a common goal, they begin to see a "purpose" for their education and develop a personal commitment to learning. The concepts behind each problem-solving step are taught in short, but challenging, stages, thus making the concepts easy to understand and apply. Action-based Problem Solving actively engages all students in learning, constructing meaning, and applying both knowledge and processes to real-life situations. It has real-world applications for authentic learning and is designed to guide students into community action. In this sense, it can be seen as being akin to Community Problem Solving for lower primary students.

Action-based Problem Solving provides a model that is effective in the classroom for all students. It can also be implemented as:

• a strategy for use in the inclusion model
• a curriculum in exploratory classes
• an extension of any curriculum unit
• a tactic to introduce higher-level thinking skills to gifted students

Classes in the Primary Division engage in problem solving using fairy tales throughout Semester one. By using well-known fairy tales written with a new twist, younger students are introduced to the procedural, brainstorming, decision-making and communication strategies needed for learning, in a fun, non-threatening manner.

In Semester two the students works on a challenge that is written by the classroom teacher. The advantage of having the class teacher write the challenge is that it can be specifically tailored to suit the class curriculum. Teachers may write a challenge to reflect an integrated unit of work or a specific curriculum area e.g. Science. Teachers may prefer to write the challenge on an issue that the class/school/community is dealing with e.g. bullying, lack of funding for sports equipment, traffic congestion around the school. The students work through the 5-step problem solving process and submit their Action Booklet for evaluation and feedback.