The Value of a Good Question

We have been talking about questioning and inquiry as effective ways to design lessons and units as well as gathering formative assessment data on student thinking.  The most recent issue of ASCD Express is all about questioning strategies and may be accessed here.

These are some of the ideas shared:

Seven Precepts for Purposeful Questioning
(from Einstein's 55 Minutes by Donna Shrum)

1. Provide sufficient wait time. Most teachers wait only one second for an answer. A wait of at least five seconds is recommended, but even longer is preferable for higher-order questions. The quality of answers will be better, also. Count the seconds slowly and silently to yourself until you are in the habit of waiting long enough. Also, before you pose a question, tell students to anticipate silence for thinking until you ask for the answer.

2. Model how to answer. While building your initial relationship with students and teaching the procedures of your classroom, don't forget how to model answering questions. Don't take for granted that they understand your expectations of what makes for a detailed, thoughtful answer. For example, a student might respond "Yes" to the question, "Is Hamlet's reaction to his mother's remarriage reasonable?" Although you want students to take a position on this topic, you also want them to back their claim with evidence. By modeling a response like, "Hamlet's reaction is reasonable because little time has passed since his father's death," you set an expectation that any answer will come with at least one supporting reason.

3. Keep higher-order question stems posted for easy access during discussions. Here is a helpful list of question stems (PDF), sorted from low to high levels on Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning. Ask students to keep a copy ready in their binders, or distribute laminated copies during discussions.

4. Don't accept easy answers. Challenge students to go deeper by posing your own question to their response or asking more questions to elicit their elaboration. The simplest tool is to ask "Why?" and follow it with another "Why?" If the learner's argument is, "We have a reason to fear Ebola outbreak in our country," asking why makes the student consider the source of his belief. Repeating "Why?" forces him to question the validity of his belief, and perhaps arrive at a different conclusion. Asking, "How do you know you're correct?" is another method for bringing depth to casual answers.

5. Don't accept, "I don't know." Many students have learned, "I don't know," is a way of disengaging and getting off the hot seat. Tell such a responder you want him to listen to the next two students, and you'll be back for his opinion after he's heard other responses. If he still says he doesn't know, ask him to repeat what he just heard the other two students say.

6. Make sure all students expect to participate in discussions. I use names on Popsicle sticks pulled from a cup to make sure everyone participates. Checking names on a roster also works. If students know their turn will come, they aren't tempted to consider questions a chance to check out while a select few with raised hands run the show.

7. Teach students to be the author of questions. Asking good questions is an acquired skill. Use theQuestion Formulation Technique or another research-based approach to explicitly teach your students the process of creating good questions.

Some Examples of Authentic Questioning in Social Studies

(from Doing the Work of Historians by Amy Lynn Mount)

Subject: World History Topic: Worlds Collide—European Exploration and Colonization of the America
Typical Social Studies Questions	Authentic Social Studies Questions
Who was Hernán Cortés? What did he accomplish? What is the significance of the following years: 1492? 1517? What factors led to European dominance in the New World? Define encomienda.	What do we know about the effects of exploration and colonization on the Americas? How do we know what we know? Why does this topic matter? What changed for Europeans, Indigenous Americans, and Africans after exploration and colonization? What stayed the same? If Columbus had never found the New World, how would life be different now? Who are the heroes and villains in this story?

Teacher Moves to Help STUDENTS Ask Good Questions

(from Teaching Students to Ask Good Questions by Robb Virgin)

Move 1: Revisit Big Ideas

To ask questions that will lead to rich learning, one must have some familiarity with the topic being discussed. Teachers can create such familiarity for students by designing units of study around big ideas that recur through the curriculum (conflict, change, and power are examples from my social studies course). This means that teachers move conceptual understanding to the front and center of the instructional stage and push disjointed bits of information to the periphery. In addition, units no longer operate in isolation, instead spiraling and supporting one another so that more students are able to connect.

Essentially, revisiting big ideas provides students the necessary familiarity to ask thoughtful questions. For example, students are better able to generate high-quality questions about the Industrial Revolution when they know the unit is targeted at enhancing their understanding of the same big idea (i.e., change) that they studied for understanding the Reconstruction.

Move 2: Teaching With and For Questioning

Because granting students the power to ask and investigate their own questions is a significant shift in role responsibility, teachers must teach the value of asking good questions. The specific Question Formulation Technique (QFT) outlined in Move 3 is grounded in the authors' belief that effective curriculums develop skills for metacognition and convergent and divergent thinking so that students can ask and answer pertinent questions in all contexts (Rothstein & Santana, 2011). In other words, this approach intends to teach with and for questions, similar to calls for discussion in the classroom (Parker & Hess, 2001).

Move 3: Create a Process and Stick to It

Students need consistency, especially when educators challenge the conventional. Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions (Rothstein & Santana, 2011) is a guidebook for student question creation that I have found useful. Their question formulation technique is as follows:

1. Choose a question focus statement (i.e., The scientific method must be followed).
2. Establish rules for producing questions.
3. Students produce questions.
4. Students improve questions.
5. Students prioritize questions.

To connecting this process to Move 1, clearly position the big idea in the question focus statement (e.g., for Reconstruction, "The Civil War didn't change much"). Students' questions are then "guiding questions" toward their understanding of the recurring big idea.

Of course, student-led question development becomes more powerful when authentic investigation follows. That is, if teachers provide the same learning activities as when they were the question-crafters, then they should not expect significant changes in learner outcomes. Creating learning teams based on the kinds of questions students ask is an effective strategy. Teams could consist of students asking different questions and lead to small-group jigsaw activities; or, students asking similar questions could be teamed in preparation for teaching the rest of the class. Online environments (e.g., Google Drive or Schoology) help students interact with one another and the teacher during the investigation phase. I recommend using a Gradual Release of Responsibility model (i.e., I do, we do, you do) throughout the school year (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983; Wiggins, 2014).

Technology Integration and Questioning: Nearpod

(from Nearpod A Technology Tool to Engage Students in Inquiry by Kevin S. Krahenbuhl and Kevin Smith)

1. Create a free account on Nearpod.com.
2. Create a presentation by simply uploading a PDF or PPT file you have already built.
3. Add in targeted questions throughout.
   1. Questions should scaffold to ascend Bloom's Taxonomy, from factual knowledge to synthesis, and so on.
   2. Questions can take the following forms (on the free version of Nearpod):
      1. Open-Ended Question
      2. Poll
      3. Quiz
      4. Draw-It
4. Ensure that students have access to computers or smart devices for the presentation.