Questioning in the Critical Thinking Classroom

TACT

Spring 2005

Purpose of Today’s Workshop

We will address these questions: Why is questioning essential in a critical thinking

classroom? What kind of classroom environment encourages

critical inquiry? As instructors, how can we create good questions,

questions that require critical thinking? How can we create good class activities around those questions?

How can we foster a questioning mindset in our students?

The Importance of Questioning Critical thinking involves asking questions. It

involves asking questions that need to be asked, asking good questions, questions that go to the heart of the matter. Critical thinking involves noticing that there are questions that need to be addressed (Nosich, 2005).

Instructors and students alike need to cultivate the skill of asking good questions.

It is not possible to be a good thinker and a poor questioner. Questions define tasks, express problems, and delineate issues. They drive thinking forward. . . . Thinking in disciplines is driven, not by answers, but by essential questions (Elder & Paul, 2002).

Web Resources from the Foundation for Critical Thinking The Critical Mind is a Questioning Mind The Role of Questions in Teaching, Thinking,

and Learning The Questioning Mind: Newton, Darwin, and

Einstein

Group Discussion: Creating a Climate Conducive to Questioning What kind of classroom environment

encourages critical inquiry? Come up with three answers at your table to

share with the whole group.

A Questioning Classroom Classmates know each other’s names and are

comfortable with each other and instructor. “Wrong” answers are okay; trial and error is how we

learn; thinking is often a messy process. Everyone is expected to participate; students are

called upon by name. Responses are held to intellectual standards. Critical listening is expected: Students are held

responsible for listening to and summarizing each other’s answers.

Students are expected to come to class with questions about the reading/topic; those questions drive discussions/lectures.

Types of Questions

1. One System: one definitive answer

2. No System: a subjective choice

3. Conflicting Systems: a consideration of competing answers

For more info, see Foundation Materials: Three Categories of Questions

Category 1: “One System” Questions Requires evidence and reasoning within a

system Result: one correct answer Leads to knowledge Examples: Did it rain here yesterday? How

does the hard drive on a computer operate? What is the differential of this equation? Under what conditions do atomic chain reactions take place?

In your groups. . .

Write at least five Category 1 questions from your respective disciplines. Please write them large enough to be seen by the entire group.

We will ask each group to share their questions, holding up the paper so everyone can read it.

Category 3: “Conflicting System” Questions Requires evidence and reasoning within conflicting

systems Result: better and worse answers: well-supported &

reasoned vs. poorly supported & reasoned—use specific criteria (Intellectual Standards) as basis for evaluation

Leads to reasoned judgment Examples: Rank the four categories of “biological

molecules” in order from most important to least; explain and defend your rankings.

In your groups. . .

Write at least five Category 3 questions from your respective disciplines. Please write them large enough to be seen by the entire group.

We will ask each group to share their questions, holding up the paper so everyone can read it.

Category 2: “No System” Questions Calls for stating a subjective preference Result: a subjective opinion Cannot be assessed Examples: Would you rather have short hair

or long hair? Do you prefer this poem or that one? Which movie do you like better? Do you prefer American or British literature?

In your groups. . .

Write at least five Category 2 questions from your respective disciplines. Please write them large enough to be seen by the entire group.

Discuss how these Category 2 questions could feed into Category 3 questions.

We will ask each group to share their questions, holding up the paper so everyone can read it.

Fostering a Questioning Mindset in Students Students need to learn how to ask the questions—to

notice that there are questions that need to be addressed—to pose the problems themselves. Discuss the importance of questioning to critical thinking and to learning.

Use questions as a “ticket to class.” Ask students to write down their questions at the

end of each class period. Routinely ask students to create category 3

questions from their reading. Ask students to create problems/questions to solve;

don’t give them the problem/question.

Give students these questions (or help them generate such questions); routinely use in class: How does what I learn in this course relate to my own experiences? How can I use what I learn here in my own life? Can I think up my own examples? How does this subject matter relate to other courses I am taking? What is the evidence behind this? How do the topics in this course fit together? What is the purpose of this course? What is its central question?

How does each topic fit into the central question? Why? What are some alternative ways of solving this problem? What is a good way to begin solving this problem? Do I have all the information I need? What’s the purpose behind the problem? How does the problem fit into a real context? (Nosich, 2005)

Resources

Linda Elder and Richard Paul’s The Miniature Guide to the Art of Asking Essential Questions (2002). Foundation for Critical Thinking.

Richard Paul and Linda Elder’s The Miniature Guide for Those Who Teach on How to Improve Student Learning (2002). Pp. 43-44.

Gerald Nosich’s Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum (2005). Pearson, Prentice Hall.

Foundation for Critical Thinking Home Page