Questioning Strategies That Provoke High-Level Thinking (Using Your Critical Thinking Wheel)

Dave PuckettNMSA

Effective Use of Questioning

Questioning can..... arouse curiosity stimulate interest in the topic clarify concepts emphasize key points enhance problem-solving ability encourage students to think at higher cognitive levels motivate student to search for new information ascertain students’ knowledge level to aid in

modifying instruction

General Techniques of Effective Questioning: Create a climate conducive to learning. A

happy facial expression, nod, or verbal acknowledgement of a correct response encourages other students to participate in the discussion. Pose questions in a non-threatening way and receive answers in a supportive fashion. A harsh tone, especially when used to interrupt a response from the student, can be devastating for both the student and his or her peers.

Prepare the students for the questioning session and discussion. Explain to students the format, expectations, and how this knowledge will help them.

Use both pre-planned and emerging questions. Pre-planned questions are those incorporated into the lesson plan that are asked during the teaching session to introduce new concepts, focus the discussion on certain items, steer the discussion in specific directions, or identify student knowledge level on the topic. Emerging questions derive from the discussion itself and the specific answers given to previous questions. Think quickly and act decisively to phrase these questions accurately and pose them at appropriate times in the discussion.

Use an appropriate variety and mix of questions. One good strategy is to start with convergent questions and then continue with divergent questions, perhaps asking questions in hierarchical sequence and building from the recall of facts to higher levels of thinking and problem-solving. (The distinction between convergent and divergent questions is whether there is a single or accepted "correct" answer (to a convergent question) or are there a number of possible answers, many of which may be acceptable (to divergent questions). Convergent questions may expect the student to repeat some conventional wisdom. Divergent questions often require new, creative insights.) If a question requiring a higher level thinking skill stymies the student, go down to a question requiring a lower-level thinking skills and then work up the hierarchy.

Avoid trick questions and those that require only a YES or NO response. Trick questions should be avoided, as they frustrate students and tend to encourage frivolous responses. YES or NO questions encourage students to respond without fully understanding or thinking through the issue. When used, such questions should be followed by other questions to determine the thinking process of the student.

Phrase the questions carefully, concisely, and clearly. Improper phrasing and the use of multiple questions related to the same topic may result in unintentional cueing and inability to accurately assess student understanding.

Address questions to the group, versus the individual. Pose the question to the entire group and wait before identifying a student to respond. The wait time encourages all students to think about the response, as they do not know who is going to be called upon to answer the question. Select students at random to answer questions, as it tends to keep everyone attentive and involved.

Select both volunteers and non-volunteers to answer questions.

Adapt questions to the needs of the learners. Assess the students’ needs and tailor questions to maximize the number of correct answers while moving toward more and more difficult questions. Remember, no two groups of students will be alike or at the same level.

Use sufficient wait time. The teacher can significantly enhance the analytic and problem-solving skills of students by allowing sufficient wait times before responding, both after posing a question and after the answer is given. This allows everyone to think about not only the question but also the response provided by the student. Three to five seconds in most cases; longer in some, maybe up to 10 seconds for higher-order questions.

Respond to answers given by students. Listen carefully to the answers given by students; do not interrupt students while they are responding to questions unless they are straying far off course, are totally unfocused, or are being disruptive. Acknowledge correct answers and provide positive reinforcement. Do not use sarcasm, reprimands, accusations, and personal attacks. Repeat answers only when the other students have not heard the answers; other repeats waste time. Keep questioning until the learning objectives for the session have been achieved; this may be the best opportunity to teach a particular concept. Handle incomplete answers by reinforcing what is correct and then asking probing questions.

Types of probing questions: Extension - Require students to elaborate on the response

given to an earlier question. Such questions indicate to the learner that the original response was in the right direction but was not adequate.

Clarification - Useful when the student’s response is unclear or incomplete.

Justification - Require the learner to provide rationale for the previously-given response. Useful in providing insights into thinking and reasoning processes of students and revealing errors in these processes.

Prompting - Useful when students do not respond to the original question

Redirection - Used to elicit a variety of opinions during problem-solving sessions or discussions.

Using Your Questioning Wheel

Many students are directed to read narrative or expository selections for classroom assignments for the purpose of answering factual questions. This type of reading for literal comprehension is often emphasized because of the ease and equity of evaluation.

The emphasis is limiting because many students do not develop a personal attachment to books they read. They do not see reading as a bridge to their imaginations, a way to understand how others live their lives, or a method to gain self-understanding and evaluation.

Questions that teachers ask can direct the students to the realization that reading has a greater and more diverse purpose than just the simple recall of facts. If this can be accomplished, it is likely that students will place a higher value on reading, continue to turn to it for pleasure and as a resource, and will establish it as a life-long habit.

For any assigned reading selection (or classroom instructional presentation), develop questions that reflect the progression of thinking and responding from the literal level to the evaluative. Not all levels need to be developed for every selection. Consider a range that will lead the student to the greater purpose of reading.

Your Task … Using the accompanying

copy of Goldilocks and The Three Bears and your Questioning Wheel, construct three different questions for each of Bloom’s six thinking levels. Remember, the higher we go on Bloom’s, the higher we go on Kentucky’s Depth Of Knowledge levels!

Each level of Bloom's original taxonomy has been restated for clarity and simplification. Examples of appropriate questions or directives are given to illustrate each level. The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears was used for general understanding.

Examples:

Knowledge - the recall of specific information

Who was Goldilocks? Where did she live? With whom?

Comprehension - an understanding of what was read

This story was about __________. (Topic) The story tells us ________. (Main Idea) What did Goldilocks look like? What kind of girl was she?

Application - the converting of abstract content to concrete situations

How were the bears like real people? Why did Goldilocks go into the little house? Write a sign that should be placed near the edge of

the forest. Draw a picture of what the bear's house looked like. Draw a map showing Goldilock's house, the path in

the forest, the bear's house, etc. Show through action how Goldilocks sat in the chairs,

ate the porridge, etc.

Analysis - the comparison and contrast of the content to personal experiences

How did each bear react to what Goldilocks did?

How would you react? Compare Goldilocks to any friend. Do you know any animals (pets) that act

human? When did Goldilocks leave her real world for

fantasy? How do you know?

Synthesis - the organization of thoughts, ideas, and information from the content

List the events of the story in sequence. Point out the importance of time sequence words by asking:

What happened after Goldilocks ate the Baby Bear's porridge? What happened before Goldilocks went into the forest? What is the first thing she did when she went into the house? Draw a cartoon or stories about bears. Do they all act like

humans? Do you know any other stories about little girls or boys who

escaped from danger? Make a puppet out of one of the characters. Using the puppet,

act out his/her part in the story. Make a diorama of the bear's house and the forest.

Evaluation - the judgment and evaluation of characters, actions, outcome, etc., for personal reflection and understanding

Why were the bear's angry with Goldilocks? Why was Goldilocks happy to get home? What do you think she learned by going into that house? Would you have gone in the bear's house? Why or why not? Do you think this really happened to Goldilocks? Why? Why would a grown-up write this story for children to read? Why has the story of Goldilocks been told to children for many,

many years?