Questioning to Enhance Questioning to Enhance Teaching and LearningTeaching and Learning

A Brief Intro:A Brief Intro: Your Presenters Your Presenters

Questioning Activity:Questioning Activity:Why Question?

Who Needs To Be Who Needs To Be a Good Questioner?a Good Questioner?

ReporterScientistDoctorLawyer

Auto MechanicPresenterTeacher

andSTUDENT!

What Kinds of Questions What Kinds of Questions Do They Ask?Do They Ask?

Information/FactualResearch/Probing

Provocative/IrreverantChallengingReflective

Motivational/InventiveDivergent

Etc.

Our First “Expert”Our First “Expert”Mckenzie, Jamie.

• From Now On (Ed. Tech. Journal)http://www.fno.org/

• The Question Mark (Ed. Tech. Journal)http://questioning.org/index.html

• Beyond Cut-and-Paste. 2009.• Leading Questions. 2007.• Learning to Question to Wonder to Learn. 2005.

From Trivial Pursuit toFrom Trivial Pursuit toHigher Order ThinkingHigher Order Thinking

The Question Press: Jamie McKenziehttp://www.fno.org/feb04/questionpress.html

The Biography Maker: Jamie McKenziehttp://www.fno.org/bio/QUEST.HTM

The Questioning ToolkitThe Questioning Toolkit

Jamie McKenzie

Essential QuestionsEssential Questions

Essential Questions probe the deepest issues confronting us, complex subjects with no simple answers. These should be the questions that offer the organizing focus for a unit.

A Few Examples . . .• Personal

– How can I be a better person?

• Educational– Why do we have to fight

wars?– How could political

issues or ideas ever become more important than family loyalties?

Subsidiary QuestionsSubsidiary Questions

Subsidiary Questions help us build answers to our essential questions. Big (essential) questions lead to smaller (subsidiary) questions for providing insight.

A Few Examples . . .• What’s the worst that

can happen if . . .?• What are the potential

benefits of . . .?• What are the available

resources to . . .?

Hypothetical QuestionsHypothetical Questions

Hypothetical Questions are “suppose” and “if” questions designed to explore possibilities and test relationships.

A Few Examples . . .• What if the South had

won the Civil War?• Suppose the earth had

no moon.

Telling QuestionsTelling Questions

Telling Questions lead us directly to the target. They focus on only the facts that illuminate the main question at hand.

An Example. . .• What is the violent crime

rate for cities in Minnesota as reported by ?, and how has it changed over the last ten years? (This telling question would help answer which Minnesota city is the safest.)

Planning QuestionsPlanning Questions

Planning Questions require that we think about the structure of our research, where we will look, what resources (time and information) we might use to develop a plan.

A Few Examples . . .• Who is an authority on

this topic?• What is the best tool to

gather the most reliable and relevant information?

• How can we plan our time to match the resources available and our final product?

Organizing QuestionsOrganizing Questions

Organizing Questions provide structure for our research findings.

A Few Examples . . .• What is the best way to

organize this information?– Chart for

Compare/Contrast– Spreadsheet for Data

Collection– Summary of Key

Information (Bits and Bytes)

Probing QuestionsProbing Questions

Probing Questions take us below the surface and to the “heart of the matter.”

A Few Examples . . .• Are there clues that will

help me get to the “good stuff”?

• How can we use our prior knowledge to help guide our search for new information?

Sorting & Sifting Sorting & Sifting QuestionsQuestions

Sorting and Sifting Questions help us determine what information is reliable and relevant.

A Few Examples . . .• Is this data worth

keeping?• Is this information

reliable?• Is this information

relevant to the topic?

Clarification QuestionsClarification Questions

Clarification Questions help define words and concepts, examine the coherence and logic of an argument, and determine underlying assumptions.

A Few Examples . . .• What do they mean by .

. .?• How did they develop

the case they are presenting?

• Are there any questionable assumptions below the surface?

Strategic QuestionsStrategic Questions

Strategic Questions focus on ways to make meaning.

A Few Examples . . .• What do I do next?• What type of question

would help me with this task?

• Do I need to change my research plan? If so, how?

Elaborating QuestionsElaborating Questions

Elaborating Questions extend and stretch what we are finding.

A Few Examples . . .• What does this mean?• What are the implied or

suggested meanings?• What does this really

mean?

Unanswerable QuestionsUnanswerable Questions

Unanswerable Questions push the thought process to the greatest extent in the hopes of getting closer to the “truth.”

A Few Examples . . .• How will I be

remembered?• What is the Good Life?

Inventive QuestionsInventive Questions

Inventive Questions make adjustments to our findings to help get closer to discovering something new.

A Few Examples . . .• What might still be

missing?• Can I display this in a

way that will help shed more light on my essential question?

Provocative QuestionsProvocative Questions

Provocative Questions push and challenge and may throw conventional wisdom off balance.

A Few Examples . . .• Where’s the beef?• What’s the point? • Is there any worthwhile

information here?

Irrelevant QuestionsIrrelevant Questions

Irrelevant Questions divert us from the task at hand (and that’s not always a bad thing).

A Few Examples . . .• What if we . . .?• Have you thought about

. . .?

Divergent QuestionsDivergent Questions

Divergent Questions use existing knowledge as a base from which to “kick off” like a swimmer making a turn. (These questions seem more logical than irrelevant questions.)

An Example . . .• What are some related

topics that might give us some insight or send us in a new direction?

Irreverent QuestionsIrreverent Questions

Irreverent Questions explore territory which is “off-limits” or taboo.

An Example . . .• Think of the story of

The Emperor’s New Clothes. This classic story shows what happens when irreverent questions are discouraged and obedience and compliance are prized.

Our Second “Expert”Our Second “Expert”Loertscher, David.

• Ban Those Bird Units! 2005. • Beyond Bird Units. 2007.• Davidvl.org (website of David Loertscher)

From Trivial Pursuit toFrom Trivial Pursuit toHigher Order ThinkingHigher Order Thinking

Beyond Bird Units*: David Loertscher, Carol Koechlin, and Sandi Zwann

What is a Bird Unit?

*By the way, we and they have nothing against birds.

The Think ModelsThe Think Models

• apply critical and creative thinking. • build cross curricular literacy skills and new

literacies. • are engaging and effective. • empower students to build deeper

understanding. • are knowledge building learning experiences.

The Think ModelsThe Think Models

• are a framework for designing successful assignments.

• effectively utilize information and technology rich learning environments.

• provide opportunity for differentiated instruction.

The Think ModelsThe Think ModelsAppetizers• Background to Question Model• Sense-making Model• Read, View, and Listen Model• Advice to Action Model• Compare and Contrast Model

The Think ModelsThe Think ModelsMain Courses• Concept Building Jigsaw Puzzle Model • Problems/Possibilities Jigsaw Puzzle Model • Decision Matrix Model • Patterns and Trends Matrix Model • Timeline Model • History & Mystery Model • Take a Position Model

The Think ModelsThe Think ModelsMore Main Courses• Re-Create Model • Reinvent Model • Learn By Doing • The Teacher-Directed Quest Model

– On-Line Quest Projects – The Report – The Research Paper – The WebQuest as a Research Model

The Think ModelsThe Think Models

More Main Courses• Learner Directed Quest

– Hero’s Journey – Become an Expert– I Search

Dessert • Mix It Up!

Another ExpertAnother Expert• Porter, Bernajean. Turning Up the H.E.A.T.

Workshop (TIES 2009)

Bernajean Porter Presentation in Second Life

http://www.iste-eduverse.org/blog/iste-eduverse-talks-episode-13.html

From Trivial Pursuit toFrom Trivial Pursuit toHigher Order ThinkingHigher Order ThinkingTurning Up the H. E. A. T.: Bernajean

Porter• H = Higher Order Thinking• E = Engaged Learning• A = Authentic Tasks • T = Added Value Technology Uses

From Trivial Pursuit toFrom Trivial Pursuit toHigher Order ThinkingHigher Order Thinking

YOUR ACTION PLAN?

•Consciously ask better questions•Encourage students to ask good questions•Transform one “bird unit” •Turn one lecture into a discussion•H.E.A.T. up one assignment

A Few IdeasA Few Ideas• Thought-Provoking Question of the Day

(or Week) http://www.internet4classrooms.com/question_day.htm

• E-Projects (To Generate Questions) Beyond “All About . . .”:– Pathfinders– Virtual Tours http://www.theteachersguide.com/virtualtours.html

– Interactive Video Conferencing

• Use artifacts, photos, quotations, film clips, etc. to model and teach good questioning.

http://www.minnesota-china.com/Education/fmMystPhNov14.htm

Can you guess what these locks are doing at the Great Wall of China?

A. When workers at the Great Wall find lost locks in the bicycle parking lot, they place them in this "lost and found" display.B.When tourists come to the Great wall, they can rent a lock and store their things in a locker.C.When newlyweds come to the Great Wall, they place a lock in the chain.

More IdeasMore Ideas• Technology Tools for Higher Order Thinking

– Concept Mapping Tools• SMART Notebook• PowerPoint and Word• Inspiration

– Graphic Organizers

Note the types of visual organizers available in Smart Art in Powerpoint

Resources We RecommendResources We Recommend

Bloom’s Taxonomy (1950s) Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally

Resources We RecommendResources We Recommend

http://www.pgcps.pg.k12.md.us/~elc/isquestiontopromote.html

• What Are the Types of Questions? • What Is the Value of Wait Time? • Questioning and Brain Research • Teaching in the Interrogative • Dimensions of Learning and the Questioning Process • A Checklist for Effective Questioning • Resources for Questioning to Promote Higher-Order Thinking