Chapter 7 Questioning for Inquiry Central concepts Questioning

Chapter 7: Questioning for Inquiry Central concepts: § Questioning stimulates and guides inquiry § Teachers use different types of questions to achieve specific effects § Questions and questioning techniques influence learners' science achievement, attitudes and thinking skills § Teachers use questions to instruct, control, and evaluate science learning § Low and high levels of questions carry different impact, both are important § Teacher modeling can improve students uses of questions T 7. 0

What is a question? A question is an interrogative sentence that asks for a response. A question is expressed in simple, clear, straight-forward language that students can understand. A good question stimulates thinking and should be adapted to the age, abilities, and interests of the students. A good question is one that is appropriate and is used for a specific purpose. Questions are used: • to find out what is not known or to find out whether someone knows • to establish cause and effect • to discover interests • to motivate • to help develop appreciation • to provide drill and practice • to provide review • to help students organize thinking • to reveal thinking processes • to develop an ability to think • to diagnose learning difficulties • to interpret meaning • to evaluate • to emphasize a point • to give practice • to show relationships • to permit expression Four types of questions: 1. Memory questions establish or review the facts. 2. Convergent questions have one correct answer and require reasoning. 3. Divergent questions have several answers and help to promote possibility thinking and creativity 4. Evaluative questions promote decision making and defensible judgments. How do you use questions? How do you use children’s questions? T 7. 1

Questions on Questions What kinds of questions do teachers ask and what kinds of answers do they require? Why do teachers use questions? How do questions affect students? How are teachers' questions and students' answers related? What is "wait-time" and why is it important to science teaching? What types of questions are found in texts and on science tests? T 7. 2

What Kinds of Questions & Answers? Ask mostly low cognitive level Require mostly factual answers Questions of this type do not support inquiry T 7. 3

Why Do Teachers Use Questions? (Table 7. 1) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. to motivate and to interest to reveal prior (mis)conceptions and to evaluate to guide thinking to discipline, manage or control to give listening cues to diagnose strengths, weaknesses to relate concepts to summarize T 7. 4

How Do Questions Affect Students? shape attitudes toward subject, level of thinking, and extent of achievement stimulate high level and divergent thinking achievement improves if high levels of questions are accompanied by wait-time, redirection, and probing produces inquiring minds T 7. 5

How Are Teacher Questions and Student Answers Related? the level of the question tends to obtain a similar level of answer teacher must assess appropriateness of answer level and encourage if of a lower level than expected children's language development and thinking benefit from questioning T 7. 6

How Do Teachers Use Questions To Involve All Students? to adapt instruction to student diversity to encourage greater involvement of low achievers to initiate contact and to provide student feedback see Figure 7. 1 T 7. 7

What is "Wait-Time" and Why is it Important? WT#1 - length of time teacher waits after asking question before continuing WT#2 - length of time teacher waits after receiving answer before continuing average is less than 1 second (under what circumstances is this sufficient? ) recommended average WT is 3 to 5 sec. can expect improvements in quantity and quality of student participation see Figures 7. 2, 7. 3 T 7. 8

What Types of Questions are Used in Most Science Books and Tests? T 7. 9 low level questions devoted to facts in books about 95% of test questions are on Bloom's Knowledge and Comprehension levels recommend that teacher screen texts and tests, adapt or supplement as needed T 7. 9

What are the Different Types of Questions? Good questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. stimulate and guide exploration include student's experiences invite students to explain or demonstrate include basic and integrated science process skills 5. see Table 7. 2, Exercises 7. 1 and 7. 2, Figures 7. 4, 7. 5 T 7. 10

Figure 7. 5 QUESTION CATEGORY SAMPLE QUESTION PHASES Evaluative Thinking Bloom’s Evaluation Level: • Make choices • Form values • Overlap critiques, judgment, defenses How and Why Reasonings: • Choose, appraise, select, evaluate, judge, assess, defend, justify • Form conclusions and generalizations • What do you favor. . . ? • What is your feeling about. . . ? • What is your reason for. . . ? Divergent Thinking Bloom’s Synthesis Level: • Develop own ideas and information • Integrate own ideas • Plan, construct, or reconstruct Open-ended Questions for Problem Posing and Action: • Infer, predict, design, invent • Hypothesize and experiment • Communicate ideas • What do you think. . . ? • What could you do. . . ? • How could you design. . . ? • What do you think will happen if. . . ? Convergent Thinking Bloom’s Application and Analysis Level: • Uses of Logic • Deductive and inductive reasoning • Construct or reconstruct Closed Questions to: • Focus attention, guide, encourage measurement and counting, make comparisons, take action • Use logic, state relationships • Apply solutions • Solve problems • Hypothesize and experiment • Communicate ideas • If “A”, then what will happen to “B”. . . ? • Which are facts, opinions and inferences. . . ? • What is the author’s purpose. . . ? • What is the relationship of “x” to “y”. . . ? Cognitive Memory Bloom’s Knowledge and Comprehension Level: • Rote memorization • Selective recall of facts, formulas, instructions, rules, or procedures • Recognition Managerial and Rhetorical Questions: • Simple attention focusing, yes-no responses Information: • Repeat, name, describe, identify, observe, simple explanation, compare Intended mental activity • What is the definition of. . . ? • What are three steps in. . . ? • Who discovered. . . ? • In your own words, what is the meaning of. . . ? Key function or science processes T 7. 11

What are the Keys to Effective Questioning? plan specific questions as a guide ask simple, concise and direct questions ask, then select the respondent use wait time and explain it to students listen to determine if responses match the question's level stimulate wonder and puzzling thoughts T 7. 12

What are the Keys to Effective Questioning? , cont. talk less and ask more encourage complete and complex answers vary your question types to encourage all students stimulate the basic process skills, ages 5 to 10 stimulate the integrated process skills, ages 11 onward T 7. 13

Why use Children's Questions? to gain insight about their interests to understand their concept formation to help them set realistic expectations to help them form the mental habit of reflection T 7. 14

How Can You Stimulate Children's Questions? use interesting materials and encourage direct experiences model good questioning skills (Fig. 7. 6) and use questions to construct connections among thoughts (Fig. 7. 7, 7. 8, 7. 9, 7. 10) develop an atmosphere of trust and encourage productive questions include their questions on tests and in assignments respond in an encouraging way and help children improve their questions T 7. 15