Effectively Questioning

Questions, questions, questions. We all have questions, right?

I think we all have many questions running through our minds at almost any point in time. We may not recognize them as questions, but I believe we are constantly wondering and thinking, which in turn creates many questions.

As an educator, how do I get my students thinking and pondering new questions based on my content material that I am teaching? How do I encourage my students to create their own questions and seek answers?

According to Cornell University Center for Teaching Excellence, questions are the key to student understanding and comprehension. Questions are effective in assessing students engagement, retention of material, and stimulating discussion and high order thinking. Questions are very useful for students and teachers.

I like to think of a lesson as a little outdoor scenery. I envision content material as stepping stones. So as I begin a lesson I may start my lesson by taking little steps to stones in close proximity, until I get a framework of the material built up.

As I continue to get involved in content material I can begin to take bigger steps and lead to bigger stepping stones that increase the depth of my knowledge. As I continue to 'travel' deeper in my content 'setting' I find that my stepping stones are becoming farther apart. The content material is becoming more and more stretched from where I first started. As a student, at this point I feel I need a helping hand before I can make another big jump in content.

I need a bridge. I need to stop ask questions and review what I have learned, restate where I am going, and connect all the content material I have learned so far with the questions and concerns I am thinking or encountering. The bridge, (my questions) will allow me take take a leap of understanding forward and continue on my learning journey.

I think questioning is a great component to student success. As an educator, I was to encourage my students to strive for the very best. I want their minds to wonder. I want them to constantly be thinking of "why, what, if, how, when" questions. I want them to be able to develop a 'bridge' of questions as a way to establish content relationships and develop thinking skills as to how their 'journey' will continue.

According to "Effective Questioning Techniques"  by James Dyer, questions are effective when they establish relationships between concepts. Just as the bridge analogy illustrates.

Questions can be asked in two different level. Low level questioning and high level questioning. Low level questioning include questions that incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy of knowledge, comprehension, and simple applications.  A low level question could be thought of as a bridge very a very small slope. In contrast, a high level question is a deeper questions that asks students to use applications, analysis, and synthesis. These higher level questions illustrate a very steep skinny bridge. One that requires more thinking, and inquiring of each step.

Most importantly, I think questioning is a great tool for teachers to use to assess comprehension, develop student independence and thinking skills, and create connects between content material. Questions are everywhere, questions are inevitable, but questions are also a foundation for learning.