Questioning to Enhance
Teaching and Learning
A Brief Intro:
Your Presenters
Questioning Activity:
Why Question?
Who Needs To Be
a Good Questioner?
Reporter
Scientist
Doctor
Lawyer
Auto Mechanic
Presenter
Teacher
and
STUDENT!
What Kinds of Questions
Do They Ask?
Information/Factual
Research/Probing
Provocative/Irreverant
Challenging
Reflective
Motivational/Inventive
Divergent
Etc.
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 to
Higher Order Thinking
The Question Press: Jamie McKenzie
http://www.fno.org/feb04/questionpress.html
The Biography Maker: Jamie McKenzie
http://www.fno.org/bio/QUEST.HTM
The Questioning Toolkit
Jamie McKenzie
Essential 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
Questions
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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”
Loertscher, David.
• Ban Those Bird Units! 2005.
• Beyond Bird Units. 2007.
• Davidvl.org (website of David Loertscher)
From Trivial Pursuit to
Higher 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 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 Models
• are a framework for designing successful
assignments.
• effectively utilize information and technology
rich learning environments.
• provide opportunity for differentiated
instruction.
The Think Models
Appetizers
• Background to Question Model
• Sense-making Model
• Read, View, and Listen Model
• Advice to Action Model
• Compare and Contrast Model
The Think Models
Main 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 Models
More 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 Models
More Main Courses
• Learner Directed Quest
– Hero’s Journey
– Become an Expert
– I Search
Dessert
• Mix It Up!
Another 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/isteeduverse-talks-episode-13.html
From Trivial Pursuit to
Higher Order Thinking
Turning 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 to
Higher 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 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 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 Recommend
Bloom’s Taxonomy (1950s)
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally
Resources We Recommend
http://www.pgcps.pg.k12.md.us/~elc/isquestiontopromote.html
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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