Shaping teaching and learning in the 21st century Ko te whenu hou te tau Rotorua New Zealand February 2008

Questioning

Why is questioning important?

A learner is by nature a questioner A questioner is by nature a learner. A thinker is a questioner. A thinker is a learner Questioning is central to thinking and learning

All our knowledge results from questions, which is another way of saying that questioning is our most important intellectual tool. Neil Postman (P 140)

De Bono Questions are the engine house of thinking.

Given that questioning is so important….. What are 3 things that you would like to know about questioning that would help you to improve your students questioning skills? Write 3 questions about developing student questioning skills.

Learner Questions Requests Rhetoric Inquiry Fertile, Essential, Inquiry, Rich, Reflective Open, Closed, Fat, Skinny, Rich, Poor, Key. Fact finding, Evaluative, Daignostic, Hypothetical

What are the core skills of an effective questioner? Identify the need or problem Identify the relevant contextual vocabulary Ask a range of relevant questions Take them to a variety of appropriate sources Persist, editing questions as necessary, until they acquire the needed information

Many other associated skills But they are primarily Literacy, thinking or Information skills. Eg…. Reading Comprehension Speaking Listening Location Skimming Scanning

What is a good question? It is relevant Can be taken to intelligent and non- intelligent sources Gets you the information that is needed

Intelligent Non- intelligent

Poor questions Where can I find it? What skills do I need? How do I get there? What are the issues with these questions that would classify them as poor questions?

QuESTioning Rubric As I go through the rubric, work out what stage your questions fit into.

Stage Questioning Rubric 7 Used multiple Question words in a probing question when interviewing an expert 6 Used relevant synonyms to edit key questions 5 Used the Seven Servants and relevant key words and phrases to create key questions. 4 Used the Seven Servants and relevant key words to create key questions. (who what when where how why which) 3 Asked a relevant yes/no/maybe question (is can does could may etc) 2 Any non-relevant question (does not contain contextual key words or phrases) 1 Created statements rather than questions (or a nul response) 7 Servants: This is NOT a rubric of question types It is a rubric built round a range of skills involved in creating Relevant Questions And it relates to closely to the definition of an effective questioner

Evidence of Success

thinklab.typepad.com/.../index.html If you're so smart, why are you asking me to give you the answers?

thinklab.typepad.com/.../index.html More importantly, are you teaching me how to ask great questions?

Primary Questions or Primary Tasks

Learner Questions Requests Rhetoric Inquiry Fertile, Essential, Inquiry, Rich, Reflective Open, Closed, Fat, Skinny, Rich, Poor, Key. Fact finding, Evaluative, Daignostic, Hypothetical

As learners we can ask ourselves primary layer questions Inquiry Primary Layer questions Secondary Layer OR We can pose ourselves learning tasks

As teachers we can pose primary layer questions Inquiry Primary Layer questions Secondary Layer OR We can pose learning tasks

As learners and teachers we have to be aware that primary questions can very easily lead to low level information based learning. What is Inquiry Learning? What is the difference between a value and a belief?

As teachers and learners we need to be aware that posing learning as a task is still not the magic answer, because poorly worded/structured tasks will still lead to low level information based learning.

Question:How could we build a land-yacht that would be competitive with the blokart for $500 Task:Working to a budget of $500 build a land-yacht that would be competitive with the blokart

Question: How do people catch yellow- fin tuna? Task: By the end of the coming season we want to have caught my first yellow-fin from our own boat

As teachers we need to scaffold our students towards success by including contextual key words and phrases in task or question wording Modelling how to break down complex questions or tasks into component parts

Internet searching What is Hyperlexia?

What is the definition of Hyperlexia? Key words: definition hyperlexia

What is the definition of Hyperlexia? Key words: definition hyperlexia What is the definition of hyperlexia? Key phrase: definition hyperlexia

Searching and task wording Hyperlexia is a rare syndrome that impacts severely on student learning abilities. Research the definition of hyperlexia, its major and minor characteristics and construct a simple set of questions that teachers could use in a parent interview to help ascertain if a child may or may not need specialist assessment and intervention for hyperlexia