A Guide to Questioning in the Classroomby TeachThought StaffThis
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classics.This is part 1 of a 2-part series on questioning in the classroom. Part
1 focuses on questions in general-Reviews their function, purpose,
forms, Reviews their relationship with cognitive dissonance, as well as a
quick overview of essential questions. Part 2 of the Guide To Questioning In The Classroom (publishing
04.14.2015) will focus on strategies question, especially Reviews those
that help students learn to ask Reviews their own questions in an
inquiry-process.Something we've Become known for is our focus on thought, inquiry, and understanding, and questions are a big part of that. We've done that students should ask questions, parents should ask,
students should and should not answer, questions that promote and stifle
inquiry, question that reveal self-knowledge and wisdom, and more.If
the ultimate goal of education is for students to be Able to
Effectively answer questions, then focusing on the content and response
strategies makes sense. If the ultimate goal of education is to teach students to think, then
focusing on how we can help students ask better questions Themselves
MIGHT make sense, no?Why Questions Are More Important Than AnswersThe ability to ask the right question at the right time is a powerful indicator of authentic understanding. Asking a question that pierces the veil in any given situation is
itself an artifact of the critical thinking teachers in students so
desperately seek, if for no other reason than it shows what the student
know, and then implies the desire to know more.Asking a question is a sign of understanding, not ignorance; it requires both knowledge and then-critically-the ability to see what else you're missing.Questions are more important than answers Because they reflect both understanding and curiosity in equal portions. To
ask a question is to see both backward and forward-to make sense of a
thing and what you know about it, and then extend outward in space and
time to imagine what else can be known, or what others MIGHT know. To ask a great question is to see the conceptual ecology of the thing.In
a classroom, a student can see a drop of water, a literary device, a
historical figure, or a math theorem, but These are just fragments that
are worthless in and of Themselves. A student in biology studying a drop of water must see the water as
infinitely plural-as something that holds life and something that Gives
Life.As a marker of life, and an icon of health.It is a tool, a miracle, a symbol, and a matter of science.They must know what's Potentially inside of a drop of water, and then how to find out what's actually inside that drop of water.They must know what others have found studying water, as well as what
that drop of water means within the field of science, and beyond it.They must know that the water is never really just water.
Teacher Questions vs Student QuestionsWhen teachers try to Untangle this cognitive mess, they sacrifice personalization for efficiency. There are simply too many students, and too much content to cover, so they cut to the chase.Which
then means growing niche towards the universal over the
individual-broad, sweeping questions intermingling with sharper, more
Concise questions that hopefully shed some light and cause some
curiosity. In a class of 30 with an aggressively-paced curriculum map and the
expectation that every student master the content Regardless of
background knowledge, literacy level, or interest in the material, this
is the best most teachers can do.This only a bottleneck, though, when the teacher Asks the questions. When the student Asks the question, the pattern is reversed. The individual student has little regard for the welfare of the class, especially when they're forming questions. They're on the clock to say something, anything. Which is great, Because questions-when they're authentic-are automatically personalized Because they Came up with them. They're not tricks, or guess-what-the-teacher's-thinking.A student could not possibly capture the scale of confusion or curiosity of 30 other people; instead, they survey Reviews their own thinking, both spot gaps and fascinations, and form a question. This is the spring-loading of a Venus flytrap. The
topic crawls around in the mind of the student innocently enough, and
when the time is right-and the student is confident-the flower snaps
shut. Once a student starts asking questions, that the magic of learning can begin.And the best part for a teacher? Questions answers reveal far more than ever might.The Purpose of QuestionsRoughly
thought of as a kind of spectrum, four purposes of questions MIGHT
stand out, from more "traditional" to more "progressive."
(More Traditional) Academic ViewIn a traditional academic setting, the purpose of a question is to
elicit a response that can be assessed (ie, answer this question so I
can see what you know).(Less Traditional) Curriculum-Centered ViewHere, a "good question" matters more than a good answer, as it
demonstrates the complexity of student understanding of a given
curriculum.(More Progressive) Inquiry ViewAs
confusion or curiosity markers that suggest a path forward for the
inquiry, and then are iterated and improved based on learning. (Also known as question-based learning.)(More Progressive Still) Self-Directed ViewIn
a student-centered circumstance, a question illuminates possible
learning pathways forward irrespective of curriculum demands. The student's own knowledge-and their demands uncovering-center and catalyze the learning experience. The Relative Strengths of Questions
Good questions can reveal subtle shades of understanding-what this student knows about this topic in this context Questions promote inquiry and learning how to learn over proving what you know Questions fit in well with the modern "Google" mindset Used well, questions can promote personalized learning as teachers question can change on the fly to meet student needsThe Relative Weaknesses of Questions Questions depend on language, literacy means roomates, jargon,
confusing syntax, academic diction, and more can all obscure the
learning process Questions can imply answers, the which imply stopping points and
"finishing" over inquiry and wisdom (See questions that promote
inquiry-based learning.) Accuracy of answers can be overvalued, the which makes the
confidence of the Answerer impact the quality of the response
Significantly "Bad questions" are easy to write and deeply confusing, roomates can
accumulate to harm a student's sense of self-efficacy, as well as their
own tendency to ask them on their own7 Common Assessment Written Question FormsQuestions as written assessment (as opposed to questions as
inquiry, questions to guide self-directed learning, or questions to
demonstrate understanding) most commonly take the following forms in
writing:
Matching True / False Multiple Choice Short Answer Diagramming Essay Open-EndedQuestioning and Self-Directed LearningFor years in classrooms, questions have guided teachers in the design
of units and lessons, Often through the development of essential
questions that all students should be Able to reasonably respond to, and
that can guide Reviews their learning of existing and pre-mapped
content.In
the TeachThought Self-Directed Learning Model, learners are required to
create Reviews their own curriculum through a series of questions that
emphasize self-knowledge, citizenship, and communal and human
interdependence. In this model, the existing questions act as a template to uncover potential learning pathways.
Cognitive DissonanceCognitive Dissonance is the cognitively-uncomfortable act of holding two seemingly competing beliefs at the same time. If
you believe that Freedom of Speech is the foundation of democracy, but
then are presented with a perspective (through Socratic-style
questioning from the teacher, for example), you arrive (or the student
does) at a crossroads where they have to adjust Reviews their something-either belief, or Reviews their judgment about the validity of the question itself.In
this way, questions can promote Cognitive Dissonance-the which means a
good question can change a student's mind, beliefs, or tendency to
examine Reviews their own beliefs. Questions, cognitive, and self-reflection go hand-in-hand.Role of "Lower-Level" QuestionsLower-level questions are questions that inquire at "lower levels" of various learning taxonomies.These are often "recall," questions that are based in fact-definitions, dates, names, biographical details, etc. Education
is thought to have focused (without having been there, who knows for
sure?) On Reviews These lower levels, and "low" is bad in Academics,
right? "Lower-level"
thinking implies a lack of "higher level" thinking, so instead of
analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and creating, students are
defining, recalling, and memorizing, the former of the which the make
for artists and designers and innovators, and the latter of the which the make for factory workers.And that part, at least, is (mostly) true. Recall and memorization are not the stuff of understanding, much less creativity and wisdom, except that they are. Bloom's
Taxonomy was not created to segregate "good thinking" from "bad
thinking." In Reviews their words, "Our attempt to arrange educational
behaviors from simple to complex was based on the idea that a particular
simple behavior may Become integrated with other equally simple
behaviors to form a more complex behavior. "In this way, the taxonomy is simply
one way of separating the strands of thinking like different colored
yarn-a kind of visual scheme to see the pattern, contrasts, and even the
sequence of cognitive actions.Nowhere
does it say that definitions and names and labels and categories are
bad-and if it did, we'd have to wonder about the taxonomy rather than
assuming that they were. It
does not take much imagination to see that if a student does not know
there was a war, and that it was Fought in the United States in the
1800s, and that it was purportedly over states' rights, and that both
culture, industry, and agriculture all impacted the hows, whens, and whys of
the war, that "higher-level thinking strategies" are not going to be
very useful.In
short, lower-level questions can both Illuminate and establish
foundational knowledge on the which to build more complex and nuanced
understanding of the content. They provide a foothold for thinking. To further the point, in 5 Common Misconceptions About Bloom's
Taxonomy, Grant Wiggins Explains that the phrases "higher-order" and
"lower-order" do not Appear anywhere in the taxonomy.Essential QuestionsOn his website, Grant Wiggins defines as an essential questions Reviews those that are "broad in scope and timeless by nature. They are perpetually arguable. "Examples of Essential Questions
What is justice? Art is a matter of taste or principles? How far should we tamper with our own biology and chemistry? Science is compatible with religion? Is an author's view privileged in Determining the meaning of a text? A question is essential when it: causes genuine and relevant inquiry into the big ideas and core content; provokes deep thought, lively discussion, sustained inquiry, and new understanding as well as more questions; requires students to Consider alternatives, weigh evidence, support Reviews their ideas, and justify Reviews their answers; Stimulates vital, on-going rethinking of big ideas, assumptions, and prior lessons; sparks meaningful connections with prior learning and personal experiences; naturally recurs, creating opportunities for transfer to other situations and subjects.You can see more examples of essential questions here.On
Tuesday, we'll help you take this background information into specific
question and channel strategies that you can use to help students learn
to create Reviews their own questions.
Redefining What It Means To Be Human In The Absence Of The Humanitiesby Terry HeickThis post has been updated from an early 2013 post.The world is swirling in winds of digital code.The
humanities provide a kind of embedded moral code that force us to
confront our own habits, trends, and Notions of recreation. In
an age of shifts and fluidity, this is definitely a "thing." Within the
immense gravity of Google, Apple, and the data mobility, the shift away
from the humanities is accelerating. According
to the New York Times, Stanford University has 45% of its staff in its
Humanities department, but only 15% of its students. At Harvard, there has been a 20% decline in humanities majors in the last ten years.That's a lot. Who cares?If
literature Provides a kind of shared framework for what people are
"for" and how we MIGHT act and what we should tend range towards or
resist, it is not a huge leap to believe that without the humanities, we
are then Redefining what it means to be human in the absence of the kind of sustained, millenia-long reflection the humanities represent.This should make-us at the very least uncomfortable.The Stories That LingerLet's define the humanities as "the study of ourselves through our collective human expression."In
education, Reviews These expressions-what makes each one of us unique,
expressive, and capable of giving and receiving love are Curiously
Gathered under a single content area- "humanities." Practices here
include literature, art, design, music, and philosophy- activities that elevate our lives beyond mere survival.It's
easy to spot right away, however, that the "non-humanities" -science,
technology, engineering, and math-Also have roles to play in the
humanities. We do not stop being human Because We test theories or require a data
or perform calculations, nor are these "industries" any less human than
writing poetry or composing music.The humanities then, provide extraordinarily diverse modeling of human trials, failures, humility, and triumph. Ezra Pound's "Literature is news that stays news" is a useful line. Out of the billions of episodes of published media, the things that
linger-for whatever reason-growing niche to be useful, like a trail of
bread crumbs back to ourselves.Humanities
as a term has Become opaque and abstract, the which can be seen in how
Casually we treat it in education (see the Common Core Standards). The
artificial categorizing of the universe into narrow Sects of knowledge
(narrowed further by standards) is partly to blame here, the which is
another article altogether. For now, let's define the role of the humanities.What should they "do"?
What Should The Humanities Do?In a digital age of connectivity, data, and access, at first glance the purpose is not much different than it has ever been. More than anything else, the humanities provide for us with a shared moral and cultural memory.Mark Twain provides an archetype for the wildness of childhood, while
leaving a picture of slavery and the moral impossibilities it brought
with it.Flannery
O'Connor's work to make sense of Southern American "traditions," or
Shakespeare's struggle with the overlapping consequences of action and
inaction act as a kind of echo, or endlessly looping gif animation that
acts as a cautionary tale. Closely studied, Reviews These "memories" can lead to self-knowledge
and inform morality and ethics while promoting affection, faith in one
another, and compassion.What is worth understanding?What should I accept, what should I question, and what should I resist?What system of ethics do I use, where does it come from, and how does it change?What are "people for"?In short, we learn what it means to be human. Is
this not even more immediate and useful in an era where every digital
discovery is an "opportunity" for substance or distraction? When students are too quick to Google without fully understanding exactly what they're looking for and why?The Thoughtless mitigating Ambition Of TechnologyAs
a system preoccupied with endless assessment, data, utilities,
research, and "career readiness," Education has Become incapable of
using abstraction to understand. Death of a Salesman, The Scream, Oedipus, King Lear, Chopin, et. al, all provide models of morality, rebellion, self-criticism, and
Propriety, but Reviews These ideas are all package in forms and
structures alien to many modern readers.Students
accustomed to actuating learning through YouTube channels and learning
simulations and mobile apps may naturally resist the "dwell-time"
Necessary to distill the patterns embedded in the humanities. And even Reviews those students naturally interested or disciplined
enough to try will hear Reviews These pursuits Often discredited by
Reviews those asking if such knowledge will lead to "a job," missing the
fact that it should Illuminate the kind of work and "jobs" worth
having.In
modern education systems, we are more interested in helping students
process endless streams of useless data Often the which seems practical
until we measure that practicality by what it fails to do-ie, help a
student understand Reviews their own citizenships, legacies, gifts, and opportunities for meaningful actions and relationships in their own community.In this way, education is proving both flexible and unstable.The
humanities are interested in what is uniquely possible in each one of
us, suggesting the work we might do, and the place we might do it in. How one can be ready for a career without being Able to answer Reviews These kinds of questions is not clear.The ultimate distinction here then is one of affection and needs. Technology needs the humanities more than the reverse is true. By bridling technology's thoughtless ambition, the humanities can let
us PROVE-to ourselves-that we are not confused about what we are slowly
becoming.Humanities Not As Content, But A SequenceAnother way to contextualize this age of information is as an age preceding one of wisdom or true community. Information has always existed. It now comes packaged and fragmented Oddly-Briefly in tweets or tags, or search results 46 pages long. This means it's always out of context. Properly applied humanities, then, Provides that context. They can make-information whole again, causing impatient would-be Googler's to extend Reviews their thinking just a bit more.To refine Reviews their questions.To search for people and communities and primary source documents
rather than the misleading and superficial distillations that Google
retrieves all too Often Because It's just a search algorithm and it does
not "know" anything.Mastering technology requires us to know what we need, the kinds of
questions we should ask, the kind of work we are called to do, and the
demands placed on our own humanity by Reviews those around us.This is why we need to teach the humanities. The
humanities are not simply colors and sounds and stories and dances and
ethical frameworks, nor are they self-indulgent reflection; rather, they represent our collective documented expression over Thousands of years! Here
is who we are and what we've done and the mistakes that we've made and
what we value in a hundred different forms and languages and patterns!
What a miracle!In
an increasingly urgent and immediate and even digital illusory world,
the humanities will show us where we're going if we're willing to read
more than 140 characters at a time, and read them as something other
than "stories," and teach Them as something other than "classes" and "content areas."Reviews
These "stories" are artful and Often troubling demonstrations of who we
are by framing where we've been, every single time paralleling the
trouble we've already seen and pain we've already felt. Nothing new ever happens. You want to see the future? Let's trace our collective arc.How wearable technology MIGHT impact our identity and affections? What mobile devices might do to our physical interdependence? Want to see the thin, blurry line between modern medicine and bio-engineering? Wonder what a culture Seized by apathy or fear looks like? This what literature, music, art, and other forms of human expression can help us understand.The humanities precede technology just as you and I must always precede the tools we create.
The Assessment Range: Using Data In The Classroom To meaningfully Affect Learningby Terry HeickIf you do not already have a plan for the the data before giving the assessment, you're already behind.Among
the challenges of assessment, this concept-as it Applies to formal
academic classrooms designed to promote mastery of Common Core standards
or similar-is near the top. Without a direct input into instructional design guide embedded within
a dynamic curriculum map, an assessment is just a hurdle for the
student-one they MIGHT clear, or one that MIGHT trip them up.And let's talk about how much we, as teachers, like to jump hurdles for others.This
is the third time in as many weeks that I've written about the
assessment, the which usually means there's something that's bothering
me and I can not figure out what. In Evolving How We Plan, I pointed contentiously at the "unit" and "lesson" as impediments to personalized learning.Simply
put, most planning templates in most schools used by most teachers on
most days do not allow for the data to be Easily absorbed. They're not designed for students, they're designed for curriculum. Their audience is not students or communities, but rather administrators and colleagues.These are industrial documents.Depending
on what grade level and content area you teach, and how your curriculum
is packaged, what you should and are reasonably Able to do with the
data MIGHT be different. But pit roughly, teachers administer quizzes and exams, and do their
best to "re-teach." Even in high-functioning professional learning
communities, teachers are behind before they give Reviews their first
test.Their teaching just is not ready for the data.What Should Assessments "Do"?In
The Most Important Question Every Assessment Should Answer, I outlined
one of the biggest of the many big ideas that revolve around tests,
quizzes, and other snapshots of understanding-information. In
short (Depending on the assessment form, purpose, context, type, etc.),
the primary function of assessment in a dynamic learning environment is
to provide the data to revise planned instruction. It Tells you where to go next, like a bat's echo location.Unfortunately, they're not always used this way, even when they are. Instead,
they're high drama that students "pass" or "fail." They're matters of
professional learning communities and artifacts for the "data teams."
They're designed to function, but instead they just parade about and
make a spectacle of Themselves.Within
PLCs and Data teams, the goal is to establish a standardized process to
incrementally improve teaching and learning, but the minutiae and
processes within Reviews These teaching tools can center Themselves
improvement over the job they're supposed to be doing. We learn to "get good" at PLCs and Data teams the same way students "get good" at taking tests. Which is crazy and backwards and no wonder hates education innovation.To teach a student, you have to know what they do and do not know. What they can or can not do. "They" does not refer to the class either, but the student. That student-what do they seem to know? How did you measure, and how much do you trust that measurement? This is fundamental, and in an academic institution, more or less "true."Yet,
"the 'constructivist' paradigm ... is not compatible with the
'conventional' paradigm of external examinations" (Galbraith's 1993). Constructivism,
Depending as it does on the learners own knowledge creation over time
through reflection and iteration seems to resist modern-assessment forms
that seek to pop in, take a snapshot, and pop back out. Reviews These snapshots are taken with no "frames" waiting for them within the lesson or unit.They're just grades and measurements, with little hope of substantively changing how and when students learn what.
As Teachers Learning DesignersThere is the matter of teaching practice working behind the scenes here. What teachers believe, and how Reviews those beliefs inform Reviews
their practice, Including design and assessment of data management.In
2003 in Classroom Assessment Practices and Teachers' Perceived
Self-Assessment Skills, Zhicheng Zhang and Judith A. Burry-Stock
separate "assessment practices and assessment skills," explaining that
they "are related but have different constructs. Whereas
the former pertains to assessment activities, the latter Reflects an
individual's perception of his or her skill level in conducting Reviews
those activities. This may explain why Reviews their assessment skills teachers rated as
good even though they were found inadequately prepared to conduct
classroom assessment in Several areas. "Assessment design can not exist Independently from instructional design or design curriculum. A "fantastic test" is as useful as a "brilliant telescope."Applied how?In
The Inconvenient Truths of Assessment, I said that "It's an
extraordinary amount of work to design precise and personalized
assessments that Illuminate pathways forward for individual
students-Likely too much for one teacher to do so consistently for every
student." This is such a Because
not challenge personalizing learning is hard, but personalizing
learning is hard when you use traditional units (eg, genre-based units
in English-Language Arts) and basic learning models (eg, direct
instruction, basic grouping, maybe some tiering, etc. )Change the tools, and you can change the machine; change the machine, and you can change the tools. The
question can then be asked: How can we design learning along
chronological (time) and conceptual (content) boundaries so that that
learning requires that the data to create itself? Adaptive learning algorithms within Certain #edtech Reviews These products are coded along lines. So how do we do this face-to-face, nose-to-book, pen-to-hand?If we insist on using a Data-based and researched-grounded ed reform models, this is crucial, no?Backwards Planning Of A Different KindAssessments are the data creation tools. Why collect the the data if it's not going to be used? This is all very simple: Do not give an assessment UNLESS the the data
is actually going to change the future learning for * that * student.Think about what an assessment can do. Give the student a chance to show what they know. Act as a microscope for you to examine what they seem to understand. Make the student feel good or bad. Motivate or demotivate the student. De-authenticate an otherwise authentic learning experience.Think about what you can do with an assessment of data as a teacher. Report it to others. Assign
an arbitrary alphanumeric symbol in hopes that it
symbolizes-student-achievement-but-can-we-really-agree-what-that-means-anyway?
Spin it to colleagues or parents or students. Overreact to it. Misunderstand it. Ignore it. Use it to make you feel good or bad about your own teaching-like
you're "holding students accountable" with the "bar high," or like no
matter what you do, it's still not enough.Grant
Wiggins (Whose work I Often gush over) and colleague Jay McTighe are
Known for their Understanding by Design template, a model of that
depends on the idea of backwards design. That is, when we design learning, we begin with the end in mind. Reviews These "ends" are usually matters of understanding-I want students to know this, Be Able to write or solve this, etc.What if, however, we designed backwards from the data points? Here, the the data would not necessarily be the "end" (gross), but somewhere closer to the middle, serving more noble causes. And around this middle, we'd build in mechanisms to accept and react to that information.We'd
have a system that expected A Certain amount of "proficiency" and
"non-proficiency." Two weeks into the "units" (if we insist on using
units), we're waiting on the very crucial of data from a small series of diverse assessments (non-threatening assessments maybe?) so that we know what to do and where to go next. We already have a plan for it before we even start. We're ready to use the data to substantively, elegantly, and humanly revise what we had planned. We can not move on this without the data, or else we're just being ridiculous.We keep the conveyors running while the bottles crash off the belts all around us.The
Assessment Range: Using Data In The Classroom meaningfully; The
Assessment Range: Using Data To meaningfully Affect Learning; adapted image attribution flickr user vancouverfilmschool
The TeachThought Learning Taxonomy is a template for critical thinking that frames cognition across six categories.It
imagines any product learning, goal, or objective as a "thing," then
Suggests different ways to think about said "thing" -mitosis, a math
formula, an historical figure, a poem, a poet, a computer coding
language, a political concept, a literary device, etc. It's designed to promote "whole" thinking about otherwise discrete or disconnected ideas.1. Function-thinking critically about how a "thing" works2. Self-Making sense of how the thinker relates to the "thing"3. Abstraction-Thinking about the "thing" Creatively, or in non-traditional ways4. Parts-Seeing the individual parts of the "thing"5. Interdependence-Examining how the "thing" relates to other (similar and non-similar) "things"6. Whole-See the "thing" fully and within contextA literary device-a metaphor example, is usually studied in isolation. This writer uses this metaphor in this way to this effect. Using the TeachThought Learning Taxonomy, a learner would be forced to
confront that metaphor in much more diverse cognitive terrain-to think
about something in multiple ways for a more complete picture and
advanced understanding.Function-Communicate the most ideal metaphor's utility (how it can and should be used, and why).Self - Identity what you do and do not understand about the metaphorAbstraction-Design a "sequel" of the metaphor (not a simile-an extended metaphor would be a good start)This
framework can be used not only as a planning or assessment tool, but to
promote students in self-directed learning and self-created questioning
and examination. In short, they can use this framework (or a simplified version of it) to create Reviews their own questions. Some examples?Prompt: Parts-Give examples and non-examplesQuestions: What are 3 examples and non-examples of Mammals? What are 5 examples of push-pull factors? What are 3 non-examples of mixed fractions?Prompt: Interdependence-Direct others in using itQuestions: How do-or-others MIGHT use alternative fuel sources to help create fresh water sources?Prompt: Explain it differently to a novice or an expertQuestions: How would explain the Pythagorean Theorem differently to a 2nd grader and a college freshman? What would be the main difference?The
downside to using the TeachThought Learning Taxonomy to help students
ask Reviews their own questions is the relative complexity of the
framework, and the extra step of converting prompts to questions. Therefore, it is better suited to late middle school-university settings.The upside? It can be used in any content area to think deeply about almost anything.2. Socratic Discussion
A
Socratic Discussion, roomates IS ALSO Referred to as a Socratic
Seminar, a group learning strategy is designed to support students in
open-ended examination and extended critical thinking through dialogic
terms. In short, students learn together by talking together in an open and student-centered format. Reviews These discussions are not teacher-led, student-led but-students talk to one another.It
is a dialectal method of learning inspired by Socrates' iconic teaching
methods that depend on a pattern of theory formation, revision, and
elimination to arrive at loosely-held "truths." Used Strategically, this
approach should promote inquiry as learning, and the close examination of one's own beliefs as primary catalysts for learning.The Teaching Channel video above models the Socratic Discussion / Socratic Seminars process.3. paideia SeminarA
Seminar paideia is similar to the Socratic Seminar-in fact, it uses
Socratic Discussions on the part of the students, combined with a minor
but clear role for teachers, to facilitate verbal and critical
examination of ideas. From
the (a?) Paideia Seminar website, "The paideia Seminar is an event
built around literacy integrated whole-class formal dialogue. The purpose for doing paideia Seminar is to support students' ability to think conceptually and Communicate collaboratively. "One
of the key differences between a paideia Seminar and a Socratic Seminar
is that within the paideia format, teachers are "allowed" a role, that
role Provided that does not exceed 10% of the total discussion.
4.TheQuestionGame
5.TheQuestionGame
TheQuestionGamefocuseson "teachingchildrena kindofthinking isthe which ispar- ticularlyusefulincreativeproblem-solving-a focusedapproach togetfromaproblemto themosteffectivesolution.It ismosteffectivewhencombinedwith regularrepetition, the whichsolidifiesthethoughtpattern, andwithgroups, roomatescontributoryencouragesexplorationofalternativeresponsesandcreativity. "
Similarto theTeachThoughtTaxonomy, Bloom's Taxonomycanactasaframeworkorpatterntofunnelcontent,inquiry, or otherlearningprocesses.Reviews Theseuseof thetaxonomytocreateuniversalstemsisoneapproachasmodeledin the followinggraphicfromflickruserenokson.
7.QuestionFormationTechnique
We'llhavemoreon thissoonbutinshort, theQuestionFormationTechnique (QFT) isa kindofquestionbrainstormingprocessbasedaroundatopicasa kindofkernel.
In theirwordsof theRightQuestionInstitute, QFTis"straightforward, rigorousprocessthat helpsallstudentslearnhowtoproduceReviews theirownquestions, improvReviews theirquestions, andstrategizeonhowtouseReviews theirquestions. In theprocess, theydevelopdivergent, convergentthinkingandmetacognitiveabilities. "
For now, you can read more about the QFT here.8. Universal Question StemsAs seen in the Bloom's graphics, sentence stems and question stems are
wonderful tools that can empower students to ask questions by giving
them a head-start in doing so.By using a "stem," a teacher has set the ball on the proverbial tee for the student to smash. Yes, ideally the student Asks Reviews their own great questions, but what if they can't-or do not think they can? What if they do not? What if they're still learning how? What if they lack the background knowledge in some narrow sect of science or math or whatever, and need a push in the back? Stems can help. (See also 26 Sentence Stems For Higher-Level Conversation In The Classroom.)Question
stems are a more elementary than the questioning strategy Question
Formation Technique (see above), but not necessarily less effective. They
can be used for younger students, students struggling with a concept,
or even "advanced learners" (not a huge fan of this term) as they narrow
an open-ended learning experience, or to be used as "bread crumbs" in
the case that the teacher is trying to help them arrive at a pre-determined destination. Some examples?8 Basic Question Stem ExamplesWhich differences between ____ and ____ stand out to you?Why does____never seem to____?How does_____impact____?How does _____ work?What's most important about?What's the most simple / complex about ______?How could you classify____? (And 'Why would you classify____?')When____, why does____?
