Perspectives: The Art (and Science) of Asking Questions
Wed, Nov 09, 2016 10:38 PM
Professional Review
The article The Art (And Science) of Asking Questions main objective is to explain the art of asking intriguing inquiry questions. Inquiry questions are more in depth questions that support student investigations. The article talks about how asking the right questions can cause help the students “go beyond factual recall to use higher-order thinking skills as they see patterns, make predictions, evaluate evidence, and construct explanations”. Teachers can ask questions that can serve as a formative assessment to check conceptual understanding. Instead of asking simple questions such as “how tall is that tree?” the teacher could ask more inquiring questions like “how do you think the tree grows that big, where does the tree get its mass from, how did it come from a little seed to such a big tree?”. By asking inquiry questions, teachers are getting their students minds racing about cause/effect relationships and these questions cause them to apply their understanding of science concepts rather than answer with straight facts. The Art (And Science) of Asking Questions does a great job of explaining how teachers can become a better questioner. The article states, “There is an art to delivery modes that engage a majority of students and get them thinking”. The article talks about how giving an appropriate wait time for students to answer questions can promote higher-level thinking and get more students involved in answering questions. Teachers should be focused on asking open-ended questions and giving more students a chance to respond in order to have a more inquiry based classroom. If teachers can follow these steps in questions asking, it will lead to the kind of communication that the National Science Education Standards recommend. The Art (And Science) of Asking Questions is a great read for teachers who may be confused about inquiry questions and gives great advice on how to ask them to get an inquire-based classroom.