Questioning in the Critical Thinking Classroom

TACT Spring 2005

Purpose of Todays Workshop

We will address these questions:

Why is questioning essential in a critical thinking classroom? What kind of classroom environment encourages critical inquiry? As instructors, how can we create good questions, questions that require critical thinking? How can we create good class activities around those questions? How can we foster a questioning mindset in our students?

The Importance of Questioning

Critical thinking involves asking questions. It involves asking questions that need to be asked, asking good questions, questions that go to the heart of the matter. Critical thinking involves noticing that there are questions that need to be addressed (Nosich, 2005). Instructors and students alike need to cultivate the skill of asking good questions.

It is not possible to be a good thinker and a poor questioner. Questions define tasks, express problems, and delineate issues. They drive thinking forward. . . . Thinking in disciplines is driven, not by answers, but by essential questions (Elder & Paul, 2002).

Web Resources from the Foundation for Critical Thinking

The Critical Mind is a Questioning Mind The Role of Questions in Teaching, Thinking, and Learning The Questioning Mind: Newton, Darwin, and Einstein

Group Discussion: Creating a Climate Conducive to Questioning

What kind of classroom environment encourages critical inquiry? Come up with three answers at your table to share with the whole group.

A Questioning Classroom

Classmates know each others names and are comfortable with each other and instructor. Wrong answers are okay; trial and error is how we learn; thinking is often a messy process. Everyone is expected to participate; students are called upon by name. Responses are held to intellectual standards. Critical listening is expected: Students are held responsible for listening to and summarizing each others answers. Students are expected to come to class with questions about the reading/topic; those questions drive discussions/lectures.

Types of Questions

1.
2. 3.

One System: one definitive answer No System: a subjective choice Conflicting Systems: a consideration of competing answers

For more info, see Foundation Materials: Three Categories of Questions

Category 1: One System Questions

Requires evidence and reasoning within a system Result: one correct answer Leads to knowledge Examples: Did it rain here yesterday? How does the hard drive on a computer operate? What is the differential of this equation? Under what conditions do atomic chain reactions take place?

In your groups. . .

Write at least five Category 1 questions from your respective disciplines. Please write them large enough to be seen by the entire group. We will ask each group to share their questions, holding up the paper so everyone can read it.

Category 3: Conflicting System Questions

Requires evidence and reasoning within conflicting systems Result: better and worse answers: well-supported & reasoned vs. poorly supported & reasoneduse specific criteria (Intellectual Standards) as basis for evaluation Leads to reasoned judgment Examples: Rank the four categories of biological molecules in order from most important to least; explain and defend your rankings.

In your groups. . .

Write at least five Category 3 questions from your respective disciplines. Please write them large enough to be seen by the entire group. We will ask each group to share their questions, holding up the paper so everyone can read it.

Category 2: No System Questions

Calls for stating a subjective preference Result: a subjective opinion Cannot be assessed Examples: Would you rather have short hair or long hair? Do you prefer this poem or that one? Which movie do you like better? Do you prefer American or British literature?

In your groups. . .

Write at least five Category 2 questions from your respective disciplines. Please write them large enough to be seen by the entire group. Discuss how these Category 2 questions could feed into Category 3 questions. We will ask each group to share their questions, holding up the paper so everyone can read it.

Fostering a Questioning Mindset in Students

Students need to learn how to ask the questionsto notice that there are questions that need to be addressedto pose the problems themselves. Discuss the importance of questioning to critical thinking and to learning. Use questions as a ticket to class. Ask students to write down their questions at the end of each class period. Routinely ask students to create category 3 questions from their reading. Ask students to create problems/questions to solve; dont give them the problem/question.

Give students these questions (or help them generate such questions); routinely use in class:

How does what I learn in this course relate to my own experiences? How can I use what I learn here in my own life? Can I think up my own examples? How does this subject matter relate to other courses I am taking? What is the evidence behind this? How do the topics in this course fit together? What is the purpose of this course? What is its central question? How does each topic fit into the central question? Why? What are some alternative ways of solving this problem? What is a good way to begin solving this problem? Do I have all the information I need? Whats the purpose behind the problem? How does the problem fit into a real context? (Nosich, 2005)

Resources

Linda Elder and Richard Pauls The Miniature Guide to the Art of Asking Essential Questions (2002). Foundation for Critical Thinking. Richard Paul and Linda Elders The Miniature Guide for Those Who Teach on How to Improve Student Learning (2002). Pp. 43-44. Gerald Nosichs Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum (2005). Pearson, Prentice Hall. Foundation for Critical Thinking Home Page