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Questioning Students in ways thatencourage thinking

Dr. Christine Chin is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Education. Singapore, where she teaches courses inscience education. Her research interests include students' learning approaches, problem-based learning, and how teacherscan scaffold students' thinking to promote tnore active learning.

One objective of biology teaching is to help students become critical thinkers and independent, creative problem solvers. To achieve this,we need to stimulate student.s' thinking by requiring them to go beyond the factual recall or procedural levels, and io engage in higherorder thinking which involves the application, synthesis, and evaluation of knowledge. One way of doing this is through the art of skilfulteacher questioning. This article reviews the literature on teacher questioning and discusses how teachers can use oral que.'itioningstrategies to foster deeper thitiking in their students when teaching biology.

Introduction

The kinds of questions that teachersverbally ask during instruction

can, to some extent, influence thetype and level of thinking operationsthat students engage in. To helpstudents think more critically andcreatively beyond mere recall,teachers can sharpen theirquestioning skills by becomingfamiliar with different types ofquestions, and then practise usingthem. This urtide describes differentcategories of teacher questions,suggests tips for effective questioning,and provides examples to illustratethese ideas.

Categories of Teachers' QuestionsBloom's TaxonomyOne category of questions classifiedaccording to different cognitive levels isBloom's (1956) taxonomy. Ranging

from lower to higher levels ofthinking, these include knowledge,comprehension, application, analysis,synthesis, and evaluation. Table 1gives examples of such questions,[see below]

Open and Closed QuestionsBlosser (1995) referred to the use ofdosed and open questions. Closedquestions have a limited number ofacceptable responses or 'rightanswers', and can be further dividedinto cognitive memory or convergenttypes. Cognitive memory questionsare of a lower order and focus onfactual recall. An example is 'What isthe chemical formula for glucose?'.Convergent questions, while leading toQ limited number of acceptableanswers, need not always be pitchedat lower levels of thinking. They canrequire students to:• compare and contrast (e.g. 'Based

on your observ'ations in today's

laboratory activity, what are thedifferences between the cross-sectional structure of amonocotyledonous and adicotyledonous stem?')

• apply previously learnedinformation to a new problem (e.g.'Why is It recommended thai weuse low temperatures {<45 oC)when using biological washingpowders to remove egg and gravystains from clothes?')

• make a judgment (e.g. 'If you arescuba diving at 20m below sea leveland have only one minute ofoxygen left, would you surface atthe fastest possible rate of 20m perminute, or more slowly if you canhold your breath for 3 minutes?').

Open questions elicit a wide range ofpossible responses rather than one ortwo 'right answers', and often havethe potential to stimulate higher level

Table 1 Questions classified according to Bloom's Taxonomy

Question Type Example of Question

Knowledge • Which organs in the human alimentary canal produce enzymes that digest proteins?

Comprehension • \l/hat does this graph lell you about how temperature affects enzyme activity?

Application * Why docs thc liver store glycogen and not glucose?

Analysis • What are thc pros and cons of storing celery in the refrigerator compared to preserving it in salt

or vinegar?

Synthesis • How would you create a meal plan for i pregnant woman so thut it meets her daily needs?

Evaluation • Which of these three meal plans (A. B. or C) would you recommend to a person who has diabetesand high blood pressure? What are the reasons for your choice?

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thinking. They promote discussionand encourage students tohypothesize, speculate, inventpo<Lsibilitie5, interpret, and share ideas.They require students to give ondjustity their opinions, infer or identifyimplications, and to make judgmentsbased on their own values andstandards. They may be furthersubdivided into divergent orevaluative thinking questions. Anexample of a divergent thinkingquestion is 'Whdt do you think life onEarth might be like If the proportionsof gases in the atmosphere weredifferent?', whiie an evaluatiw thinkingquestion might be 'What is the bestway to depict the results of thisexperiment - by using just words, adrawing, table, line graph, bar chart,or....?'.

Productive QuestionsElstgeest's (1985) guide to questioningfocuses on 'productive' questionswhich include attention-focusing,measuring, comparison, action,problem-posing, and reasoningquestions. This sequence of productivequestions may be seen as proceedingsystematically from concrete toabstract (Anderson, 1999). Thesequestions stimulate productive physicalor mental activity and reasoning instudents, and take them forward intheir thinking. They providescaffolding for students to constructtheir own understanding. On theother hand, 'unproductive' questionsdo not encourage learning; instead,they require wordy answers, oftenneatly dressed in bookish phrases.

Attention-focusing questions guide theinitial exploration of new materialsand direct students' attention tosignificant details that they mightoverlook. An example is 'During thegermination of a seed, does the radicleor plumule emerge first?. Measurir^questions nudge students to movefram purely qualitative to quantitativeidea,s. and to strive for greaterprecision in their observations andmeasures. For instance, in the designof an experiment on the fermentationof sugar by yeast, the teacher could

ask 'How would you meosure theamount of gas evolved in thisreaction?'. Comparison questionsencourage sharper observation andhelp students 'bring order into chaosand unity in variety' (Elstgeest, 1985.p. 38). An example is 'What do younotice about the differences instructure between wind-pollinatedflowers and insect-pollinated floweis?'.

Actior] questions ask 'What happensif,,,,?' and encourage simple hands-onexperimentation and the investigationof relationships. They challengestudents to predict the outcome. Anexample would be 'What wouldhappen to the rate of photosynthesis ifthe light intensity is inaeased?'.Problem-posing questions of the 'Canyou find a way to ....?' type set up areal problem-solving situation thatinvites students to predict,hypothesize, identify and controlvariables, and plan and conductexperiments. They require students tointegrate and apply their knowledgein new and creative ways, A questionsuch as 'Given these three unknownsuspensions, how would you find outwhether they contain sugar, starch,protein, or fats?' would be of this type.Elstgeest (1985) advised teachers to askreasoning questions, such an thosebeginning with 'why', with discretion.These questions are intended to makestudents think and reason, search forcause-effect relationships amongvariables, and postulate theories.However, because they often ask forsome .sort of explanation, anxiousstudents may mistake them for testquestions and be afraid of being'wrong', especially if they feel thatthere is only one right answer If thecontent is pitched beyond a student'sability and experience, these questionsoften ciinnot be answered by anythingother than the recall level, lf askedprematurely, asking why somethingoccurs may be too difficult forstudents, as the answer often involvessome mechanism that is explained bytheorizing at an abstract level. Anexample is 'Why is the rate ofphotosynthesis higher when blue lightinstead of yellow light is used?'. The

reasons gfven by student.s themselvesbased on their own reasoning,evidence, and experiences are moreimportant than impressive soundinganswers, faultlessly recited withoutunderstanding. Care is needed in howthese question.s are phrased and inwhen they are presented. A questionphrased as 'Why, do you think ,.,,?'sounds less intimidating than 'Why....?' as the student's ideas andthinking, and not an authoritativeunswer, is sought. Also, ask thesequestions only when students havehad the necessary experience andknowledge to reason from evidenceand construct sensible arguments.

Operational QuestionsAlfke's (1974) questioning model is anelegant but simple means of helpingstudents identify, control, andmanipulate variables in scienceexperiments, lt systematically directsthe teacher and student to investigatescience phenomena through the use ofoperational questions whichmanipulate variables through: (a)elimination, (b) substitution, and (c)increa,sing or decreasing the presenceof the variable. The questions lead toa task by which the student can arriveat answers by working hands-on withmaterials and obtaining first-handevidence. For example, wheninvestigating the enzyme activity ofpepsin on egg albumen, suchquestions might include: 'What wouldhappen if the few drops of dilutehydrochloric acid are not added?'(elimination), 'What if we use rennininstead of pepsin?" (substitution), and'How would the rate of reaction beaffected if we use a higher / lowertemperature?' (increasing / decreasingvariable).

Non-operational questions are thosethat cannot be easily answered byfirst-hand experimentation and aremore abstract, requiring theoreticalanswers or the use of conceptualmodels. They include: 'Why does(imyiase act only on starch and not onproteins or fats?'. However, a questionsuch as 'How does o change in pHaffect the activity of amylase onstarch?' would be operational. Allison

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and Shrigley (1986) found that whenteachers modelled the asking ofoperational questions, their studentsalso asked more of such questionsduring their science demonstrations.Since variable identification andmanipulation are central to much ofthe cause-effect relationships inscientific inquiry, operationalquestions are a means of encouraging,students to think about suchrelationships.

Questions for Creative ThinkingGilbert (1992) described a taxonomyfor question.^ in the domain ofcreativity. He referred to the categoriesof association, imagination,brainstorming, organisation, analogyand metaphor, andreconceptualisation. Possiblequestions tailing into these categoriesin teaching biology include 'What doyou think of when I say the word"protein"?' (association), 'What do youthink you would see in the cell nucleusif you saw it through magicmagnifying glasses?' (imagination),'What factors might affect the rate oftranspiration in plants?'

(brain.storming), 'In what different waysmight you classify these flowers?'(organisation), 'How is the leaf like afood-making factory?' (analogy andmetaphor), and 'If matter is energy,what does that make us?'(reconceptualisation).

Some Research Findings on TeocherQuestions

Can- (1998) conducted a pairedobservation exercise where scienceteachers paired up to observe eachother's lessons on class questioningand compare notes. Some types ofquestions asked included (a) openquestions, (b) probing questions, whichare asked to obtain more detailed andspecific information, (c) reflectivequestions, which are used to crystallisea particular point (e.g. 'But what ifthis happened?'), (d) dosed questions,and (e) hypothetical questions, whichpose a situation for the student andare very useful in teachinginvestigative skills.The above study found that openquestions were not asked as frequentlyas closed questions. Closed questions

were used during review to consolldoteinformotion and to keep strayingstudents on track. It was also foundthat questions coupled with ad hocdiagrams and illustrations were aricher learning experience and weremore effective at prompting studentinvolvement, questions and answers.When students were asked multiplequestions coming in pairs or threesbefore they had a chance to respond,it was confusing and unhelpful totheir thinking and learning. Theteachers also thought that they had tofocus on asking more open questionsas their students needed to be giventhe opportunity and scope to developextended answers and to leam, bydoing so, to structure their thinking.Koufetta-Menicou and Scaife (2000)classified science teachers' questionsinto nine categories, according to themental operation required for each ofthem to be answered. The twocategories of lower level thinkingquestions asked for (a) recall of facts,events, and definitions, and (b)descriptions of a situation and theidentification of variables. Higher

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level questions included (c) those thatbasically begin with how and ask for adescription and justification ofprocedures {e.g. 'How did you testwhether ....'), (d) those that seek proofor evidence (e.g. 'What evidence haveyou got for that?'}, (e) those thatrecognise a pattem or describe thetrend in a graph, (f) those that beginwith why and ask for a reason behindthe procedure followed (e.g. 'Why isthis fair?'), (g) whai-if questions thatask students to hypothesize {e.g. 'Whatwoutd be the problem if ....?'), (h)prediction questions, and (i) conclusionquestions that require students toreframe information {e.g. 'What didwe learn about the ....?').The above authors found thatquestions which require lower levelmental operations {categories a and b)were not positively related to any kindof desired learning outcome. Theimplication is that this type ofquestion 'makes very littlecontribution to the quality of teaching'and that 'unless a teacher offersstudents appropriate experiences incategories beyond therecall ing/memory one, teachingcannot be as,sumed to be effective indeveloping higher level thinking'(Koufetta-Menicou and Scaife, pp. 82-83). Also, 'how' questions {category c)appeared to be associated witbstudents' use of metacognitive skills.Requiring students to think not onlyabout the 'how' (procedure) ofaparticular setting, but also theunderlying reasons, was an importantstep towards metacognition.Furthermore, questions seekingevidence (category d) were stronglyassociated with teachers' guidancetowards appropriate resolution ofcognitive conflicts. This may bebecause the resolution of cognitiveconflicts depends on givingexplanations and constructingscientific arguments, which is in tumlinked to the identification ofevidence. The findings also suggestedthat'asking more questions ... doesnot guarantee higher level learning'and that 'it is the types of questionsthat matter and not simply theirquantity' (p. 83).

Stimulating Deeper ThinkingThrough Teacher QuestioningAn emphasis on lower order or recallquestions encourages students tomemorise information. To promotedeeper and more reflective thinking inour students, we should also includehigher order questions as part ofclassroom discourse. The followingare some suggestions to foster thinkingthrough our questions:

1. familiarise yourself with the levelsof thinking elicited by ditferent typesof questions.

To ask higher order thinkingquestions, you must first be familiarwith the level of thinking invoked bythe various types of questions, asdiscussed above. You can use one ormore ofthe above-mentioned questioncategories to generate your questions,remembering to establish a balancebetween questions of different degreesof complexity. This will also ensurethat you ask a diversity of questiontypes.

2. Identity the cognitive skills andprocesses that you would like yourstudents to engage in, and then craftthe question lo elicit the desired kindef thinking.

Ask yourself if your questions requirestudents to {a) recall facts andprocedures that they have come acrossbefore, {b) explain an event orphenomenon, {c) infer from pattems,trends, or underlying relationships indata, (d) predict outcomes, (e)evaluate and use criteria to make ajudgment about some giveninformation, (f) formulate alternativehypotheses for the same observations,{g) plan and design an experiment totest something that they would like toinvestigate, or {h) propose andgenerate solutions to a problem.especially one where the problem isembedded in a real world context andthe solution is non-stereotypical, yetfeasible.

Questions that require .students toengage in thinking at the recall levelas in (a) above (e.g. 'What enzymeused in making cheese is responsiblefor coagulating the casein?') would be

of a lower order. Those that expectstudents to give explanations as in {b)encourage them to apply theirunderstanding of concepts to a newsituation, provided that theexplanations have not been rotelearnt or rehearsed before {e.g. 'Whyare yoghuri and cheese, which areproducts of microbial activities, moreresistant to spoilage than the milkfrom which they are made?'). Whenstudents are asked to infer {e.g. 'Basedon the results of this experiment, whatdo you think is the water potential ofthe potato tissue?'), predict {e.g. 'Whatwould happen to the rate of browningif I immerse the cut apple slices invinegar?'), and evaluate (e.g. 'Whatare the advantages and disadvantagesof using an artificial kidney machinecompared to getting a kidneytransplant?') a.s in (c) through (e)above, such questions are pitched atthe critical thinking level and are of ahigher order. If the questions demandstudents to suggest alternativehypotheses (e.g. 'What might be somepossible reasons why .,..?') as in {0.design an investigation or generatesolutions to a problem in a newsituation {e.g. 'How would you help aflorist, in the most efficient andeconomical way, to increase the rangeof colours of fiowers to be displayed ather shop and thot would stay fresh foras long as possible?') as in (g) and (h),they invoke creative thinking on thepart of the students.Simple enhancements in crafting aquestion can turn it from a recall oran algorithmic exercise to a realproblem. Consider the question 'Whatfoctors affect the rate ofphotosynthesis in a plant?'. To answerthis question requires little thinkingbeyond simple recall. We canstimulate deeper thinking in studentsby omitting information, requiringassumptions, or including superfiuousbut seemingly relevant information.Context-rich problems that presentreal-world situations where the keyvariables, concepts, and essentialinformation must be identified bystudents can also be used. Considerthe question 'What advice would you

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give a farmer entering an agriculturalcontest who wants to ensure that hislettuce would grow at the maximumrate possible and produce the largestheads with plenty of leaves?'. For sucha question, students need to considernot only the factors influencingphotosynthesis, but also other relatedconcepts such as mineral nutrition,plant growth substances,environmental conditions, andgenetics. Such a question promotesdiscussion of what assumptions mustbe made, what must be done and howto do it, and will help studentsdevelop critical thinking and problemsolving skills.

3. Use Wait Time.

After asking a question, teachers areoften anxious for an immediateresponse. If none is forthcoming, theymay answer their very own questionsthemselves. You need to pause orbuild in wait time of about three tofive seconds for students to formulatereasoned responses, particularly forhigher order questions. Rowe(1987)reported that when science teachersextended their wait time to threeseconds or more, the length of studentresponses, the incidence of speculativethinking, and the number ofunsolicited but appropriate responses,inferences, students' questions, andcontributions by slow learners allincreased. Tobin (1987) also reportedsimilar fmdings and higher levels ofstudent achievement with extendedwait time, ln addition, he also foundthat teachers who increased their waittime asked fewer lower order questionsbut more probing and applicationquestions.

4. Provide a warm and conducivelearning environment.

It takes courage to venture a responseto an open question publicly amongpeers. Sometimes students are notcomfortable with risk-taking andwould thus refrain from responding tothe teacher's questions. They may beafraid of losing face or be laughed atby their classmates if they give anincorrect answer. A warm classroom

climate with a low risk of censure,criticism, or ridicule is essential forpromoting thinking via teacherquestioning. If teachers are intolerantof'wrong' or 'stupid' answers, studentswill be less forthcoming with theirideas, fearing that they may bedismissed as silly or 'rubbish'.Teachers who believe in the virtue ofdivergent thinking will not be afraid tolet their students make mistakes andturn those mistakes to good use, asbuilding blocks in their search forunderstanding and workablesolutions. Also, remember that yourquestions should be asked more in thespirit of an inquiry rather than aninquisition.

mmif'.—

5. Pay attention to the wording ofj.your questions and responses.

A question such as 'Would you get ayellowish-brown or dark blue stain ifyou spilt some iodine solution ontoyour writing paper?' limits yourstudents to respond with 'yellowish-brown' or 'dark blue' or 'I don't know.'However, asking 'What would youobserve if you spilt some iodinesolution onto your writing paper?'requires students to apply what theyhave learnt, and think about why thestain would be of a different colourfrom the original solution. Try tophrase your questions to avoid 'yes' or'no' answers, unless that is what youreally want. Compare What do youthink will happen to the plant if youomit magnesium from the plantculture solution?' with 'Do you thinkthere will be a yellowing of leaves in aplant if you omit magnesium from theplant culture solution?'. The fonnerrequires the students to think throughmuch more about mineral nutrition inplants and the role that magnesiumplays in chlorophyll formation, whilethe latter encourages a simple 'yes/no'response.

Ask questions that are process-oriented, seek explanations, ask forevaluations, or stimulate imagination.Place emphasis on 'how', 'why', and'what If, and on links to previousinformation. Use open questions tostimulate critical and creative

thinking.The following example illustrates thedifferent types of teacher questionsand responses that can inhibit orpromote thinking in students.Consider the following possibleteacher responses to a student'sincorrect prediction about the relativesizes of the cells at the root tips orshoot tips of a plant relative to theother parts: 'The cells at the tips needto grow more so they would be larger'.Teacher A who responds with 'That'snot quite right. Would someone el.selike to try?' terminates the interactionwith the student and therebyunintentionally suppresses thestudent's further cognitive processing.Compare this with Teacher B whoresponds with 'The cells at the root tipsor shoot tips are actively dividing, so

I their metabolic rate is higher. Whathappens to the rate of intake of foodand oxygen per unit mass ofprotoplasm? ...[Pause].,. How is thisrelated to the surface area to volumeratio of the cell? Would you like to tryagain?'. This teacher paraphrases the

I student's ideas and encourages thestudent to re-think and decide if that isindeed what he or she meant, helpsthe student to reflect on the earlierresponse, and find and correct his orher own mistake

F 6. took for questioning opportunitiesi in each and every lesson.

Purposefully ask questions at strategicintervals throughout your lesson.Plan the questions so that they fit inwith the natural flow ofthe lesson,coordinating questioning towardsparticular directions. Questionsrequiring thinking beyond the recalllevel make excellent introductions,bridges, and trigger activities, and canarouse students' curiosity andmotivation. Some useful sources fordeveloping open questions includenewspaper and magazine articles,short problem situations, andanecdotes from real-life experiences.Identifying And Improving YourQuestioning Skills

To find out your questioning practices,you can tape-record your lesson or a

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'typical segment' of it, listen to yourselfand your students' responses, and thenanalyse the questions that you asited.Analyse the number ofpossible and acceptable responses, andcheck the level of thinking that thequestions stimulate. Also, ask yourselfwhether the que,stions require yourstudents to go beyond recallinginformation tn formulating a response.You can also analyse the woy youphrase your questions. Words such aswho, what, when, where, name, andsometimes how and why ore oftenindicative of closed questions (Blosser,1973). Words such as discuss. Interpret,explain, e\'aluate. compare, if, andwhat if may elicit more than theretrieval of memorised information.However, they may also require onlymemory operations if the questionsfocus only on information from aprevious lesson.If you find that there is a lot ofin fonnation-giving and a paucity ofquestions in your 'teacher tolk', youcould punctuate your exposition withquestions. If you find diat yourquestions are often pitched at thefactual recall level and do notsufficiently stretch your students'minds, you may try asking a widervariety of questions to tap on students'higher level thinking processes. On theother hand, if you find that you areasking questions that are well abovethe heads of most students and are notgetting any satisfactory responses, youmay wish to ask more basic questionsfirst and then follow up with moredifficult ones progressively. Too manyhigher order questions can befrustrating for students and detrimentalto the inquiry process. Lower orderquestions are helpful in reviewing basicconcepts and can lay the foundationfor meaningful discussions. Byconsciously asking questions that elicitthe use of a variety of cognitive skillsand processes, we can foster critical andcreative thinking in our students. AsEdward de Bono ha,s so aptly put it,'Asking a question is the simplest wayof focusing thinking ..,. Asking Iheright question may be the mostimportant part of thinking.'

References

Alfke, D, (1974). Asking operationalquestions. Science and Children. U{17i18-19

Allison, A. W. fi Shrigley, R. I. (1986).Teaching children to ask operationalquestions in science. Science Education,70(1), 73-80.

Anderson, H. O. (1999). Teaching forthe future. The Science Teacher, 66(8),46-49.

Bloom, B. S. (Ed.), (1956). Taxonomyof Educational Objectives Handbook I:Cognitive. New York: David McKayCompany.

Blos,scr. I'. L, (1973), HunUbookofEffective Questioning Techniques.Worthington, OH: EducationAs.sociotes.

Blosser, P. E. (1995). How lo Ask theRight Questions. Arlinyton. VA:National Science Teachers Association.

Cair, D. (1998). The art of askingquestions in the teaching of science.School Science Review. 79(289). 47-50.

Elstgeest, [. (1985). The right questionat the right time. In W. Harlen (Ed.),Primary Science: Taking the Plunge, pp.36-46. Oxford: Heinemann,

Gilberl, S. W. (1992), Systematicquestioning. The Science Teacher,59(9). 41-46.

KoufeHa-Menicou, C. & Scalfe, I.(2000). Teachers'questions - types ondsignificance in sdence education.School Science Review, 81(296), 79-84. I

Rowu. M [i 11987). LMIUJ vvuit timeto stimulate inquiry. In W. W. Wilen(Ed.), Questions. Questioning Techniques,and Effective Teaching, pp. 95-106.Washington. DC: National EducationAs&ociation,

1987). The role of wait timein higher cognitive level learning.Review of Educational Research, 57(1),^9-95.

IScience research - j'benefits for society.

Bv Anne Langsford

Your assignment

• Collect two articles of scientific

im{X)rtance from a current

newspaper, a scientific mogazine or a

web site with scientific news.

• Cut out, copy, or provide the web

address of your articles. Make surt'

you include the date and source of

articles taken from magazines

or newspaper.

• Compare the two articles, including

the value of the research to society.

What are the benefits of this

research? Does the research create

any problems (social, legal.

environmenUiI)? Which research do

you consider more important.'

(Write at least 1/2 page.)

Useful web sites

New scientist, -

http://www.newsdentisl.com/

ABC sdence news, -

h ttp ://www.abc.net .au/ news/sdence/

Sdenbfic American, -

http://www.sdam .com/

Due Date -

TEACHnMG SOENCE i VOLUMt SO No 4 i SUMMER 2004 21