Asking Questions for Critical Thinking Christopher Price Director, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Instructor, Department of Political Science & International Studies

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Questions for Today 1.What does the research say about questions in the college classroom? 2.How can you incorporate this research in the way you design and deliver courses? a.What are some helpful best practice strategies for using questions that transcend disciplines and course types? 3.What questions do you have about using questions?

Research According to Mayer (2009) questions prime [the] cognitive process of learning through helping students –select the relevant material from the lesson –organize a coherent representation of that material in working memory –integrate that representation with existing knowledge in the long term memory

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Research Barnes (1983) found that –college instructors spend less than 4% of class time on questions –82% of questions asked were of the “cognitive memory” type –Findings held true across various conditions (public/private, small/large, beginning/advanced)

How questions are typically used

Research Braxton (1993) found that faculty at more selective colleges and universities ask more “higher-order” questions (questions without memorizable “cognitive memory” or easy-to- figure out “convergent thinking” answers) Renaud & Murray (2007) found a positive correlation between the frequency of higher order questions and measures of critical thinking in three different conditions.

Questions for Today 1.What does the research say about questions in the college classroom? ✓ 2.How can you incorporate this research in the way you design and deliver courses? a.What are some helpful best practice strategies for using questions that transcend disciplines and course types? 3.What questions do you have about using questions?

Course Design

Course Design Create high-order course goals –analysis, synthesis, evaluation Provide opportunities for active learning –Practice integrating, applying, and thinking about course content (McKeachie, 2006) Align activities, assignments and assessments with course goals – rsedesign/tutorial/index.htmlhttp://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/cou rsedesign/tutorial/index.html

Course Delivery Good questioning practice?

Question Typologies Gallagher & Aschner (in Barnes, 1983) –Routine thinking –Cognitive memory –Convergent thinking –Divergent thinking –Evaluative thinking /promoting_and_assessing_critical_thinking.html

Question Typologies Brookfield & Preskill, 2005 (discussion) –Qs that ask for more evidence –Qs that ask for clarification –Open Qs –Linking or extension Qs –Hypothetical Qs –Cause/effect Qs –Summary/synthesis Qs

Question Typologies Andrews in Nilson, 2005 (high mileage) –brainstorm –focal (viewpoint) –playground (opinion, hypothetical, etc.)

Question Typologies Nilson, 2003 (poorly designed questions) –analytic convergent –programmed-answer –rhetorical –quiz show –dead-end –fuzzy –chameleon/shotgun –put down/ego stroking burnout/

Questioning Process Cold call or volunteer? Wait 10 seconds Mindfully respond (listen & use verbal and non-verbal cues) One at a time Low-order should be brief, early, and spiced-up Allow for student interaction Teach how to construct high-order Adapted from Davis, 2001 & Wood, 2010

Student Generated Questions Design an entire course around student generated questions (inquiry based teaching) Justice et al. (2007) describe such a course and offer the following criteria for evaluating inquiry questions: 1.Interesting 2.Analytical 3.Problematic 4.Complex 5.Important 6.Genuine 7.Researchable

A Closing Thought “Whereas some professors might see their job as teaching the facts, concepts, and procedures of their subject, the teachers we studied emphasized the pursuit of answers to important questions and often encouraged students to use the methodologies, assumptions, and concepts from a variety of fields to solve complex problems” –(Bain, 2004, p. 45) 8

Questions for Today 1.What does the research say about questions in the college classroom? ✓ 2.How can you incorporate this research in the way you design and deliver courses? a.What are some helpful best practice strategies for using questions that transcend disciplines and course types? ✓ 3.What questions do you have about using questions?

Questioning Resrouces Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Barnes, C.P. (1983). Questioning in college classrooms. In Ellner, C.L. & Barnes, C.P., Studies in college teaching: Experimental results, theoretical interpretations, and new perspectives. Macmillan Publishing Company Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. New York: Longman. Braxton, J.M. (1993). Selectivity and rigor in research universities. The Journal of Higher Education 64: Brookfield, S. & Preskill, S. (2005). Discussion as a way of teaching: Tools and techniques for democratic classrooms (second edition). San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass Davis, B.G. (2001). Tools for teaching. San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass Justice, C. et. al. (2007). Inquiry in higher education: Reflections and directions on course design and teaching methods. Innovative Higher Education 31: Mayer, R.E. et. al. (2009). Clickers in college classrooms: Fostering learning with questioning methods in large lecture classes. Contemporary Educational Psychology 24: McKeachie, W.J. & Svinicki, M. (2006). McKeachie’s Teaching Tips. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Middlecamp, C.H. & Nickel, A. (2005). Doing science and asking questions II: An exercise that generates questions. Journal of Chemical Education 82: Nilson, L.B. (2003). Teaching at its best (second edition). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing. Nygren, K. (2007). Elevating knowledge from level 1 to level 3. In Beyerlein, S.W., Holmes, C., & Apple, D.K. Faculty Guidebook. Pacific Crest. Renaud, R.D. & Murray, H.G. (2007). The validity of higher-order questions as a process indicator of educational quality. Research in Higher Education 48: Wood, E. (2010). It is yours for the asking: Using questioning to promote discussion in the classroom. In Black, C. The Dynamic classroom: Engaging students in higher education. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.