In Chapter 5, Norris notes 4 types of questions. Some may be familiar, others not as much.
1. Closed questions - These are questions that require a yes or no answer. While learning to be a therapist, we were instructed to use as few closed questions as possible. Ex. Did you mean to throw your husband down the stairs?
2. Recall questions - These questions test memory. Most of us may be familar with these types of questions from our own K-12 education. These are the questions that require students to seek the teacher's answers (as discussed in the previous posting). Ex. Who can tell me 3 details about the scientific revolution?
3. Information questions - These are questions that seek information from the student. Ex. What made you choose to go back to school?
4. Open questions - These questions require deeper thinking. These questions typically begin with who, what, when, where, why and how.
Jane Vella stated, "Joye, don't steal their learning!" What did Jane mean by this? Norris states that she was observed asking many closed and recall questions that did not challenge the students. These types of questions assume that the learners can't go deeper. Vella encouraged Norris to energize the minds of her students by asking open ended questions.
Tomorrow, more to come on the Power of Partnerships from Chapter 6. Norris gives us some great partner ideas!
With the constant reminders from my supervisors to show formative and summative assessments, I tend to use a lot of closed and information questions because they are easy and fast to grade. But your post makes me realize I am short-changing my students by doing this. They will live up to our expectations and if I expect very little from them, that is what they will give me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me re-think strategies!
This is true because they are so much easier to deliver and gather information from. Using open and probing questions require thought on the ends of both parties!
ReplyDelete