Please HELP!

[Christine]

Could you please instruct me on how to ask a "fantastic" question?

 

I have actually asked this particular question many times before, but have never gotten a satisfactory answer. Which just cements the idea in my head that I do not have a clue as to how to write a good question!

 

Personal Background: college grad -- my writing assignments consisted of "how do you feel about. . ." and "factoid" questions.

 

Except for that one essay on Candide by Voltaire. . .

 

Just trying to clarify that I TRULY have NO experience with good questions myself -- aside from that ONE example. (History and Literature are my focus points here.)

 

********************

 

So, I think I have an idea how to go about this, that may work.

 

Suppose I just finished a study on the Civil War. (Sadly we didn't, but I believe that many people are somewhat familiar with this topic.)

 

• You may "assume" anything.
  
• I am looking for logic and rhetoric stage type questions.
  
• *Show me* how you came to decide on your question(s). (i.e. do you do a "tree" from the main topic to the question, or. . .what?)
  

To clarify: I don't want you to throw out good questions (thus making me feel like a complete failure), I want you to show/ diagram / instruct me so that I may copy your example and create my own fantastic questions.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Christine

[Chris in VA]

I use Bloom's Taxonomy, one of the few useful things from my BS Ed. degree.

HTH

[Christine]

I use Bloom's Taxonomy, one of the few useful things from my BS Ed. degree.

 

Ummm, okay. This would be the answer that I have ALWAYS received in the past. I have a beautiful Blooms Taxonomy chart that I'm even thinking of hanging on my wall -- as that's about the only good I get from it.

 

This is akin to handing someone the keys to a car and telling them to go ahead and drive it in NYC. . .and they've just see their first car!

 

Sorry, I know that is a harsh response. . .

 

It's a list of questions, or question words, but it gives you nothing in the way of how to put it into practice. (i.e. When is it best to use a compare and contrast question as opposed to a inference question?)

[Jean in Newcastle]

It depends on the age and level of the person you are asking. Typically, you ask the lower (more basic) level questions of younger kids or when the material is new. Then you move up in complexity because the you can't compare and contrast until you understand the facts of what you are comparing and contrasting. Also - some material just lends itself better to certain higher level questions.

[Kathleen in VA]

Ummm, okay. This would be the answer that I have ALWAYS received in the past. I have a beautiful Blooms Taxonomy chart that I'm even thinking of hanging on my wall -- as that's about the only good I get from it.

 

This is akin to handing someone the keys to a car and telling them to go ahead and drive it in NYC. . .and they've just see their first car!

 

Sorry, I know that is a harsh response. . .

 

It's a list of questions, or question words, but it gives you nothing in the way of how to put it into practice. (i.e. When is it best to use a compare and contrast question as opposed to a inference question?)

 

Yup, that was harsh. I wouldn't dare try to answer your question after that.:confused:

[Chris in VA]

Oh, don't worry about being harsh--you just need more hand holding, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's frustrating!

 

I learn best by example, but you did say:

 

To clarify: I don't want you to throw out good questions (thus making me feel like a complete failure), I want you to show/ diagram / instruct me so that I may copy your example and create my own fantastic questions.

 

so I'm not totally sure what you are looking for, but I'd love to help! Bloom's IS the diagram I use, so to speak. As Jean said, the lower levels ask comprehension questions, then you use that info to ask the next levels. Omnibus does that really well--first the student reads the material, then the first day, answers facts-based questions about the setting, the characters (who are they, etc.) and so on. The next day, they compare and analyze.

 

So, how can I give you some examples without giving you examples, so to speak?

[Stacy in NJ]

It depends on your own background knowledge. It's impossible to ask really good questions if you are unfamiliar with the content of the subject. It's easy to ask great questions if your intimately familiar with the subject.

 

For example, I could come up with any number of great questions at the rhetorical level on any number of literature selections. I would be clueless with regards to scientific theory.

 

There isn't any recipe for good questions, there's only knowledge.

[elfgivas]

have you googled "how to ask good questions"?

 

this seemed a good one:

http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/teaching/techniques/asking-questions/asking-questions

 

here's one link that came up that does a fairly good job of discussing open and closed questions (after the first few paragraphs)

http://www.bizsuccess.com/articles/ask.htm

 

or this one

http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/communication_questions.html

 

one of the things these didn't mention was the importance of being clear on what you are trying to accomplish. do you want factual information? narration? evaluation/interpretation? each of those questions has its place.

 

and how you listen matters, too.

 

it is a good question (the one thing i would suggest right off the top is not to tell folks how not answer.... if you want someone to provide information/technique, then you need to let them answer as they answer, and then go from there. ie. ask the question, listen to the answer, ask clarifying questions. say someone gives you an example, then you ask them "what makes that a good question?" which will help them help you...)

 

fwiw,

ann

[Christine]

Okay.

 

I will check out those web sites given.

 

Re: Bloom's Taxonomy. I have a lovely chart. (This is a close approximation to my chart -- which is on the other computer.)

 

 

It tells me words I can use to ask questions at various (5) levels.

 

I completely understand the words. I completely understand the levels.

 

I am utterly miserable at APPLICATION.

 

Part of this is due, I believe, to the fact that throughout my school career I never saw questions beyond level 2, so I have absolutely no experience to draw from.

 

I don't understand if questions are "reverse engineered". (Which, I believe is true in the lower 2 levels. For example, I want to know when the War of 1812 ended, so I reverse engineer the question, so it reads "When did the War of 1812 end?") Is that possible / advisable at the higher levels?

 

I don't understand when a particular word or phrase from this diagram lends itself to particular instances. (Obviously for compare & contrast you need at least two elements.)

 

My hope was that if I gave a category, some could run with it and walk me through their mind in how they come up with a question.

 

i.e.

Topic: Civil War

and I assume you studied military advancements / medical advances / something else (and maybe even that needs to be narrowed down some?), so you probaby covered *this* information.

 

*this* information lends itself well to *these* types of questions for *these* reasons. . .

 

I know I tend to ask too broad of questions (this one, in particular, qualifies). If I get "specific" I tend to ask "factoid" questions of my 12th grader. . .So, part of the problem is just being able to identify a happy medium.

 

This is not an intuitive process for me. So, while I may have the tools, I don't have the know-how to use them. (And I allow myself to be too easily frustrated by others who it is intuitive for.)

[Julie in CA]

I've found the Teaching the Classics cd set to be helpful in training me about what questions to ask for literature. From there, you might be able to use that knowledge to flow into asking good questions for other subjects. Not sure it's exactly what you're looking for, but you might give it a try.

 

ETA: You might also investigate "Socratic dialogue" to go along with your Bloom's Taxonomy.

[Mama Anna]

. . . but I'll take a stab at it.

 

You mentioned "reverse engineering" - it seems that would work with every level of the Booms Taxonomy I found online except for Synthesis.

 

So. What do I want to know? I want to know what dd thinks about the effect the Civil War had on medicine in America. So I ask.

 

In what way did practices learned in field hospitals during the Civil War improve surgical technique? (Very specific. Fairly easy to research because it is specific. Yet, I think it would require a short essay for an answer.)

 

Track the progress of American medicine through the time of the Civil War, noting all specific advancements and how they were related to one another. (Much more of a short paper would be needed for this one, I think. The "related to each other" part would raise it out of the "factoid" level and require deeper thinking.)

 

What was the most pivotal medical event during the Civil War that changed the future of American Medicine? Please defend your answer. (This is sort of the middle ground - being limited to one event, it would be easier to research. However, the defense of the answer could get much more intricate.)

 

So, what do you want to know? Do you want to know how her mind works on a moral-type basis? Ask her if she thinks a particular practice was "fair," "right," "good," etc. and why. You may disagree with her answer, but you'll have her thinking out there in front of you to study. Do you want to know if she realizes the relevance of an event? Ask her to figure out what effect it has had on history. And so on.

 

Does any of this make any sense? Does it help? I may be totally off-target (see the ages of my dc below.) :)

 

Mama Anna

[Denise in Florida]

And now for something different ...

Warning: An unschoolerish type is joining the discussion. :D

 

You have received some great advice so far. I understand your desire to initiate meaningful answers/discussion. Too many of us completed our education without experiencing deep understanding of the subjects we were learning. My advice will be more anecdotal than technical. I hope it will give you a 'leaping off' place.

 

I have led several discussion format co-op classes on everything from humanities, book discussion and number theory to graphic novels. The hardest part was creating the questions that would generate thought and sustained interaction.

 

Remember the responses I was seeking were verbal rather than written. This was intended to make them think not to prep them for a essay test.

 

I would take the book/movie/number game they were studying and list out keypoints on 3X5 cards. Then I would run the concepts though a mental checklist.

 

What is the most important part I want them to remember?

How can they show they understand this?

Does it require a certain context? What happens if it is out of context?

Can they apply the information to a new set of data?

 

Some of the common types of questions/activities I would use:

 

Outside viewpoint: We were discussing High Noon. I asked them to name three historical figures. They then had to tell me what role each of those people would have played if they had been involved in the movie. (We went far afield with this one, I think Genghis Khan was involved at some point:lol: But we really explored the story.)

 

Relate two unrelated things: List a six-degrees of separation between a cartographers puzzle and a Euler diagram.

 

Alternate History (What ifs): How would the Civil War have changed if Lincoln had been killed a year earlier?

 

Obviously these are not hardcore academic questions. There isn't a right answer. The fun is in the thinking and discussion that comes afterward. B

[nrg]

Here is a summary of the kinds of questions generated from each level in Bloom's taxonomy. In using these concepts, I bear in mind the different types of essay we have been working on. So, I create an assignment as well as a question in asking to compare and contrast, use a narrative to illustrate a theme or concept, persuade me of an interpretation or opinion of the historical event(s), project into future, etc.

 

I also refer to the Teaching the Classics list of questions.

 

KNOWLEDGE

remembering

memorizing

recognizing

recalling identification

recalling information

 

who, what, when, where, how ...?

describe

 

COMPREHENSION

interpreting

translating from one medium to another

describing in one's own words

organization and selection of facts and ideas

 

retell...

 

APPLICATION

problem solving

applying information to produce some result

use of facts, rules and principles

 

how is ... an example of ...?

how is ... related to ...?

why is ... significant?

 

ANALYSIS

subdividing something to show how it is put together

finding the underlying structure of a communication

identifying motives

separation of a whole into component parts

 

what are the parts or features of ...?

classify ... according to ...

outline/diagram ...

how does ... compare/contrast with ...?

what evidence can you list for ...?

 

SYNTHESIS

creating a unique, original product that may be in verbal form or may be a physical object

combination of ideas to form a new whole

 

what would you predict/infer from ...?

what ideas can you add to ...?

how would you create/design a new ...?

what might happen if you combined ...?

what solutions would you suggest for ...?

 

EVALUATION

making value decisions about issues

resolving controversies or differences of opinion

development of opinions, judgements or decisions

 

do you agree that ...?

what do you think about ...?

what is the most important ...?

place the following in order of priority ...

how would you decide about ...?

what criteria would you use to assess ...