Effective+questioning



Because inquiry-based learning is premised on helping children ask questions, instructors themselves must learn [|the art of asking good questions.] As the leader and guide, remember that you have to [|model] the spirit of inquiry. Practice your questioning and listening skills with exercises like this one: In your next staff meeting, have everyone pair off and ask each other the story of their name. How would you ask that question? The way you do it will play a role in determining the answer you get. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and share what you learned. Now try this activity with kids using all sorts of questions to help hone their questioning and listening skills. || What kinds of questions make for good inquiry-based projects? As we said, they must first be questions that the kids truly care about because they come up with them themselves. In addition, good questions share the following characteristics: When working with younger, shy, or alienated kids and with those unused to this sort of approach, you may have to ask leading questions or even spoon feed them questions to get started. Don't get discouraged. Once they catch on, you'll see their enthusiasm and curiosity grow.
 * The Art of the Question **
 * [[image:http://www.youthlearn.org/images/tip.gif width="50" height="31" caption="tip"]] || Be aware of how a question can either shut down or open up a conversation by the words you choose and the prejudices you reveal. For example, consider the different responses you'd get to the question "Nobody here has ever created a Web page, have they?" versus "Has anyone made a Web page before?" versus "What do we know about creating Web pages?" The second question is at least a more positive version than the first, but it still will only get you yes or no answers. The third invites constructive input and validates prior knowledge. Listen to how people ask you questions.
 * **The questions must be answerable.** "What is the poem 'Dream Deferred' based on?" is answerable. "Why did Langston Hughes write it?" may be answerable if such information exists, or if the students have some relevant and defensible opinions. "Why did he choose this particular word in line six?" is not answerable because the only person likely to know such a specific answer is Hughes himself, now deceased.
 * **The answer cannot be a simple fact.** "In what year was Lincoln killed?" doesn't make for a very compelling project because you can just look it up in any number of books or websites. "What factors caused the assassination attempt?" might be a good project because it will require research, interpretation, and analysis.
 * **The answer can't already be known.** "What is hip-hop music?" is a bit too straightforward and the kids are not likely to learn much more than they know already. "What musical styles does hip-hop draw from and how?" offers more opportunity for exploration.
 * **The questions must have some objective basis for an answer.** "Why is the sky blue?" can be answered through research. "Why did God make the sky blue?" cannot because it is a faith-based question. Both are meaningful, valid, real questions, but the latter isn't appropriate for an inquiry-based project. "What have people said about why God made the sky blue?" might be appropriate. Likewise, "Why did the dinosaurs become extinct?" is ultimately unanswerable in that form because no humans were around to know for sure, but "What do scientists believe was the reason for their extinction?" or "What does the evidence suggest about the cause?" will work. Questions based on value judgments don't work for similar reasons. You can't objectively answer "Is Hamlet a better play than Macbeth?"
 * **The questions can not be //too// personal.** "Why do I love the poetry of W. B. Yeats?" might inspire some level of internal exploration, but in most cases that's not your most important goal. Get the kids to focus on external research instead.

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