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Productive Questions
Dr. Vickie Harry |
Overview
Children, even at a very young age, formulate theories and ideas for
just about everything, and these ideas play a role in the learning
experience. Through the use of appropriate questions at the right
time, teachers can elicit these ideas and facilitate the learning
process in a meaningful way. Questions that assist teachers with
gaining information about children’s concepts and ideas and at the
same time promote the formation of children’s understanding are
productive questions (Jos, 1985).
Productive questions promote science as a way of doing and encourage
activity while constructing knowledge. The answers generated by
productive questions are derived from first-hand experiences
involving practical actions with materials. In addition, productive
questions encourage an awareness of the possibility of more than one
correct answer to the question. Children answer on their own
developmental levels and the teacher views achievement as what is
learned through the process of arriving at the answer. All children
have success answering productive questions.
Unproductive questions promote science as information and derive
answers from secondary sources by talking and reading. Questions
that do not promote children’s thinking ask about knowledge of
words, or repetition of words given earlier by the teacher or found
in a book. Verbally fluent children who have confidence and
proficiency with words most typically achieve success in answering
unproductive questions with the correct end product (right answer).
Often times, unproductive questions require a simple yes or no
answer.
1) Attention-Focusing Questions:
The simplest form of productive questions is the straightforward
“Have you seen?” or “What do you notice?” type of question. These
questions are indispensable for fixing children’s attention on using
their senses and for encouraging children to use the science process
skills of observing and communicating during the exploration phase
of an investigation or experiment. Additional examples of
attention-focusing productive question starters are: “What are they
doing….?” and “How does it feel/sound/look?”
2) Measuring and Counting Questions:
Quantitative questions encourage sharper observations and
communications. Carefully phrased measuring and counting questions
help children organize their thinking and unify similar concepts or
ideas through the use of grouping or sets. Children use the science
process skills of measuring and classifying as they check accuracy
and use new instruments. Examples of measuring and counting
questions include: “How many…?”, “How often…?”, “How long…?”, and
“How much…?”.
3) Comparison Questions:
Comparison questions ask children to identify number relationships,
develop concepts of alike and different, quantify the number of ways
things are alike or different, and describe how things fit together.
The science processes of observing, measuring, classifying, and
communicating are used by children as they answer comparison
questions. Comparison question starters include: “How do…fit
together?”, “How are…different?”, “In how many ways are…alike?”, and
“In how many ways do…differ?”
4) Action Questions:
Action questions involve children in the science process skills of
predicting, investigating, and experimenting. Finding the answers to
“What happens if…?” and “What would happen if you…?” engages
children the process of inquiry to discover an answer through
investigation and experimentation. Asking children to make
predictions about the outcomes of investigations or experiments
stimulates thinking about variables, hypotheses, and conclusions
affecting the investigation before it begins.
5) Problem-Posing Questions:
“Can you find a way to…?” and “Can you figure out how to…?”
questions pose problems to children and encourage children to devise
methods for testing hypotheses and formulating conclusions. When
answering problem-posing questions, children do science as they
utilize the science process skills to discover the answer to the
question. Before asking problem-posing questions, children need
exploration time to provide time to discover the materials,
possibilities, and impossibilities.
6) Reasoning Questions:
In science, the question, “How does this work?” can be very
intimidating to children. Encouraging children to think about
how things work or questioning children about how something happens,
requires the use of productive reasoning questions . Answering
productive reasoning questions engages children in the science
process skills of interpreting data, defining operationally,
evaluating, and formulating conclusions. “What are some reasons to
explain…” and “How would you explain…” are examples of reasoning
questions that invite children to answer without fear of being
wrong. Asking why? in science can also be intimidating. A carefully
timed, “Why do you think?” question can be an appropriate productive
reasoning question.
Productive questions offer children opportunities to use the science
process skills to discover multiple answers to questions posed by
the teacher. Children ascertain that there is often more than one
answer to productive questions. More importantly, productive
questions cannot be answered by using a simple yes or no response.
Productive questions require children to apply attention, focus,
measuring or counting, comparison, action, problem solving, or
reasoning before responding. Meaningful science inquiry begins as
children ask themselves or their classmates productive questions
about the circumstances of their lives and the events of their
classroom environment. |
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References |
| Jos, E. (1985). The right question at the right time. In Wynne
Harlan (Ed.), Primary Science… Taking the Plunge. Oxford: Heinemann. |
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Internet Links |
Questioning and Science Talks
This is a post by a college professor dealing with Questioning and Science Talks. He provides a real life example, using
the situations his students are in.
Helping Your Child Learn Science
This site gives a way to help students gain interest in science and to
begin asking questions in order to find answers.
Science Teaching Strategies - Classroom Questioning
This site discusses why questions are
central to science. Helpful hints
when asking questions to students are provided. Also, guide questions are listed. |
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