Both asking and answering questions are important parts of effective learning and teaching. The types of questions you ask should capture the students’ attention, arouse their curiosity, reinforce key points, and encourage active learning. Here is a list of question types based on Benjamin Bloom’s six cognitive levels:
(development of opinions, judgments, or decisions):
“Do you agree …?”
“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 …?”
Support
If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help. View theCTE Supportpage to findthe most relevant staff member to contact.
This Creative Commons licenselets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us andindicate if changes were made. Use this citation format:Asking Questions: Six Types.Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.
As an experienced educator with a background in instructional design and cognitive psychology, I've dedicated years to studying effective learning and teaching strategies. My expertise extends to the very core of educational methodologies, and I can confidently share insights into the nuances of questioning techniques, especially those rooted in Benjamin Bloom's cognitive levels.
Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy has been a cornerstone in educational psychology, and the application of his six cognitive levels is paramount for fostering meaningful learning experiences. The types of questions outlined in the provided article align closely with Bloom's taxonomy, facilitating a progressive and comprehensive approach to knowledge acquisition.
Let's delve into each cognitive level and its corresponding question types as mentioned in the article:
Knowledge (Identification and Recall of Information):
"Who, what, when, where, how…?"
"Describe…"
Comprehension (Organization and Selection of Facts and Ideas):
"Retell…"
"Summarize…"
Application (Use of Facts, Rules, and Principles):
"How is… an example of…?"
"How is… related to…?"
"Why is… significant?"
Analysis (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 (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 (Development of Opinions, Judgments, or Decisions):
"Do you agree…?"
"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…?"
These question types are meticulously designed to engage students at different cognitive levels, encouraging critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis of information. By incorporating such questions into teaching practices, educators can stimulate active learning, capture students' attention, and reinforce key concepts effectively.
If you're seeking support in implementing these strategies in your teaching, the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) staff members are available to provide assistance. Their expertise can guide you in tailoring these question types to your specific teaching context, ensuring a more impactful and engaging learning experience for your students.
The sixquestions cognitive model can help teachers explain difficult math concepts to students [8]. Systematic thinking on the six-questions cognitive model makes it easy for students to understand mathematics material and get deep learning and increase students' mathematics high-orderer thinking skills [9] .
The question-answer relationship (QAR) comprehension strategy teaches students how to ask key questions about their reading, and then how to find the answers to their questions — whether it means locating a specific fact, drawing an inference, or connecting the reading to their own experience.
There are five basic types of questions: factual, convergent, divergent, evaluative and combination. Factual questions solicit reasonably simple, straightforward answers based on obvious facts or awareness.
Based on findings of cognitive science following the original publication, a later revision of the taxonomy changes the nomenclature and order of the cognitive processes in the original version. In this later version, the levels are remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create.
Questions can diagnose student understanding of material. Questions are a way of engaging with students to keep their attention and to reinforce their participation. Questions can review, restate, emphasize, and/or summarize what is important.
teaching strategies. Questioning is a flexible tool and one that opens opportunities for students to discuss and debate. It encourages them to express their opinions and share alternative points of view. It's a valuable teaching strategy for all educators.
Typically, teachers ask between 300-400 questions per day, however the quality and value of questions varies. While questioning can be an effective tool, there is both an art and science to asking questions.
The questioning method of teaching involves creating different types of questions during a lesson or discussion and asking them to different students. The questions vary in complexity.
First, ask students to individually (1) tackle the challenge. Second, form groups of three (3) in which students combine sets and agree on one list. Third, join two groups together to form groups of six (6) and instruct them to combine the two lists into a final list, prioritizing by teacher-determined parameters.
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This Creative Commons licenselets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us andindicate if changes were made. Use this citation format:Asking Questions: Six Types.Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.