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Facilitating Critical Thinking in Social Studies through Teacher Questioning

Facilitating Critical Thinking in Social Studies through Teacher Questioning. Presented by Debra Williams Region 4 Education Service Center. Objectives. Learn how to raise the bar for ALL learners through effective questioning.

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Facilitating Critical Thinking in Social Studies through Teacher Questioning

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  1. Facilitating Critical Thinking in Social Studies through Teacher Questioning Presented by Debra Williams Region 4 Education Service Center

  2. Objectives • Learn how to raise the bar for ALL learners through effective questioning. • Examine the relationship between the level of teacher questions and the ability of students to analyze, interpret, and evaluate information. • Review the research on the role of teacher questions in teaching and learning. • Explore questioning strategies that not only lead to a greater understanding of the content, but that also impact students’ critical thinking skills.

  3. Questioning • “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” A. Einstein • “Students should feel proud that they have a question rather than pleased that they have the answer.” Janice Szabos Johnson, N. Active Questioning, 1995.

  4. Questioning • “Teachers who believe that their task is to educate the Socrates within students can make the classroom a place for asking as well as answering questions. Problem-finding will have equal importance with problem-solving. Student questioning is the tool that opens the “window” for effective, meaningful learning.” Garnet Miller

  5. Assumptions • Inquisitiveness and the ability to think are essential for functioning in the present and fast-developing information society. • In the upcoming decades human intelligences, imagination, and intuition will be far more important than the machine. Hunkins, Teaching Thinking Through Effective Questioning, 1995.

  6. Assumptions • Educators should create within educational arenas smart environments that enable students to work on their intelligence through reflecting on their mental capacities, their questions. • Thinking and effective inquiry are paramount skills.

  7. Teacher Questioning • Why do teachers ask questions?

  8. Why Ask Questions? • Assess student performance • Maintain student engagement • Lead students to learning moments? • Keep the Teacher’s focus • Enable the teacher to build on student answers and provide immediate feedback

  9. Research Says … • On the average, during classroom “recitation”, approximately 60 percent of the questions asked are lower cognitive questions, 20 percent are higher cognitive questions, and 20 percent are procedural. Cotton, K. Classroom Questioning. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001. (Slides 9-14)

  10. Research Says … • Students whom teachers perceive as slow or poor learners are asked fewer higher cognitive questions than students perceived as more capable learners. Cotton, K. Classroom Questioning. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001.

  11. “I am not who I think I am. I am not who you think I am. I am who I think you think I am.” Do not focus on perceived inadequacy, but instead focus on strengths and people will ascend.” Cotton, K. Classroom Questioning. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001.

  12. “Learn your strengths from what people say to you.” “When praising others, be specific in the praise, be sincere in how the praise is delivered, and state it with a tone of high expectations.: Cotton, K. Classroom Questioning. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001.

  13. “I’ll try to give you what you expect from me … Praise my strengths, expect it from me and watch me grow.” Mike Kneale, October 2002 Cotton, K. Classroom Questioning. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001.

  14. Research Says … • Teaching students to draw inferences and giving them practice in doing so result in higher cognitive responses and greater learning gains. Cotton, K. Classroom Questioning. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001.

  15. Research Says … • For older students, increases in the use of higher cognitive questions are positively related to increases in: • On-task behavior • Length of student responses • The number of relevant contributions volunteered by students • The number of student-to-student interactions

  16. Research Says … • Student use of complete sentences • Speculative thinking on the part of students • Relevant questions posed by students

  17. Research Says … • Wait Time • The average wait-time teachers allow after posing a question is one second or less. • Students whom teachers perceive as slow or poor learners are given less wait-time than those teachers view as more capable. • Increase in wait-time over three seconds has a positive effect on the number of higher cognitive questions asked by teachers.

  18. Seven Principles • Students do not have the right not to learn. • Underachieving students are mostly undertrained, not underbrained; they are dormant, not dead! • Questioning must be intensive not just occasional. • The attempt should be to follow a Question-Response-Question (Q-R-Q) pattern when questioning students. Hannel, G.I., and Hannel, L. (2005). Highly Effective Questioning: How and Why To Ask Questions in the K-16 Classroom.

  19. Seven Principles • Questioning must be kept positive overall. • Random guess-making or trial and error behavior during questioning should be discouraged. • The goal is to reduce “I don’t know” responses and attitudes.

  20. Asking Questions • Self-Reflection • Engaging Students • Framing Questions • Fat and Skinny Questions

  21. Phrasing Questions: Seven Steps • Step 1 – Label • Step 2 – Compare, Contrast • Step 3 – Sequence, Order, Classify, Integrate, Pre-Summarize, Synthesize • Step 4 - Decode, Interpret • Step 5 - Encode,Answer • Step 6 – Apply, Predict • Step 7 – Resummarize, Conclude Hannel and Hannel. Highly Effective Questioning

  22. Application • Choose a social studies topic or concept and develop questions for each step. • Remember: Sequence is Important! • Share with the group.

  23. Questioning and the Social Studies TEKS • How does one use the strands of the social studies TEKS to frame questions? • What questions do social scientists ask? • How do questions lead to better understanding?

  24. TAKS and Questioning • How can questioning be used to enhance student performance as indicated on statewide assessments?

  25. TAKS – Objective 1 • Issues and Events • The Big Questions: • What are the important issues and events? • Why and how are these issues and events important?

  26. TAKS - Objective 2 • Geographic Influences on Issues and Events • The Big Questions: • What are geographic influences? • How do geographic influences affect issues and events?

  27. TAKS – Objective 3 • Social and Economic Influences on Issues and Events • The Big Questions: • What are social and economic influences? • How do social and economic influences affect issues and events?

  28. TAKS – Objective 4 • Political Influences on Issues and Events • The Big Questions: • What are political influences? • How do political influences affect issues and events?

  29. TAKS – Objective 5 • Critical Thinking • The Big Questions: • What is critical thinking? • How is critical thinking used to analyze, interpret, and evaluate issues and events?

  30. What is Critical Thinking? Take a moment to record your definition. Share it with someone.

  31. Thinking is ...

  32. Bloom’s Taxonomy “Each of Bloom’s cognitive categories includes a list of a variety of thinking skills and indicates the kind of behavior students are to perform as the objectives or goals of specific learning tasks.” • Knowledge: Define, recognize, recall, identify, label, understand, examine, show, collect.

  33. Bloom’s Taxonomy • Comprehension: Translate, interpret, explain, describe, summarize, extrapolate. • Application: Apply, solve, experiment, show, predict. • Analysis: Connect, relate, differentiate, classify, arrange, check, group, distinguish

  34. Bloom’s Taxonomy organize, categorize, detect, compare, infer • Synthesis: Produce, propose, design, plan, combine, formulate, compose, hypothesize, construct. • Evaluation: Appraise, judge, criticize, decide. Costa, Arthur. ed. “Thinking Skills: Meanings and Models”. Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking. Alexandria: ASCD, 1985.

  35. Bloom’s Taxonomy At what level do I assess my students?

  36. Low Level Thinking Questions • Who? • What? • Where? • When? • How? • Why? Johnson, N. Active Questioning, 1995.

  37. High Level Thinking Questions • What are all the ways? • What if? • How is ________ different from _______? • What is your point of view about______? • How come _______________? • How do you feel about ________?

  38. Active Questioning Formats • Question Journal • Question Web • Mindbranching • Learning Log Using Questions • A Grab of Questions WHAT IF? • A Wheel of Questions • Spinning Questions

  39. Active Questioning Formats • The Answer IS … • The Question Pinata • Questioning Notebook or Journal • A Question to Tickle Your Funny Bone • Before and After • Pictures! Pictures! • Dear Kid Question

  40. Active Questioning Formats • Question Board • Question Calendar

  41. Application • Lesson: “Hurricanes From a Social Studies Perspective”

  42. Reflections • How will I use questioning to enhance the teaching of social studies?

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