An article discussing the importance of students asking questions and learning to come up with answers on their own. Critical thinking skills.

1. Making Better Observations and
Questions that Lead to Improved Inquiry Skills
Christine Meek, Graduate Student UCCS, Colorado Springs, CO
As educators, our job is to help our
students grow into competent, contributing
members of society. Our job is to guide them
in their path to becoming adults that are able to
make good decisions based on truth and to be
able to decipher what is fact and what isn't. To
do that, we must allow them to hone their
natural ability to question things or help them
re-learn the skills involved in observing and
asking questions. Lately, we have been hearing
a lot about science “inquiry” practices, but
what does that really mean? Inquiry is an
approach to learning that involves a process of
exploring the natural or material world, that
leads to asking questions and making
discoveries in the search for new
understandings (Exploritorium, 1998). Every
question asked is a good one, but some
questions are better than others. In order for
students to produce quality inquiries, they need
to be able to ask good questions.
According to the National Science
Education Standards, students should develop
the ability to refine and refocus broad and ill-
defined questions. (NRC, 1996) This article
talks about how we can meet those standards
and guide students to observe their
surroundings, learn how to ask good questions
and then lead them to how to discover the
answer on their own.
Children come into the world with no
“prior knowledge” or experience. They are a
blank slate; a tabula rasa. They need to explore
the world around them in various ways to
figure things out. If you give a 10 month old
boy an object, he will pick it up, look at it,
move it around in his chubby little hands, and
then put it in his mouth. He is using all his
senses to figure out what the object is and how
it works. Then that child learns to talk. If
you've ever met a 4 year old, you know that
they ask questions incessantly. So now this boy
is curious about everything and his newly
acquired language now helps him to figure out
the world around him. By the time his is 6, the
number of questions starts to dwindle. This is
partly due to the fact that he has more
knowledge about the world around him and
have a better ability to make connections to
objects, events and ideas. It is also partly
because he's been told to stop asking so many
questions. Ten that boy is sent off to school
where he can learn more and experience more.
In school, students learn material so
they can then be tested. What happens, more
often than not, is the child finds out that,
according to standardized tests, there is always
a right answer. Typically, that answer is “C.”
When they do ask questions in class that don't
have to do with “C,” the teacher often tells
them not be distracted and redirects them to the
task at hand.
After a while, they learn to stop asking
questions and just memorize the information
long enough to pass the test. After 13 years of
learning the “right” information in school, they
lose the ability to think critically, problem
solve, and ask questions. By the time that child
reaches adulthood, very few questions are
asked on any given day.
The Real World
Unfortunately, the “real world” doesn't
operate on “right” information. There are
Better Questions Page 1 CURR 5502 – Dr. Malone 06/25/12

2. situations that come up where the answer isn't
just right or wrong; true or false; “C” or “A.”
The world isn't black and white. We live in a
world of gray and we need to help students tap
into their instinctive curiosity again. We need
to help them remember how to ask questions
and how to investigate the world around them
to find answers. I'm not suggesting we give a
10th
grade Chemistry student an object to hold,
move around and then put into their mouth the
way they did when they were 10 months old,
but we can guide students to observe their
surroundings, learn how to ask good questions
and then lead them to how to discover the
answer on their own. How do we do that?
Image: livinglifetwice-alwrite.blogspot.com
Observations
Before we can talk about how to teach
our students to ask questions, we must first talk
about how to observe.
Questions come from being curious.
Being curious comes from noticing something
unusual or unfamiliar. To notice something
unusual or unfamiliar one must be able to have
observed it.
Observations can happen with our eyes
and other physical senses, but in science we
also have many other tools we can use such as
microscopes, spectrometers, thermometers, pH
test kits, etc. Observing also happens more
than the initial first glance. Scientists observe
things over a period of time and take notes on
their observations. Observations can take place
over a period of moments, hours, days, months
or even years. Scientists take notes but this is
not limited to words and graphs. This can also
include drawings, photos, sound bytes, or other
relevant information.
Before scientists are even able to ask a
question, they must find something about
which to question. They must be good
observers of the world around them. Scientists
see the world not as “what do I already know?”
but rather “what don't I know and how can I
find out more?”
Image from http://www.mrscienceshow.com
Questions
After a while, those observations can
lead to questions, and those questions can lead
to an investigation/experiment/inquiry. We
need to teach students to really evaluate the
world around them. Question everything they
see. Yes, there are the obvious questions such
as “What is this?” But let's push past the
obvious and look for the unique and extreme.
Let's get crazy. Forget about thinking outside
the box and just get rid of that box! We can
play devil's advocate and try to see things from
another angle. Look for things that are
Better Questions Page 2 CURR 5502 – Dr. Malone 06/25/12

3. opposites or contrary. Are there any patterns
or does something seem to be missing? Ask
questions that start with “what if.” (Grotzer)
There are 2 types of questions when it
comes to seeking information: fact and
explanatory. A fact question involves an
isolated piece of information that does not
contain a casual component and an explanatory
question involves a causal relation between
objects and/or events. (Chouinard, 2007) An
example of a fact question would be “What is
the process of cell-division?” An example of
an explanatory question is, “Why is it cooler in
the morning than in the evening?”
According to Bloom's taxonomy, there
are 6 different levels of questions: knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis,
and evaluation. (Bloom, 1956) Our goal as
teachers is to help a student get from a level 1
type question to a deeper level. Below are
examples of the types of questions in each
level:
• Level 1: Knowledge Example: “What is
this”
• Level 2: Comprehension Example:
“Where would you use this?”
• Level 3: Application Example: “What
would happen if we removed this black
piece?”
• Level 4: Analysis Example: “How does
this this object compare to a something
we use in the kitchen today?
• Level 5: Synthesis Example: “What
could we do to find out what makes this
work?”
• Level 6: Evaluation Example: “How
effective is this tool? How can we
make it more effective?”
The deeper the level, the better the
question. A question evaluating an object is
better than one about general knowledge. How
do we know it's a better question? We know
because when the student answers that
question, (s)he has a better level of
understanding. So how do we help students get
to a deeper level?
Lab Time
The following activity will give
students the practice they need to refine their
observation skills as well as learn to ask more
and better questions. Before starting this lab,
there are a couple of things that need to be
addressed. Students can feel that asking
questions is a sign of weakness and stupidity
and are reluctant to ask. Remember that, since
becoming a student 6 or 7 years ago, many of
them have tried to forget how to ask questions.
Students can feel vulnerable when asking
question. They need a classroom environment
where they feel safe in taking the risk of asking
questions. With this in mind, the first thing the
teacher needs to do is to set solid rules about
tolerable behavior during this inquiry time.
The second thing that needs to be addressed is
that students need to be introduced to the idea
that there are different types and levels of
questions so you may decide to give students a
copy of Blooms Taxonomy Ideas (Fig. 2)
before starting this lab.
This activity takes as little as 15-20
minutes depending on how much time you give
them for each step. When the students are
done, have them share their observations and/or
questions so they may inspire and lead other
students to better observation and questioning
skills. For students to get the most out of this
activity, the lab can be repeated as often during
the year as you see fit. When used repeatedly
throughout the year, the difference in the ability
to observe as well as the quality of questions
asked between the beginning of the year and
the end of the year is remarkable. You can use
the grading rubric (Fig. 1) as an example when
scoring this lab.
Better Questions Page 3 CURR 5502 – Dr. Malone 06/25/12

4. Figure 1 - Grading Rubric
Points 5 10 Extra
The student
wrote down 1
observation
about each
object.
Not all
10
Yes 1 point for
each extra
observation
1 question was
asked about
each object
Not all
10
Yes 1 point for
each extra
question
How many
questions were
asked about a
specific object
<5 5-10
(the
goal is
10)
>10
1 point for
each extra
question
Level of
question
(refer to Fig. 2)
1 point per level. Level 2
question gets 2 points, level
4 questions gets 4 points.
Although this activity is geared toward
a middle school level (grades 6 through 8), it is
easily adapted to all grade levels. The main
objective of this lab is to help students become
better at asking good questions.
Observing Items
Begin this activity by giving each
student 10 random items. You may have
students share items, but they may not share
their observations with each other yet.
Examples of objects are: action figure, key
chain, wine bottle opener, deck of cards,
hammer, container of mints, or anything that
could be typically found at the bottom of a
mom's purse. Students also need observation
tools such as a ruler/measuring tape,
magnifying glass, microscope, scale and
flashlight. Lastly, students need their science
journal to write down each step.
Implementation
Students need to carefully observe each
item. They may use their own senses (hands,
eyes, nose) or a scientific instrument
(magnifying glass, ruler). They need to write
down at least 1 observations about each item
and ask at least 1 question about each item.
Then they need to pick 1 of the objects and
write down as many things as they notice about
it. Things they can observe are its color, shape,
texture, smell, size, but also things like where
they might find it, who might use it, and how
old it is. Now they need to take that object and
write down as many questions as they can think
of.
(Note: Students may feel like they need to write
in complete sentences at first. Encourage them
not to worry about this just yet. We want them
to get into the habit of being able to observe
and question quickly. As time progresses and
they are more efficient at these skills, you may
want to have them use complete sentences.)
Current-Event Observations
As mentioned above, you can repeat this
lab throughout the year. However, you can mix
it up a little bit by changing the object of
observation. Rather than using “items” for the
students to observe, you may have them read
articles from periodicals such as Discover
magazine, Popular Science or Scientific
American. (Please keep in mind that these
magazines are written with a readership of ages
30 and older. You may need to censor some
advertisements in the back.) Have the student
find and read an article that looks interesting to
them. Then, have them observe or summarize
10 things in the article. Lastly, have them write
down any questions that were raised while
reading. This can include questions that had
nothing to do with the article directly, but may
have triggered an idea in their mind. By giving
students current-event information in this lab,
you are not only getting them to learn to ask
better questions, you are helping them to
become more scientifically literate. Scientific
literacy entails being able to read with
understanding articles about science in the
Better Questions Page 4 CURR 5502 – Dr. Malone 06/25/12

5. popular press and to engage in social
conversation about the validity of the
conclusions. Scientific literacy implies that a
person can identify scientific issues underlying
national and local decisions and express
positions that are scientifically and
technologically informed (NRC, 1996, p. 22).
Conclusion
This is a simple, yet powerful lab that
gives students the time and freedom to practice
the skills necessary to tap into their natural
curiosity and continue to be able to think
critically and creatively problem solve their
way through life. By learning to improve their
observation and questioning skills, students are
better prepared to dive into more content-rich,
science-inquiry based labs.
This lab helps students learn to ask the right
questions in the right way so they can find the
true answers they seek.
References and Resources:
Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive
Domain. New York: David McKay Co
Inc.
Chouinard, Michelle M.(2007). Children's
questions: A mechanism for cognitive
development:II. Analysis of the CHILDES
database. Monographs of the Society for
Research in Child Development, Vol 72(1),
Mar, 2007. pp. 14-44.
Exploritorium (1998).
http://www.exploritorium.edu/IFI/about/in
quiry.html
Grotzer, Tina. The Keys to Inquiry Section II:
Big Messages to Communicate Around
Learning from Experience, http://hea-
www.harvard.edu/ECT/Inquiry/inquiry2te
xt.html
National Research Council (NRC). 1996.
National science education standards.
Washington, DC; National Academies
Press.
Better Questions Page 5 CURR 5502 – Dr. Malone 06/25/12