In Chapter two of Rigor by Design, Not Chance by Karin Hess, Hess focuses on the methods educators can use to get their students asking questions and deepening their learning. “Promoting self-directed learning skills, such as asking questions and using metacognition, empowers learners to transfer learning to new situations” (Hess, pg. 32). Furthermore, Hess explains that instead of looking for one perfect question, asking a sequence of questions can engage students in more complex thinking. With different techniques, educators can use questioning to further learning, aide in instruction, and help recognize where students need more engaged learning. Hess explains, “when teachers plan their questions, learning deepens. Questions spark the brain to make connections and solidify learning” (Hess, pg. 38). I found Hess’s actionable assessment cycle to be very beneficial as she gives steps and multiple questioning strategies to help deepen students learning. I loved seeing that some questioning techniques that I use were included in these steps. My personal favorite falls under stage two: embed short-cycle formative tasks into instruction, think-pair-share. According to Hess, “...allow for wait time, encourage simultaneous engagement, and hold each student accountable by making their thinking visible” (Hess, pg. 41).
After reading chapter two in Rigor by Design, Not Chance, I started searching for an article that relates to how questioning can deepen a student's learning. I found an article titled, Deeper Learning Through Questioning by Mary Ann Corley, and W. Christine Rauscher. The article is similar to Hess’s chapter by talking about the different types of questioning that a teacher can use to engage students. Corley and Rauscher state, “When teachers ask higher‐order questions and encourage explanations, they help their students develop important critical thinking skills” (Corley & Rauscher, 2013). How Hess discusses the different DOK levels that go along with questioning, Corley and Rauscher mention Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956). Both of these systems are very similar to one another, the lower-order questions ask students to recall and comprehend material and the higher order questions ask students to use information previously learned to create or support an answer with reasoned evidence. One focus of this article that stood out to me is the idea of students being able to self-question. “Effective self-questioning can improve students’ awareness and control of their thinking, which in turn can improve their learning” (Corley & Rauscher, 2013). Giving students the proper tools and modeling to engage in self-questioning, they will start to do it on their own. “With a sequence of questions, one question leads to the next. So, when students are at home by themselves and have to analyze a text, they know the sequence, and they know how to get there on their own by starting small” (Hess, pg. 33).
Overall, both of these texts confirm how questioning can play a large role in a student’s learning path. Both the way educators ask questions and engage our students along with students taking the questioning into their own hands and recognizing why they are learning something and how they can connect with it to fully engage. Hess’s chapter gives educators many different techniques to enhance their questioning skills and further deepen their students learning. The article I chose while it still talks about educators' skills, it dives a bit deeper into students doing the questioning. Rigor for students can be brought out in the many different styles of questioning, the thought and process that goes into it is what matters the most.
References
Teal fact sheet no. 12: Deeper learning through questioning. LINCS. (2017, May 10). https://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/profile-759
Hess, K. (2023). Rigor by design not change deeper thinking through actionable instruction and assessment. ARLINGTON VA.
I really appreciate how you found so many similarities in here. I wonder what role you think this metacognitive strategy might play in deep learning, as Hess defines it?
ReplyDeleteKatie,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated how you addressed the fact that students need modeling in order to engage in self-questioning. Not only do they need it for self-questioning, but they also need it in order to engage in discussion with their teachers and peers. This made me think about how when students are asked to engage in discussion about classroom content, whether it be about a book, a math problem, or anything else... they often do not know what to say or where to start. In order for students to understand questioning, they need it to be modeled for them and they need examples of appropriate and relevant questions that lead to student inquiry. Self-questioning and questioning others will help students deepen their understanding of different concepts so it is important to guide students so that they can learn to do this skill on their own.