Debbie DeRoma & Millie Vilaplana

During the course, participants will engage in numerous activities designed to increase their familiarity with research and strategies related to questioning in informal science settings. They will also have several opportunities to implement the questioning strategies that they learn about during the course readings and presentations. In addition to the resources needed to complete the following sessions, participants will have access to articles and websites where they can find additional information about the course topics.

Week 1
Objective:

• Participants will identify effective questioning strategies based on relevant science education research.

Content and Activities:

1. Participants will view the Introduction to Questioning PowerPoint slideshow. This presentation will introduce them to research on the effectiveness of questioning in science classrooms. Questioning techniques such as increasing “wait time”, redirecting questions, and probing will also be introduced. Finally, the presentation will describe Patricia Blosser’s “Questioning Category System for Science” and provide examples of different types of questions.
2. Participants will read an excerpt from “Asking the Right Question” by Patricia Blosser and review “Using Questions in the Science Classroom” on the NARST website.
3. Participants will view a video clip of a science workshop at an informal science center and analyze the questions asked by the teacher during the segment. They will post their answers to the following questions on a Moodle forum. They will also be required to respond to the posts of at least two classmates.

• What category or level of questions did you notice most often in the clip? Give an example.
• Why do you think this is the most common type of question that you see?
• Using Blosser’s categories as a guide, can you find an example of at least one closed and one open question in the clip?
• What do you notice about the students’ responses to the questions being asked? Are the students actively engaged in the discussions?
• Did you notice any missed opportunities for deeper level questioning? Describe the situation and explain what question(s) you would have asked.
• How much “wait time” does the teacher give before calling on students?

Week 2
Objectives:

• Participants will analyze their practices and gauge the level of questioning in their own instruction.
• Participants will identify effective questioning strategies based on relevant science education research.

Content and Activities:

1. Participants will read the following two articles and complete a Moodle forum post describing two things that they learned from each article.
   • Furtak, E.M. and Ruiz-Primo, A.M. (2005). Questioning Cycle: Making students' thinking explicit during scientific inquiry. Science Scope 28(4): 22-25.
   • Olson, J.K. (2008). The Crucial Role of the Teacher. Science and Children 46(2): 45-49.
2. Participants will audiotape themselves while teaching a workshop or other program at their institutions. They will analyze their audiotapes and be prepared to discuss the following questions during a Moodle chat session with two to three of their classmates.
• What types of questions did you ask most often?
• Describe two examples of good questions and two examples of questions that you would like to rephrase.
• What did you notice about the students’ responses to your questions? Did they respond with single word answers, or did they need to use multiple sentences?
• How long was your “wait time” before calling on students?
3. Participants will take a self-assessment quiz on questioning strategies. This quiz, which will contain multiple choice and open-ended questions, will allow participants to assess their current understanding of questioning strategies and to apply their knowledge in various fictional scenarios. Based on their performance on the quiz, participants may choose to review any subject matter they feel they need to reinforce further by exploring additional resources, such as websites and articles, which will be available on the Moodle site.

Week 3
Objective:

• Participants will reformat an existing activity or program to incorporate effective questioning techniques.

Content and Activities:

1. Participants will read the following article.
• Park Rogers, M.A. and Abell, S.K. (2008). The Art and Science of Asking Questions. Science and Children 46(2): 54-55.
2. Participants will review the “Questioning Strategies for Science Conceptual Understanding”, as well as other question classification systems posted on the Moodle site.
3. Based on the course readings and activities, participants will choose two to three questioning strategies to implement during an upcoming program at their institutions.
4. Participants will write a two- to three-page reflection paper based on the following prompts. They will post their paper to a Moodle forum and respond to the posts of at least two of their classmates.
• Describe your experience with implementing some of the questioning strategies into your program. What were some of your successes? What were some of your challenges?
• Think about your own experience as a learner and the types of questions that your teachers asked during classroom instruction. Relate your experiences to the Blosser’s categories and the other articles that you read during this course. Describe why it is important for educators to be conscious of the types of questions they ask.