E-Learning For Educators Section 1 (Summer 2015)

Cyndy,

As I read through McKenzie's toolkit, I was definitely struck by how important the Elaborating Questions are for me as an English instructor.  As we've already been talking about on this discussion board, many students tend to think and write on the surface level, and it's one of my goals to get them to think much more critically and analytically about the material they're reading and writing.  So, by asking them to elaborate upon what they mean by certain terms/ideas, they begin to comprehend just how complex many of the issues we discuss can be.  For example, my freshman composition students are working on their final essays for the class, and we have read and discussed some difficult texts over the last couple of weeks, such as Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience."  When we were discussing the concepts of just versus unjust laws, they thought it would be very simple to agree with the fact that just laws should be followed and unjust laws shouldn't be--end of story. But, through the use of elaboration questions, like "Thoreau argues that slavery is unjust, but what if I'm a slave owner, and I'm benefitting economically?" "How might Thoreau address this question?" They, then, had to go back into the text and realize that Thoreau also talks about utilizing our consciences as we make decisions and that we have a responsibility to the humanity of all people. They were able to begin to make significant connections that brought them closer to major themes in his essay.

My hope is that in asking these types of questions throughout the semester, students begin to internalize the process of questioning and begin to become more thoughtful thinkers. 

Lisa

Cyndy,

I too found the toolkit fascinating and have bookmarked it!  We have a lot in common as I also teach in the first semester of our progam and have the very beginning students.  The tool that I could use immediately would be the Hypothetical Questions.  I teach a Nursing Skills class for the beginning students and we like to not only have them perform the skill but we like to ask them questions to pompt their reasoning skills.  The what if the patient were a diabetic?  What would you do differently?  What if the patient had dementia, what would you advise the family member?

Anne

Cyndy:

There is so much great information here!  I could see myself using almost all types of the questions.  But so as not to repeat anyone, I will say "sorting and sifting".  In education we have become data heavy.  Not all of the data is meaningful and we have to learn how to figure out what is important and what the next steps are.

Sharon 

Hi Cyndy,

I really enjoyed reading your example and question.  Probing questions are a natural fit in economics too.  I have to convince many students to unlearn definitions to concepts we study and spend a great deal of time pointing out external resources that incorrectly define or describe a concept.  For example, I have many students that believe the terms income and wealth are synonyms and it doesn’t help that it is very easy to find an article that will misuse one or both of the terms.  Using a discussion forum to go back to the basics helps develop the dialog and keep the students focused on the initial prompt. 

Sheri in Las Vegas

Cyndy,

I really enjoyed your scenario of the type of  questions that you would be asking your students. With my elementary students, I use a lot of clarification questions. Many times they believe they know what certain vocabulary words mean, but when they give presentations, it is obvious that they don't have a clear understanding. A unit that was just finished was Colorado Lifezones where because of the diverse landforms and waterways, Colorado has different kinds of habitats for plants and animals. Adaptations was difficult for students, but a major theme of this unit. I found videos and had students illustrate adaptations of  animals to get the concept across to them. How certain creatures inlifezones have evolved and adapted due to lack of water was also important for students to understand as they analyzed their lifezone's data.

When I train adults, elaboration questions are used frequently. Now that they know how to use a new web tool, where do they go from here? How can they embed it in new or standard curriculum? When teaching Google Forms for example, it was just as important as how they were going to use them in their classrooms as the skill of creating quizzes or surveys. This is where other participants and demonstrating real life examples are critical to implementation.

Sheilah

p.s. I saw Jamie McKenzie give a workshop at an educational conference I attended when he was with Bellingham, WA  public schools. He was amazing.