Chapter 3: Thinking and Questioning: Skills for Meaningful Learning

           I have always loved promoting learning through questioning.  This type of learning allows the student to discover the knowledge inside themselves and pair it up with other knowledge.  It promotes a sense of self-accomplishment when the student has been racking their brain and they suddenly receive that “ah hah” moment. 

            One questioning technique is divergent-thinking.  These type of questions are often open-ended questions.  For example, a question could be, “What can be done with improve ELL vocabulary development?”  These questions are often broad and usually start with opinions.  Then, the opinions influence research that will eventually lead into an educated conclusion.  They also promote debate and discussion, which can be enlightening. 

            Another questioning technique, opposite from divergent, is convergent-thinking.  These questions are narrow in nature, as they are asking for a specific answer to a specific question.  The answers to these questions are typically factually based; whereas, the divergent questions are more opinions could lead into facts if developed enough. 

            Both technique can be effective, and both can be used collaboratively.  I believe that divergent taps into more higher order thinking, and convergent taps into more lower order thinking; both of which, however, are important.