posted by:
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MacGregor Kniseley
on March 10, 2000
at 5:16PM
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subject:
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Questioning and Science Talks
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This semester, my elementary science methods college students are co-teaching ten-twelve 2nd or 3rd graders. Their goal is to develop ideas about forces and motion and science as inquiry. After assessing prior knowledge and considering their ideas, the college students plan and conduct additional "exploratory activities" and "fair tests" to develop their ideas. There are 7 meetings that culminate in a brief, informal public sharing of science ideas with parents and their classmates.
Yesterday, we debriefed the third science meeting. After some talk related to their #1 concern, classroom mangement, I asked them to share all of the science questions posed by their students--knowing that they were focusing intently on "teacher questions." (see references at end of this message). Their list of questions posed by children was short.
Then, I presented Paul Black's strategy--using questioning stems to promote thinking. We practiced using the stems, discussed how the stems could be used during the sequence of science meetings, and evaluated which question stems would be most practical with 2nd and 3rd graders.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the college students apply the question stems----will they apply it as a tool for assessment? a tool for children to pose questions to "take action" at the next science meeting? as a tool for review review or reinforcement of knowledge gained? Or, perhaps some other way?
I'd like to know other people are using the question stem strategy with preservice and inservice teachers. What difference does it seem to make?
I'd also like to know about other techniques for improving the questions children ask.
Thanks so much for your question, GPaulin, and your teaching suggestions and references, Paul Black.
Besides questioning, there are other challenges preservice students face, such as facilitating meaningful, equitable "science talks" with children. In my opinion, it's the most demanding part of the science meeting. In addition to use appropriate social behaviors, it's challenging to get children to interpret data and use the evidence to formulate a conclusion, to explain, to identify a pattern or relationship, to self-assess what they know or don't know.
Greg Kniseley, Professor Rhode Island College KITES K-6 Science LSC
PS: To develop "teacher questions," preservice students use Jos Elstgeest's "The right question at the right time" and Sheila Jelly's "Helping children raise questions--and answering them" Chapter 4 and 5 in Wynne Harlen (ed.) Primary Science: Taking the Plunge published by Heinemann. Often, at the end of the semester students tell me these were two chapters were significant course readings.
In our K-6 Science LSC, I've used these chapters as a basis for an inservice workshop on questioning.
Also, Dr. Larry Lowery delivered an engaging presentation to a large audience of LSC teachers and administrators, called "Asking Effective Questions." The session prompted teachers to examine questions promoting a range of thinking. Also, he related his framework for questioning to the questioning strategy used in the FOSS modules].
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