Thinking
through Inquiry
Asking
questions and using the answers to understand the world
around us is what drives critical thinking. In
inquiry-based instruction, the teacher asks students
leading questions to draw from them information,
inferences, and predictions about a topic. Below are some
example generic question stems that can serve as prompts to
aid in generating critical thinking questions. Consider
providing prompts such as these to students to facilitate
their ability to also ask these questions of themselves and
others. If we want students to generate good questions on
their own, we need to teach them how to do so by providing
them with the structure and guidance of example questions,
whether in written form, or by our use of questions in the
classroom.
Generic
Question Stems*
What are the
strengths and weaknesses of…?
What is the
difference between…and…?
Explain
why/how…?
What
would happen if…?
What
is the nature of…?
Why
is…happening?
What is a
new example of…?
How could…be
used to…?
What are the
implications of…?
What
is…analogous to?
What do we
already know about…?
How
does…affect…?
How does…tie
in with what we have learned before?
What
does…mean?
Why
is…important?
How
are…and…similar/different?
How
does…apply to everyday life?
What
is a counterargument for…?
What is the
best…and why?
What is a
solution to the problem of…?
Compare…and…with regard
to…?
What do you
think causes…? Why?
Do
you agree or disagree with this statement? What evidence is
there to support your answer?
What is
another way to look at…?
*(King,
1995) Centre for Teaching Excellence