As we’ve mentioned in some of our previous articles, the learning that happens as the result of taking a field trip shouldn’t end once the kids get back on the bus. Allowing students time to reflect on the experience after the field trip is essential for the ideas and concepts presented to sink in. This leads to deeper understanding and helps students make connections.
Posing purposeful questions during reflection makes this time even more productive. Certain questions can foster richer discussions or stimulate curiosity that leads to further questions and research. Before you know it students will be asking their own purposeful questions.
To begin crafting questions that lead to rich learning, start by asking yourself these five questions, taken from Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick’s article Five Strategies for Questioning with Intention. Be sure to read this worthwhile article which provides examples of the various types of questions as well as insight into the importance of asking each.
- Do you use questions at all cognitive levels?
- Do your questions build on positive assumptions?
- Do your questions build habits of mind?
- Do you questions encourage reflection?
- Do you pose long-range eternal questions?