You write amazing questions. You create practice problems for your student that are deep and engaging. By writing all the questions, you are taking away an opportunity for deeper understanding by your students. Having students write questions rather than answers is a highly effective way for you to assess student weaknesses. And the faster that you find student weaknesses, the more efficient you will be at correcting them.
I have used the question method for years and found it to be a great mental exercise for the students. And it is obvious why it works. Writing questions is hard! Think about what your brain does when you sit down to write a great limiting reagent question. You have to decide what compound you are going to have the kids solve for. Then you think of two chemicals that will react to form that compound. Then you choose starting values that make the answer not obvious based on the mole ratios. That is some higher-level thinking. You must be so smart. But what if you gave the students the opportunity to do that? What if by giving them time in class to write questions, you allowed them to probe their minds to reverse engineer what they have been doing to get back to a valid question. You will find their weaknesses, and fast.
1. Review for tests
Having students write their own review for tests is a great benefit. They actually have to think about you and what it is that you want them to know. When I first stumbled upon this activity, I was teaching freshmen. The day before the test, their warmup question was always, “Write 3 questions that you believe will be on tomorrow’s test.” It was powerful, because after they wrote the three questions, they would trade papers and answer someone else’s questions. I would hear many conversations.
“Mr. Koch would never write a question that easy.”
“This question was from the last chapter.”
“This reaction won’t actually take place.”
“Does francium carbonate actually look like that?”
All those statements lead kids to engage in deeper thinking about how they write questions and therefore what they are expected to be able to do. It forces them to engage their minds to write questions that are functional, at the right level, and focused on the current topic. I also encourage kids by offering a reward. The best question that I see written today will end up on tomorrow’s test. It’s a badge of honor to have your question chosen. It also lends importance to paying attention to what your classmates are doing.
2. Students rewrite a question
This is an easy way to quickly have your students create questions. I often don’t even have them write these down. Put a question on the board in the typical form that you would ask. Have the kids take turns creating an alternative way to ask the same question. They can just tell their classmate the question verbally. It forces them to internalize the information that you are asking them for and then quickly apply it. Here is an example.
Which of the following elements has the lowest first ionization energy?
a. Na
b. K
c. Mg
d. Ca
When they rearrange that question, they might be able to ask questions like these.
Which of the following elements is likely to lose an electron first when heated up?
Which of the following elements would be the first to react with fluorine?
Which of the following has the largest radius and smallest effective nuclear charge?
Even with a simple multiple-choice question, they are quickly forced to engage the content at a different level. Imagine what they will do as the question that you show them gets more challenging. It will create a great environment for discussion.
3. Write a question that works, and one that doesn’t
Trust me, they will find lots of ways to ask flawed questions. I mean, you and I still do, and we have lots of practice. I literally wrote a bad question for AP Biology on their last test. It was a four part question that I worded too vaguely. The kids immediately found the loophole and made that entire page of the test a disaster. They will do that to their classmates as well. They love finding issues. In this method, have the students write two questions, one that has a way to get to an answer and one that has a flaw. Then they trade with each other, and they must figure out which is which. I then will have them answer the one that actually leads to an answer. Let’s say you are teaching single displacement reactions and ask them to do this exercise. They are forced, in their mind, to think about what makes a single displacement reaction work. And also, what causes a single displacement not to work. They will be exercising their understanding of activity series. They will have to know it so well that they know how to break it. When they understand at that level, they will be much more successful just answering your questions.
4. Let the class get talkative
I got a complement a while back from my principle during an unannounced observation (aren’t those your favorite type?) She told me I had the loudest class but with the most purpose. I took that as a complement. If you create systems in your class where students are used to talking with each other, they are comfortable knowing when to start talking and when to stop, and they recognize the purpose with which you are using it, you can create amazing opportunities for learning. This is especially true when having students write questions. They need to hear analysis of the question they wrote. It will cause them to really check what they know. Cordial arguments are great. I usually get to come in and be the deciding vote on disagreement. And by doing that, I get to listen to how their mind is working. I find the spots that are not understood in the unit. Once you have built a successful talking culture in your class, you can actually pace your teaching off the volume of the conversations. This just happened to me this week. I was having my AP chemistry students explain a series concept to their partner. The first one, the class was loud, and they talked instantly. But the second question, the class got pretty quiet. I could read their hesitance like a book. I was able to stop their conversations, reteach a portion of that topic and then continue on.
Allowing students to engage with the content by writing questions will deepen their understanding and help you assess them more efficiently. Let’s practice. I will write a question and you ask it in a different way.
“Who is ready for spring break?”
You already know the answer. Now write a great question!
Looking for more ways to engage your students? Try playing games in class. Using games allows kids to engage at deeper levels, all while enjoying their time in your class. Up & Atom helps teach the concept of the mole. CHeMgO lets kids write lots of ionic formulas in a fun way. Try them today!
