Open or Closed Questions
Do you perfer open or closed questions to your students?
Hi Karl - Welcome to ED 103! Thanks for your postings - you clearly described how to use both types of questions. Best wishes! Susan
It depends on the type of question being asked. If you are checking for knowledge than a closed question may be used. If you are asking to check on comprehension than an open question may be better
I like to use both because it depends on the subject matter. If my students need to know the techniques of cooking I am going to use open questions so they can think about the process. If I need them memorize things it needs to be closed questions.
I've found it really depends on the subject matter. In Cultural Diversity, open questions are often of the most use to me, since my goal is to get students questioning long-held assumptions as they rethink what it means to understand themselves and others. However, since such large questions are often too difficult or intimidating for students to grasp right away, I'll often lead up to such things with closed questions.
Closed questions also seem more suited to memorization; they are useful in learning and familiar to students. Open questions, properly phrased, can be used in many ways: to shock students awake, to force them to explain their beliefs, to encourage participation, etc. I'd be interested in hearing if there were specific progressions of open versus closed questions preformulated, but so far only experience has shown me when to use each type.
