Leadership - Open questions
Open questions
Challenging
In simple terms an ‘open question’ does not allow the easy reply of ‘yes’, ‘no’ or things like ‘maybe’.
Sometimes you may want a simple reply whereupon a ‘closed question’ would be very useful where you don’t want the individual to go off at a tangent. The use of closed questions can be justified when you have a very good idea of the information you want to clarify and don’t have a lot of time.
The ‘closed’ approach will demonstrate that the individual has a limited amount of knowledge but may not show any depth of understanding of principles.
For this you will need to develop ‘open questions that challenge the individual and are more intellectually demanding.
If you ask someone a simple question, for example, ‘name three requirements for a leader’, you may get the reply...
‘Confidence, intelligence and integrity’.
This ‘closed question’ has allowed the individual to demonstrate some knowledge and fact recall but not to show any deeper understanding.
You could ask the same question in an ‘open’ format.
‘Could you give me examples of the attributes a leader should have?’
‘Which leadership quality do you see as the most important and why?’
‘Explain what you consider to be the best quality for a leader’.
Apart from integrity, what additional attributes would you like to see in a leader and why?’
These questions will stretch the individual into giving a more in depth answer.
People often fall into the trap of using ‘closed’ questions because the answers can be easily evaluated as correct or not.
The right question
Framing the correct question can be very important when you are collecting data but may be less relevant when judging the depth of knowledge of an individual. Clearly, it is still relevant to decide on the questions before any interviews take place.
This will be particularly relevant where you are trying to compare the responses of different individuals.
Hopefully, questions should:
- Extend thinking skills.
- Clarify understandings.
- Gain feedback on teaching/learning.
- Provide revision strategies.
- Create links between ideas.
- Enhance curiosity.
- Provide challenges.
Bloom’s taxonomy
Questioning should be used purposefully to achieve well-defined goals.
Ideally, questions should be asked that require the development of thinking skills.
Bloom’s taxonomy is a hierarchical system of ordering thinking skills from lower to higher, with the higher levels including all of the cognitive skills from the lower levels.
Below are the levels of the taxonomy, with a brief explanation, and examples of questions which require students to use thinking skills at each level.
| Knowledge | Remembering previously learned material, e.g., definitions, concepts, principles, formulas. |
What is the definition of a “noun"? What is Newton’s third law? What is the capital of Cameroon?
These questions are designed to stimulate remembering, facts, terms, definitions, concepts and principles.
You can use particular words to begin the questioning.
What? List, name, define and describe are good opening words for these sort of questions.
| Comprehension | Understanding the meaning of remembered material, usually demonstrated by explaining in one's own words or citing examples. |
What are some words which are commonly used to describe a leader? What does the data mean? Explain the process of combustion.
Use explain, interpret, summarise, provide examples, predict or translate to start these questions.
| Application | Using information in a new context to solve a problem, to answer a question, or to perform another task. The information used may be rules, principles, formulas, theories, concepts, or procedures. |
Given your knowledge of appraisal techniques what guidance would you give to others? How does Newton’s third law apply to planetary motion? Based on your current understanding, what risk management processes could be useful here?
You could use compute, apply, modify, solve or construct to help initiate these questions.
| Analysis | Breaking a piece of material into its parts and explaining the relationship between the parts. |
Given your three key attributes for a leader how do you think they interrelate? What key factors are influencing leadership today? What is the relationship between electrical current and resistance?
You may wish to try, ‘How does… apply’ , ‘Why does… work’ , ‘What differences are there…’ at the front tend of appropriate questions.
| Synthesis | Putting parts together to form a new whole, pattern or structure. |
What key points would you consider when putting a team together?
How would the use of risk management help you as a leader?
What aspects of leadership would you draw on for setting up appraisal training?
Here you are trying to get the individual to build on data and information that they may already possess.
| Evaluation | Using a set of criteria, established by the student or specified by the instructor, to arrive at a reasoned judgment. |
How well did your delegation training meet your needs for leadership?
Was leadership implemented successfully in your previous employment?
Have you ever been set targets and were they met?
Begin questions asking for judgments or comparisons between scenarios.
High and low levels
In simple terms the above are often just split into high and low levels.
Lower level questions tend to seek out the preparation, comprehension, strengths, weaknesses.
The higher level questions encourage problem solving, open up discussion and promote deeper thinking.
Other question types
Ordinary
These tend to be simple, requesting information or items that you need, for example food or directions.
Questioning stops when the need is satisfied.
Inquiry
Here it is not assumed that the individual knows the answer when you ask the question.
The reply usually needs an additional question to carry on the inquiry.
Rhetorical
The questioner usually knows the answer and doesn’t necessarily expect a reply.
The question can often be used to test understanding.
They do not encourage enquiry.
Socratic
They are designed to check underlying logic or the structure of thinking leading to the making of reasonable judgements.
Other questioning tools
Thinkers Keys
Thinkers Keys is a strategy used to develop creative and critical thinking designed by Tony Ryan, a consultant for Gifted and Talented Programs in Queensland.
Each of the twenty keys is a different question which challenges the reader to compose his or her own questions and come up with responses.
Question Matrix
The Question Matrix was designed by Chuck Weiderhold in 1991.
It contains 36 question starters asking what, where, when, which, who, why and how.
These questions are asked in present, past and future tenses ranging from simple recall through to predictions and imagination.
Proceeding through the matrix, the questions become more complex and open-ended.
The questions range from mere use of memory to creative and critical questioning.
The Question Matrix may be made into cubes, cards, spinners or divided into strips or single questions depending on the task.
The Question Matrix is a visual tool to assist students to create their own questions about topics. to encourage in-depth thinking.
Students can become more independent at designing their own learning tasks.
The opportunity for greater choice and flexibility and to follow up individual interests is facilitated.
The levels of Bloom's Taxonomy of Thinking can be linked to the Question Matrix.
Questions along the top of the grid are knowledge questions.
Questions along the bottom of the grid require analysis , synthesis and evaluation.
Six Thinking Hats
Edward De Bono devised the Six Thinking Hats as a strategy to encourage students to look at a topic or problem or idea from more than one perspective.
Each hat represents a different kind of thinking and therefore different kinds of questions.
This process is clearly explained in his books and other readily available commercial material.