Editor’s Toolkit: Incorporating Questions – Page 4

Editor's Toolkit By Susana Christie, Senior Developmental Editor Incorporating Questions into a Textbook

There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about the importance of teaching critical thinking skills, and many Cognella authors state their intention of including critical thinking questions in their books. A true critical thinking question will ask students to objectively analyze and evaluate something in order to form their own judgement, which they can then support. Some of the questions presented earlier are true critical thinking questions.

Examples

• Some theologians consider the Old Testament to be an example of inspired writing. Do you agree with their assessment? Why/why not? Use examples from the chapter to support your opinion. (express and support an opinion)
• Would it be possible to apply the tests of canonicity to the New Testament in the same way they are applied to the Old Testament? If so, how could this be done? If it is not possible, explain why not? (analyze)
• Do you agree with the author’s view that restorative justice is a more meaningful learning experience than retributive justice? Why? Provide at least two reasons for your viewpoint. Can you give an example from your own life that supports your answer? (express and support an opinion/analyze)

A good critical thinking question will usually ask the student to do more than one thing and engage in more than one kind of thought. Critical thinking taps into metacognition—thinking about thinking.

• What do I think?
• Why do I think this?
• How did I arrive at this thought?
• Where will this thought logically take me next?
• Can I support this thought with information?
• Can I assess the strengths and weaknesses in my thinking?
• Can I think of ways to overcome the weaknesses, or develop solutions to the problems in my thinking process?

These are the kinds of mental work to which critical thinking questions should lead students.

There is no reason one book, or even one chapter, cannot include questions that serve different purposes. Discussion questions can begin instruction or follow it, as can reflection questions. Questions that activate schema are a great way to introduce content, while comprehension and critical thinking questions quite naturally follow content presentation. It’s just important to ensure that the questions are written in ways that truly match their purposes. Always keep in mind the four guideposts:

• purpose
• sequence
• area of learning/understanding
• wording

The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge. —Thomas Berger