Good questions are powerful educational tools. As teachers, they help us accomplish many things. We may ask a question to stimulate thinking or promote discussion. We may also ask questions to find out things about our students. What do our students know about a subject? Do they understand a principle? Do they recognize when a principle applies? Do they know how to apply a principle when they have the opportunity to do so? Can they accurately evaluate a situation and faithfully plot their own course of action?
Asking questions is not an end in itself. The questions we ask should be designed to move the educational process forward, and the answers we get from our students should help us know which way is forward.
A few years ago I was working with a group of young people at one of our Bible schools. I posed a “What would you do if …?” question for them to consider and then gave them time to think about it and write down their answers. When I opened the class for discussion, it did not take long to find out that some of them would turn their dog loose on a home invader or even use a gun to protect themselves if they could.
These were not ‘the right answers’ to the question, but they were very meaningful answers. They pointed the way forward. We went on to talk about the Biblical principles involved in the situation and to consider some real life examples. It was clear, however, that a few of the young people needed a lot more remediation.
The experience underscored the point for me: meaningful questions and answers can drive the educational process.
Verbal and written questions
The Lord Jesus was a very spontaneous teacher. He never asked written questions or waited for written answers. His questions were always verbal and called for immediate verbal responses. Sometimes people dodged his questions (e.g., Mark 11:29-33) and sometimes they refused to answer him (e.g., Mark 3:4; 9:33-34), but the force of his questions was never lost on his listeners. Much of his effectiveness was due to the fact that the questions he asked were always relevant to the situation at hand, and he had an impeccable sense of time and place when it came to asking the right question. He also followed up with powerful teaching when the response to his questions — or lack of response — called for it.
Our educational settings are usually more structured and formal than this. On the-spot verbal questions remain very important, but written questions are a mainstay of much of our teaching. Written questions are usually prepared in advance, so this gives us time to think about the goals that we want to address. Written questions need to be well thought out: we need to know why we are asking the questions we pose.
Preparing questions
There are several types of questions that we can ask our students, depending on the level of thinking that we want to engage. The different types of questions are designed to reveal different things about our students’ knowledge of the Truth, so let’s look at some in detail.
Information recall questions. What do our students know about the Bible? What is the Biblical knowledge base that they have to draw on as they face daily life? These are the kinds of things we want to find out when we ask information recall questions. Information recall questions require students to do such things as tell, list, select, match, name, quote, sort, recite, define, indicate what, when, who, or how many.
The questions are phrased accordingly, for example:
- How many apostles did Jesus have?
- What are the four different kinds of soil in the parable of The Sower?
Recall questions are among the easiest to answer but it is not always easy to gauge what the answers tell us about our students. Students quickly learn to give the right answers to questions whether they buy into them or not. Interestingly, when Jesus asked recall questions, it was never an end in itself. He used recall questions as a springboard to deeper lessons (e.g., Mark 8:19-21; 8:27-29). Of course, it is good to keep in mind that Jesus was also dealing with adults. Our immediate reason for asking recall questions may be different because, in Sunday school at least, we are working with children. One of our priorities is to help the children develop a good Biblical knowledge base.
Comprehension questions. How well do our students understand the Bible? Can they accurately explain the meaning of what they read in its pages? Do they recognize the godly significance of its principles? These are the kinds of things we can find out when we ask comprehension questions. There are two kinds of comprehension questions: one looks for the interpretation of information; the other looks for the ability to transfer information to new settings. Interpretation questions require students to describe, explain, discuss, restate, tell in your own words, review, interpret, paraphrase, account for, outline, express how or why.
For example:
- Tell what it means to honor your father and mother?
- Explain 2 Tim 3:16-17 in your own words.
Questions that require a transfer of information ask students to do such things as predict, project, propose, expand, contemplate, imagine.
For example:
- Why do you want the kingdom of God to come?
- Do you think Jesus would run for public office if he were here today? Give reasons for your answer.
Comprehension questions can open the door for good follow up discussion. They commonly offer the kind of latitude that allows teacher and students to share a breadth of Biblical insights and learn from each other.
Application questions. At this point, we are interested in finding out if our students know what to do with their Bible knowledge. Understanding brings responsibility. Application questions can begin to tell us how well our students understand the Bible and buy into its principles of life. With application questions, we want our students to show the ability to do such things as apply, adopt, relate, try, make use of, put into action, demonstrate, choose, solve.
For example:
- List three ways that you can honor your father and mother this week.
- What does keeping the first commandment (Mark 12:28-30) mean to you?
- What would you do if …?
Application questions can lead to real action. They have the potential to be more than questions on a page or topics of discussion in a classroom. After Jesus taught mercy in the parable of The Good Samaritan, he issued a challenge: “Go and do like wise”. Good application questions can provide an opportunity for teacher and students to put the principles of the Truth into practice.
Analysis questions. Can our students pick out the important details of a Bible passage? Do they recognize the Biblical principles that are involved and do they understand the implications that follow from them? These are some of the things we can find out with analysis questions. Analysis questions ask our students to search for, examine, breakdown, identify, distinguish, compare, contrast, reason, and relate.
For example:
- Where did Noah’s faith come from? How did Noah show that he had faith? See Heb 11:7.
- How many life-changing decisions did the younger son make in the parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)? Identify two of these decisions and tell the outcome of each one.
Jesus asked some simple but very penetrating analysis questions in the course of his teaching. Here are two: “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among thieves?” (Luke 10:36) and “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (Matt 21:31). Notice from the context of each that Jesus did not think it was enough just to ask the question and get the right answer. In both instances he went on to drive home the implications that followed from the answer: the self-excusing person needed to show mercy to anyone in need and the self-righteous person needed to repent and believe the gospel.
Synthesis questions. If analysis looks at the component parts of Scripture, synthesis puts the parts together. How well do our students get the big picture? Can they draw Scripture together and begin to articulate its great principles? These are the kinds of things we want to find out when we ask synthesis questions. Synthesis questions require students to do such things as collect, put together, organize, arrange, combine, plan, create, build, compose, formulate.
For example:
- Act out the story of Cain and Abel.
- What are the key things that you would tell a friend who wants to know what you believe?
- Use a concordance and cross-references to identify at least ten Bible passages that tell us something about the state of the dead. Summarize your findings.
- Write a prayer about … (an assigned topic).
Evaluation questions. How well do our students know the mind of God? Can they align their thinking with His? Does their value system reflect God’s value system? Evaluation questions probe the heart that motivates the person. These are questions that ask our students to evaluate, judge, decide, appraise, assess, weigh, prioritize, accept, reject, argue, defend, choose, tell if one should or should not.
For example:
- Was it right or wrong for David to kill Goliath? Explain your answer.
- Write a prayer about … (a topic of the student’s choice).
- What are your views on abortion?
- Why would you accept a demanding job promotion that doubles your salary?
- Why would you turn down a demanding job promotion that doubles your salary?
Discipleship calls for constant evaluation of one’s personal beliefs and way of life. The ability to do this well reflects a good understanding of the revealed will of God.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One