An open-ended question cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no" response, or with a static response. Open-ended questions are phrased as a statement which requires a response. The response can be compared to information that is already known to the questioner.
Examples of open-ended questions:
- Tell me about your relationship with your supervisor.
- How do you see your future?
- Tell me about the children in this photograph.
- What is the purpose of government?
- Why did you choose that answer?
- Tap?
Video Open-ended question
Education: Open Questioning
The received wisdom in education is that open questions are broadly speaking 'good' questions. They invite students to give longer responses that demonstrate their understanding. They are preferable to closed questions (i.e. one that demands a yes/no answer) because they are better for discussions or enquiries, whereas closed questions are only good for knowledge testing.
Peter Worley argues that this is a false assumption. This is based on Worley's central arguments that there are two different kinds of open and closed questions: grammatical and conceptual. He argues that educational practitioners should be aiming for questions that are "grammatically closed, but conceptually open". For example, in standard parlance, 'is it ever right to lie?' would be regarded as a closed question: it elicits a yes/no response. Significantly, however, it is conceptually open. Any initial yes/no answer to it can be 'opened up' by the questioner ('why do you think that?,' 'Could there be an instance where that's not the case?), inviting elaboration and enquiry.
This grammatically closed but cognitively open style of questioning, Worley argues, "gives [educators] the best of both worlds: the focus and specificity of a closed question (this, after all, is why teachers use them) and the inviting, elaborating character of an open question". Closed questions, simply require 'opening up' strategies to ensure that conceptually open questions can fulfil their educational potential.
This attitude towards questioning has been termed an 'Open Question Mindset' by Worley. It is an attitude taken by educators that encompasses asking questions in order to find out what the student thinks and then following up to find out why they think that. It is a mind-set that is applicable to all subject areas and all pedagogical environments.
Maps Open-ended question
See also
- Closed-ended question
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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