Patricia Hammock

Questions To Promote
Self-Directed Learning

November 11, 2013
AET/531
John Wojtecki

Basic Questions
1. Why did AET/531 appeal to you as an adult
leaner?
2. What did you enjoy about Technology for the
Adult Learner?
3. What skills are important for the 21
st
century
worker?
4. What do you remember most about AET/531?
5. What did you learn in AET/531?
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
Commit students to a process of critical
thinking through inquiry
Are clear and concise
Invite discourse, debate, and inquiry that creates
knowledge
Require students to learn and apply
understanding
Guide research
Essential Questions
Have no single right answer
Require learner to develop a plan or course of
action
Require higher-order thinking
Are interesting and compelling

Re-Written & Bonus Questions
1. In what ways did the course Technology for the Adult Learner incorporate the
principles of adult learning theory and encourage learner engagement?
2. What instructional methods employed during the AET/531 course encouraged deep,
retained learning?
3. Discuss how academic, discrete skills and Web 2.0 tools will impact the workforce of
the future.
4. What is the single most meaningful concept you will take from this course? Support
your response with Bellanca & Brandts (2010) work.
5. Describe how the non-graded, individual and team assignments in AET/531 spanned
the breadth of Dales Cone of Experiences and addressed Gardners Theory of
Multiple Intelligences.
6. How did the individual assignments in AET/531 ascribe to John Gardners Theory of
Multiple Intelligences?
7. What elements of AET/531 lend themselves to differentiated instruction? Provide
examples from our coursework.
8. What is the single most important skill for the 21
st
century worker? Support your
response.
Socratic Questioning
Tutorial Video
http://youtu.be/_CPLu3qCbSU
Socratic Questioning
A method of inquiry
Gives learners questions; not answers
Seeks clarity
Asks open-ended questions
Probes assumptions
Probe reasons and evidence
Probes viewpoints and perspectives
Probes implications and consequences
Questions the question
Socratic vs Essential Questions
Socratic Questioning
A method of inquiry
Gives learners questions; not
answers
Seeks clarity
Asks open-ended questions
Probes assumptions
Probe reasons and evidence
Probes viewpoints and
perspectives
Probes implications and
consequences
Questions the question

Essential Questions
Commit students to a
process of critical thinking
through inquiry
Are clear and concise
Invite discourse, debate, and
inquiry that creates
knowledge
Require students to learn and
apply understanding
Guide research

Socratic vs Essential Questions
Socratic Questioning
What do you mean by.
Would this be an example of
What does this question
assume?
What could we be assuming
instead?
Is this always the case?
What other information do we
need?
What would someone who
disagrees say?
Essential Questions
Have no single right
answer
Require learner to develop a
plan or course of action
Require higher-order thinking
Are interesting and
compelling

Sound Questioning Supports
Independent Learning
Learners must be able to discern, evaluate and analyze information by
thinking critically through complex issues
The goal of critical thinking is to self monitor, assess and reconstitute
in a more rational direction our thinking, feeling and action
Thinking is driven by questions; not by answers
Questions define tasks, express problems, and delineate issues
Only students who have questions are thinking and learning
The quality of the questions determines the quality of the thinking
Questions turn on learners intellectual engines
Deep questions drive thoughts underneath the surface, forcing one to
deal with complexity
Learners should question purpose, interpretation, assumption, point
of view, implication, precision, accuracy, consistency and logic.
Mitigating Challenges and PBL
Current System of Questioning:
Buries questions in a torrent of answers
Limits inquiry to is this going to be on the test?
Makes one vulnerable to manipulation
Creates dead brains in need of artificial cogitation
the intellectual equivalent of artificial respiration
Will create a generation who stands in line at the DMV
PBL requires logical, critical thinking and powers of
discernment, analysis, evaluation and the application of
higher-order thinking to real-world problems.

Assignment Promotes
Self-Directed Learning
It becomes the teachers role to build capacity for the students to be self-directed and interdependent.
Bellanca & Brandt, et. al, (2010), p. 282.

Professor managed the learning experience rather than acting as an
information provider
Learners were aware of the objectives, learning strategies, resources and
evaluation criteria
Professor helped learners locate resources
Learners developed positive attitudes and feeling of independence relative to
learning through feedback/evaluation
Assignment recognized learner personality types and learning styles
We have been afforded an opportunity to reflect on our learning
Meeting learning objectives is recognized and rewarded through feedback and
evaluation
I had a choice in how I would demonstrate my mastery of the material

References
All About Writing Essential Questions. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.kfalls.k12.or.us on November 7, 2013

Bellanca, J., & Brandt, R., (2010). 21
st
century skills. Rethinking How Students Learn. Bloomington, IN.
Solution Tree Press.

Elder, L., & Paul, R. (1998), The Role of Socratic Questioning in Thinking, Teaching and Learning. Clearing
House, 71(5), 297-301.

Lowry, C., (1989). Supporting and Facilitating Self-Directed Learning. ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career
and Vocation Education. Digest No. 93. Columbus, OH.

Six Types of Socratic Questions. (n.d.). Problem Solving. Retrieved from
http://www.umic.edu/~elements/probsolv/strategy/cthinking.htm on November 7, 2103.

The Socratic Method. (2013, October). Teach Like This. Video #11. [Video file]. Retrieved from YouTube
website: http://youtu.be/_CPLu3qCbSU