Reflecting on Questions

Here are Gertrude Stein’s famous last words, as reported by Alice B. Toklas:

“What is the answer?” [I was silent] “In that case what is the question?”

In every aspect of life, a good question is worth more than a correct answer. This is particularly true of teaching and training.

During the past 30 years as a trainer, I have made changes in my training techniques. One major set of changes is related to my use of questions:

I ask more questions.

I ask a wider variety of questions.

I encourage the participants to generate questions.

I incorporate participant-generated questions in training activities.

Types of Questions

Here is a n alphabetized list of different types f questions that I have been using in my training sessions:

Abstract Reasoning Questions. Affective Questions. Ambiguous Questions.  Analysis Questions.  Application Questions.  Big-Idea Questions.  Binary Questions.  Categorical Questions.  Causation Questions.  Closed Questions.  Closing Questions.  Comparison Questions.  Complex Questions.  Compound Questions.  Comprehension Questions.  Conceptual Questions.  Connecting Questions.  Constructed-Response Questions.  Content Questions.  Convergent Questions.  Conversation Starter Questions.  Correlational Questions.  Criterion-Referenced Questions.  Critical Questions.  Critical-Thinking Questions.  Debriefing Questions.  Deep Questions.  Detail Questions.  Diagnostic Questions.  Divergent Questions.  Double-Barreled Questions.  Elaborative Questions.  Essay Questions.  Essential Questions.  Evaluative Questions. Experiential Questions.  Extension Questions.  External Questions.  Factual Questions.  Fill-in-the-Blank Questions.  Focus Questions.  Formative Questions.  Graphic Interpretation Questions.  Graphic Response Questions.  Hooking Questions.  Hypothetical Questions.  Imaginative Questions.  Inference Questions.  Inquiry Questions.  Integrating Questions.  Introspective Questions.  Koans.  Leading Questions.  Loaded Questions.  Logical Questions.  Matching Questions.  Mathematical Questions.  Metacognitive Questions.  Multiple-Choice Questions.  Open Questions.  Opening Questions.  Opinion Questions.  Oral Questions.  Overlap Questions.  Performance Questions.  Personalized Questions.  Philosophical Questions.  Preconception Questions.  Prediction Questions.  Prerequisite Questions.  Price of Milk Questions.  Probing Questions.  Problem-Solving Questions.  Procedural Questions.  Process Questions.  Quiz-Show Questions.  Recall Questions.  Reflective Questions.  Repeated Questions.  Review Questions.  Rhetorical Questions.  Scenario-Based Questions.  Self-Assessment Questions.  Self-Awareness Questions.  Short-Answer Questions.  Simple Questions.  Stacked-Up Questions.  Story Questions.  Summary Questions.  Summative Questions.  Surface Questions.  Synthesis Questions.  Test Questions.  Text-Based Question.  Third Degree Questions.  Thought Provoking Questions.  Transfer Questions.  Trick Questions.  True-False Questions.  Unanswerable Questions.  Value Clarification Questions.  What-If Questions.  Why? Questions. Written Questions.

In case you are curious, this list contains 104 different types. Of course, this is not a complete list of questions used in training, teaching, coaching, and other strategies for improving human achievement. Please send me the types of questions that I have missed.

Comments from my Friends

Recently I have been posting my thoughts about questions in my Linked In page. I have had valuable comments and suggestions from several of my readers.

Looking at the list of different types of questions, I am not suggesting that some types are better (or more important) than others because different questions serve different purposes.

A Self-Awareness Exercise

Make a list of the different types of questions you use in your training sessions. Reflect on this list by asking and answering questions about your list of question.

  1. What types of questions do you most frequently use in your training? What types would you like to use more? What types would you like to use less?

  2. Which types of questions are most appropriate for your typical training topics? Why?

  3. In your training sessions, how do you distribute the time between presenting content and asking questions?

  4. How frequently do you ask questions during your training sessions? Would you like to ask more questions?

  5. Do you consider questions to be primarily useful for testing your participants or training them?

  6. What is the proportion between your closed questions and open questions?

  7. How do your participants react to your questions?

  8. Do you encourage your participants to generate questions? What types of questions do they usually ask?

  9. Do you conduct training activities that incorporate questions generated by your participants?

  10. If you want to learn to create more effective questions, which type would you focus on?

Your reflection on your questions and answers may suggest how you could use this important training tool by improving some types, stopping others, and modifying still some more.