Good questions are the key to a productive discussion. These include not only the questions you use to jump-start discussion but also the questions you use to probe for deeper analysis, ask for clarification or examples, explore implications, etc. It is helpful to think about the various kinds of questions you might ask and the cognitive skills they require to answer. Davis (1993) lists a range of question types, including:
Exploratory questions: probe facts and basic knowledge
Challenge questions: interrogate assumptions, conclusions or interpretations
Relational questions: ask for comparisons of themes, ideas, or issues
Diagnostic questions: probe motives or causes
Action questions: call for a conclusion or action
Cause-and-effect questions: ask for causal relationships between ideas, actions, or events
Extension questions: expand the discussion
Hypothetical questions: pose a change in the facts or issues
Priority questions: seek to identify the most important issue(s)
Summary questions: elicit synthesis
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