Part of learning is being an active learner. Learning which only involves being fed information is merely surface learning. To really understand, a learner has to be actively engaged in the learning process. That means reviewing, practising, summarizing, and yes, asking effective questions. Asking questions requires thinking about the information and trying to understand it at a deeper level. By forming questions, you will understand things more fully. When you are learning new information or a new process, imagine that you are having to describe it to someone else. What parts of the information or process aren’t entirely clear to you? These are the things to ask questions about.

Remembering the 5 Ws and H is a good place to start. If you have a handle on these then you’ll be on your way to understanding the important information. If you aren’t familiar with the 5 Ws and H, then it’s time to add it to your repertoire: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How!

• Who – Who was involved? Who does it affect? Who is it addressed to?
• What – What is involved? What happened? What needs to happen?
• When – When did it happen? When will I need to do something about it?
• Where – Where did it occur? Where will it take place?
• Why – Why is it happening? Is there a reason?
• How – How should it be dealt with?

Start using this in your everyday life. Whenever you send out any kind of communication, it’s a great tool to make sure you haven’t left out any information. For example, it’s common that just after the invites for a party are sent out, the host realizes they left off a critical piece of information such as the date. Those who get in the habit of checking the 5 Ws and H rarely make this critical mistake. In the party invitation, if the host makes sure to include them all then the pertinent info is covered:

• Who – Who is invited? Who is the party for?
• What – What is it? – It’s a birthday party.
• When- Give the date.
• Where – Give the address.
• Why – it’s a birthday!
• How – Bring an appy, bring an expensive gift, don’t be late – it’s a surprise.

When you make a habit of using them, you’ll notice you start thinking about them in class as well. You’ll think about them when you’re reading your texts and research articles, and you’ll naturally start to have a questioning mind. Asking effective questions leads to further clarification and greater understanding. Asking effective questions helps you to analyze and think critically. These are important processes in learning.

Effective Questioning Using Bloom’s Taxonomy

Self-testing is one of the most powerful study strategies.  Creating good questions requires you to think critically about what you need to learn (planning). Testing whether you can answer questions without referring to a text or notes, as you would in an exam, allows you to effectively monitor your progress. The trick to effective self-testing is asking the right questions.

One way of picturing these levels of depth in learning is Bloom’s Taxonomy. In high school level courses, you are usually asked questions from near the bottom of Bloom’s Taxonomy scale, while at college or university, you are required to move beyond recalling basic facts and details, and must learn to apply and analyze material in depth moving to the higher levels on Bloom’s scale. The categories in the cognitive taxonomy developed by Bloom (from lowest to highest) include:

1. Remember (knowledge recall) – retrieving relevant knowledge from long-term memory
2. Understand (comprehension) – interpreting the meaning of information; being able to “translate” knowledge into one’s own words; linking new information to what you already know
3. Apply – using what you know to do required tasks
4. Analyze – taking things apart; dissecting; asking “why?”; seeing relationships and how things work
5. Evaluate – appraising, judging and critiquing the outcomes of any of the other levels
6. Create (synthesis) – putting things together; building on what you know to create something new; seeing new relationships or making new connections. ^{[1] [2]}

One method for creating study questions or planning active learning activities is to move step-by-step through each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.  Begin with a few questions at the Remembering level. If you don’t yet know the technical language of the subject and what it means, it will be difficult for you to apply, evaluate, analyze, or be creative. Then, go deeper into your subject as you move through the levels.

You will notice that depending on the content and level of the course, the kinds of questions that are relevant and the complexity of the questions will differ. At any rate, it is a mark of an active learner to be questioning material, and to ask questions when needed.

Text Attributions

• “Effective Questioning Using Blooms Taxonomy” and “Exercise: Create Study Questions Using Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy” were adapted from Use Effective Questioning Strategies in University 101: Study, Strategize and Succeed by Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Adapted by Mary Shier. CC BY SA.
• “Now That’s a Good Question” was adapted from “Are You Really Listening?” in University Success by N. Mahoney, B. Klassen, and M. D’Eon. Adapted by Mary Shier. CC BY-NC-SA.