Curriculum: What Is The Best Kind Of 'Big Question'?
Updated: Jun 10
One of the best things I ever read about questioning was this blog post by Peter Worley - you can read it if you are a TES subscriber: https://www.tes.com/magazine/archived/question-your-questioning
It really helped me to think carefully about the questions I ask in the classroom. To summarise the above piece, there are 4 kinds of questions, breaking down the more familiar idea of there being closed and open questions (and using the questions that Peter used in his original post):
Gramatically and conceptually closed: What is the answer to the sum 2 + 2?
Gramatically and conceptually open: What is poetry?
Conceptually closed and gramatically open: What can you tell me about Paris (the capital of France)?
Conceptually open and gramatically closed: Is the mind the same as the brain?
Each question type has its own purpose - no question type is bad.
Hopefully by studying the above examples you can work out why a question could be considered as gramatically open or closed and conceptually open or closed. But, in short:
Gramatically closed leads to a definitive answer e.g. yes/no or a particular number; grammatically open can lead to any answer, worded in an infinite number of ways.
Conceptually closed leads to definitive answers e.g. The Eiffel Tower is in Paris; Paris is the capital of France; conceptually open leads to a nuanced, individualised, personal response e.g. an opinion.
So, which of these question types is best to use when writing big questions?
Big Questions
Well, first of all let's just agree what we mean by 'big questions'.
Big questions are questions used as the title of a unit of work, often designed to cause intrigue as a motivator for pupils. Big questions also help to shape the content of a unit in that all the content selected and taught should help pupils to answer the big question at the end of the unit. Big questions can also be used at lesson level as well, providing a similar motivating hook relating to the content of the lesson. Big questions at either level give a real reason for pupils to learn the content.
Big Questions - The Options
Let's take a history unit about Vikings as an example. Look at 4 potential big questions:
Gramatically and conceptually closed: Were the Vikings settlers?
This one leads to a straightforward answer: yes, they were. It doesn't encourage any elaboration and is categorically based on historical facts.
Gramatically and conceptually open: What is your opinion of the Vikings?
Here we have a question which gives pupils the chance to share their own thoughts about the Vikings, and gives them the opportunity to answer in any way they like without pointing them towards a binary answer.
Conceptually closed and gramatically open: What do you know about the Vikings?
This question allows pupils to reel off anything they might have learned based on historical facts, without making any opinions or summaries about them.
Conceptually open and gramatically closed: Were the Vikings all bad?
The final question encourages pupils to give a yes/no answer, or even a maybe/somewhat answer as well as opening up the chance for them to qualify their opinions as a follow up.
Although I said there is no bad kind of question, is there one which is best for big questions?
I reckon so. Let's have a look:
Gramatically and conceptually closed: Were the Vikings settlers?
You'd cover the answer to this one pretty quickly, and it doesn't provide much intrigue. It's a little one-dimensional. Vikings did go from one country to another, making their home in the new country - they settled. This kind of question doesn't make for the best big question.
Gramatically and conceptually open: What is your opinion of the Vikings?
This one is more interesting than the last, but isn't really the point of teaching, especially when it comes to substantive facts. History might deal in interpretations and theories, but it's not really about opinions. You'd also run the risk of pupils not having an opinions, leading to a big old 'I dunno' shrug. It's also surprisingly hard to think of relevant questions of this type for units of work.
Conceptually closed and gramatically open: What do you know about the Vikings?
A curriculum consisting of these kinds of big question only would get tedious very quickly. It definitely is the quickest way to write big questions but it is boring, and therefore doesn't have that motivating factor. It's a fair enough question to ask of a pupil if you're wanting to assess them, but it hardly inspires learning as a starting point.
Conceptually open and gramatically closed: Were the Vikings all bad?
Here we have a question which does allow for interpretation but which also encourages pupils to elaborate, calling upon the information they have learned to qualify their interpretation. For my money, these are the best option when it comes to writing big questions. They provide some intrigue to pupils and are overarching enough to last a whole unit, with every bit of learning providing another piece of information with which to answer the question.
As Peter Worley concludes: Conceptually open/gramatically closed '...are the best for enquiries or discussion, though they are what would normally be thought of as “closed”. They are only grammatically closed, however; they’re open with regard to what is being discussed.'
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Do conceptually open/gramatically closed questions work across the curriculum?
Does this style of question work across the curriculum? Let's take a look at some examples:
Science: Could a carnivore survive if there were no plants in the world?
Geography: Are all European cities alike?
DT: What's the best material to build a boat from?
They work particularly well for units which have a lot of substantive knowledge content. Where a subject or a unit focuses more on procedural knowledge (aka skills), it's a little trickier to ask a question like this. The options are to focus on the smaller amounts of substantive knowledge or to ask a different kind of question.
Art: What makes Monet's paintings so recognisable?
This is a conceptually open/gramatically closed question but it only focuses on the substantive knowledge taught in the unit of work. There might be other questions you ask with regards to the procedural knowledge that you teach in a unit:
Art: What's the best way to paint like Monet?
I'd say this is a gramatically open/conceptually closed question, and it works well if you want pupils to think carefully about the techniques they use. Perhaps for a unit where a subject balances more procedural knowledge with substantive knowledge the way to go is to combine the two:
Art: What makes Monet's paintings so recognisable and what's the best way to paint like him?
The Best Big Questions?
For units of work where substantive knowledge is at the forefront: conceptually open/gramatically closed questions
For units of work where procedural knowledge is at the forefront: gramatically open/conceptually closed question
For units of work with a balance of substantive and procedural knowledge: a combination of two questions, one a conceptually open/gramatically closed questions and the other agramatically open/conceptually closed question
And is that it?
As with anything, it's probably impossible to be categorical. The above is a guideline. The true guideline is whether or not the questions you choose meet the purposes of a big question. Does it cause intrigue as a motivator for pupils? Does it help to shape the content of a unit? Does the content of the unit all come together to help pupils answer the question? Does it give a real reason for pupils to learn the content?
If you would like Aidan to work with you on the development and delivery of your curriculum in your school, academy, trust or local authority, you can get in touch via www.aidansevers.com/services or using the contact details on this page.
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