Becoming Your Own Questioner

 How’s it going today fellow bloggers and readers? Today is bittersweet as it will be my last blog until the new year. We got an action packed blog today so let's jump right into it!

Becoming Your Own Questioner

In mathematics we are constantly being asked questions to solve, but at the same time we are questioning the question. For example, when I see a problem one of the first things I ask myself is “What’s going on here?” or “what is this question asking me to do?”. Before we get too in depth, we need to know the different types of questions we ask. There are ‘specific questions’ that are asking you about something specific. There are also open ended questions that don’t have exactly one answer but can be thought about in a multitude of different ways. As students are problem solving, we want them to ask the right questions in order to identify the solution. So how do we as educators teach students to become their own effective questioner? Let’s look at an example:

After reading this question for the first time jot down what went through your head. What kinds of questions are you asking yourself? Does it make sense? What don’t you understand? What is this problem asking me? When I read it for the first time I felt lost and could only ask myself, “What parts of this question do I understand and don’t understand”. So I broke the question down into two parts. I first identified what I didn’t understand, which was the second statement “A is twice as old…as old as B was then”. Then, I knew that the combined age of A+B=48 and that the question wants me to find out how old B is. So I ask myself,  “How can I use the information I understand and use it to help me figure out what I don’t know?”. 

I realized that I had made an algebraic expression and started to question how I can use that to find B. Using my prior knowledge, I knew I could use substitution to find B but would need to create a second equation to do so. Now that I have identified a potential solution, I enter into the attack phase and work through the problem. I will show you one solution next year so you have some time to work through the problem yourself! For now, let's see how some of my peers decided to approach the problem:

As you can see, none of them got the final answer but that wasn’t the purpose of this activity. The problem is intended to make you get STUCK. Getting STUCK is an honourable thing as it provides you with the opportunity to learn. To do this you will have to work on your ability to be a questioner! Although I could talk about mathematics for hours, I have to end this blog at some point. Before I wish you all a happy holiday season we can’t forget our math joke of the week!

Until we pick this pack up in 2023, Enjoy your holidays and stay warm!

Mr. Salmond