Creating a Good Discussion Question

For each chapter in the textbook, your assignment will be to ask a question about some important issue, concept or theory and then facilitate the ensuing discussion. Other students get to choose which questions they respond to and which discussions they participate in. Unless you ask a “good” question, other students may not choose to respond to it and/or you may have difficulty facilitating a meaningful discussion.

A good question is one which will require students to use their critical thinking skills.

A good question will require the respondent to demonstrate both factual knowledge of the content and a comprehension of how the knowledge applies to the behavior of people.

It should not be a simple “look-up in the textbook” question or just a “what’s your opinion?” question.

Here is an example of the kind of question I am looking for from you.

Discuss how both Nature and Nurture have contributed to your development. Which do you think was most important?

This question requires knowledge (What are “Nature” and “Nurture”?) comprehension (applying the knowledge to a personal example), and critical analysis (Which do you think is most important?).