Teaching Tips and Techniques
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Six Types of Questions
There are six types of questions to ask your students. Make sure you are familiar with the nature of each and then apply the type of question most suitable for your purposes.
Knowledge (memorization)
Nature: Students recall, remember, or recognize
information
Key Words: Name, list, recall, define, tell,
match, who, what, when, where
Comprehension (understanding)
Nature: Students, at a fundamental level,
translate information into different forms, relate
discrete facts, or generalize
Key Words: Extrapolate, interpret, translate,
describe, diagram, illustrate, state, explain, summarize,
give an example, how many
Application (problem-solving)
Nature: Students apply learned material
to a new and concrete situation
Key Words: Solve, predict, apply, use, extend,
expand, if.....then, what if.....
Analysis (dissection)
Nature: Students identify the component
parts of a whole (e.g., problem or phenomena) and
the relationships among the parts
Key Words: Diagram, distinguish, analyze,
identify, compare, contrast, why
Synthesis (creation)
Nature: Students combine two or more elements
into a new (for them) combination or set of relationships
Key Words: Plan, create, devise, prove, relate,
reorganize, combine, pull-together
Evaluation (judgment)
Nature: Students critically assess the
quality or judge the value of a piece of work based
on internal evidence (e.g., logical consistency)
or external criteria (e.g., efficiency)
Key Words: Criticize, evaluate, grade, interpret,
judge, justify, rank, rate
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