Questions play such a pivotal role in so many aspects of our lives, ranging from the social to the workplace to the family and of course to the classroom. From questions we have all learned and experienced so many wonderful things, but often times the simple act of asking a question is something that itself is never questioned. Why do we need to ask questions?
“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge”
The ability and the capacity to ask questions is critical to the study of higher level scientific pursuits. Being able to ask questions is essential to higher level scientific pursuits, but that does not mean that the concept is limited only to that space. As many educators will agree, the ability to be able to formulate questions is a critical component of education. People who have achieved a certain degree of life experience will agree this ability to ask questions is also critical to one’s own development well beyond the classroom.
Furthermore, beyond the academic importance of asking questions, there really is a beauty that seems to surround every question, a certain magic, or perhaps a better word might be ‘delight’ that every question brings with it. As people who regularly ask questions, and also encourage others to ask questions, they know asking questions is a true source of inspiration and wonderment that never ceases to abate. In particular, questions inside the classroom really do have a special significance to our entire society and here at Why Science the concept of being able to thoughtfully articulate a question is one of the areas that we continue to explore with a very active interest. How are you developing your students’ ability to ask questions?