11B: Questions of Others

Having to judge other peoples work isn’t the easiest of things to do. There are different aspects that need to be evaluated and sometimes certain pieces might be missing that essential ‘oomph’ or detail. This assignment instructed us to examine some of the questions and answers that were posed by our peers and then share what we believe to be good college level work. After reading several posts I made my choice on a couple of posts which in my opinion fall into this category.

One of the blogs that showed strong questions and a good answer was Student Life of a Commuting Freshman. All of her questions go in depth pertaining to the specific content of the reading. They also demand that the reader use critical thinking to explain and synthesize a logical response. For example in her 3^rd question "What is the argument made about boredom? How does the article say that times are changing when it comes to boredom? Do you agree? Explain.” it contains multiple parts which ask the reader not only to reflect but also to connect the different ideas to then formulate a supported answer. Then to go along with one of her questions she attaches a very detailed and well-structured response including a thesis and specific examples from the article.

 The other blog that had questions that could possibly appear on an inquiry quiz was An Owl's Mind by Kali Rogers. She covers a different topic in every question, each relating to a specific article. They aren’t very long but they are straight to the point and clearly state what is being asked without confusing the reader. As in her fourth question “What is "Interleaving" and how can it increase your ability to learn new material?” where she asks to analyze the method of Interleaving and then interpret how it is beneficial. She includes an answer for this question and yet again even though it is brief it provides a response to everything that was asked using evidence, such as including a specific case in which interleaving was used and worked.

   
Altogether I think the practice exercises we did this week for how to anticipate questions was very useful. It made me more aware of how different materials need to be broken down and examined more closely. A common mistake we make as students is to just look at things as big concepts and not further analyze the smaller more important individualized ideas which make them up. I made this mistake for my first Microbiology Exam because I studied the big picture of Viruses and then when I needed to go into detail for the open ended essay question I wasn’t able to explain the smaller components that were necessary. I will definitely try to take into account what we have been learning in Inquiry about question anticipation when I study for all my different classes now and those later to come.