1. Answering Questions Writing essays that fulfill the objectives

2. Core Process—QEDS • Look at the question • Think it through using the elements • Think it through in terms of the discipline • Keep the standards in mind at all times.

3. Pitfalls • Don’t fall back on usual patterns • Jump right in and answer • Immediately begin looking for information to include • Have no idea so wait until last minute and write whatever comes to mind regardless of its relevance

4. Reframing the question • Ask what the question is asking for, e.g., • Compare/Contrast • Evaluate • Define • Discuss • Identify • Ask what would answer it fully—consider the standards of critical thinking.

5. First step • Analyze the question using systems thinking • One-system • No-system • Multiple-system • What is the meaning of a system for Nosich? • Organized field or area of study • Recognized theory • Recognized authority

6. One-system • Requires you to use knowledge from only one field or knowledge base • Only one right answer exists—either you know it or you don’t • Based on the “facts” of the field • Often mathematical or scientific

7. No-system • Often opinion- or reflection-driven • Does not require critical thinking • In classrooms can be confused with multiple-system questions • Can require facts and reasoning to support the answer • Often need a system to explain one’s preferences • Preferences themselves are not system-based • Analyzing the systems underlying the preferences would require multiple systems

8. Multiple-system • More complex than one- and no-system • Require more than one system to answer • Facts need to be interpreted through various viewpoints and contexts using logic and reasoning, e.g., • Sociology: Historical, Political, Socio-cultural • Literature: Critical theory, Historical, Inter-textual • Design: Color, Proportion, Finances

9. A Final Note • Not every question requires you to go around the entire circle of elements • Consider which elements “jump out” • May need only to look at • The concepts inherent in the question • The information required to answer fully • Implications and consequences • You must critically think and decide which are important to consider.

10. Practice evaluating questions • Q: Define the following terms: • 1. Return on investment • 2. Bull market • 3. Bear market • A: One-system: They either are defined correctly or they are not.

11. Practice evaluating questions • Q: How fairly did Jefferson treat Native Americans in the “Declaration of Independence?” • A:Multiple-system • 1. Define concept “fair” • 2. Analyze and interpret D of I • 3. Make interpretations and draw conclusions based on your sense of (a) morals and (b) values

12. Practice evaluating questions • Q: Imagine yourself in a school from which technology has suddenly disappeared. What unexpected difficulties would you encounter? • A: Multiple-system • 1. Define concept “technology” • 2. Define concept “difficulty” • 3. Additional systems to analyze based on personal perspective • A. convenience • B. importance • C. efficiency • D. comfort

13. Practice evaluating questions • Q: What color do you want to paint your room? • A: No-system. Merely a personal preference.

14. Practice evaluating questions • Q: Is capital punishment ever a justifiable sentence? Why? Or why not? • A: Seems to be no-system • Just asks for your opinion but really wants a CT answer using multiple systems.

15. Practice evaluating questions • Q: At what point in Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” did you first become aware that he was using irony? • A: One-system based on defining the concept “irony” and merely reflecting when you noticed Swift uses it.

16. Practice evaluating questions • Q: (Asked during a job interview) What is the greatest strength you bring to this position? • A: Multiple-system: • 1. Determine what job requires. • 2. Analyze strengths and choose one. • 3. Determine what would best impress the interviewer.

17. Practice evaluating questions • Q: A friend has asked your advice about which math course would be most helpful in everyday life. • A: Multiple-system: • Analyze information from multiple math systems. • Consider what the concepts “helpful” and “everyday” mean. • Consider what values you place on each course.

18. Where did this student go wrong?