science

Open-ended question

Open-ended question is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Open-ended question rather than just read about it. In short: An open-ended question is a question that cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no" response, or with a static response. Open-ended questions are phrased as a statement which requires a longer answer.

Key takeaways

Open-ended question belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Open-ended question to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Open-ended question from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

An open-ended question is a question that cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no" response, or with a static response. Open-ended questions are phrased as a statement which requires a longer answer. They can be compared to closed-ended questions which demand a “yes”/“no” or short answer.

Examples Examples of open-ended questions include:

Tell me about your relationship with your supervisor? How do you see your future? Tell me about the children in this photograph? What is the purpose of government? Why did you choose that answer?

In education The received wisdom in education is that open questions are broadly speaking 'good' questions. They invite students to give longer responses that demonstrate their understanding. They are preferable to closed questions (i.e. one that demands a yes/no answer) because they are better for discussions or enquiries, whereas closed questions are only good for testing. Peter Worley argues that this is a false assumption. This is based on Worley's central arguments that there are two different kinds of open and closed questions: grammatical and conceptual. He argues that educational practitioners should be aiming for questions that are "grammatically closed, but conceptually open". For example, in standard parlance, 'is it ever right to lie?' would be regarded as a closed question: it elicits a yes/no response. Significantly, however, it is conceptually open. Any initial yes/no answer to it can be 'opened up' by the questioner ('why do you think that?,' 'Could there be an instance where that's not the case?), inviting elaboration and enquiry. This grammatically closed but cognitively open style of questioning, Worley argues, "gives [educators] the best of both worlds: the focus and specificity of a closed question (this, after all, is why teachers use them) and the inviting, elaborating character of an open question". Closed questions simply require 'opening up' strategies to ensure that conceptually open questions can fulfil their educational potential. Worley's structural and semantic distinction between open and closed questions is integral to his pedagogical invention 'Open Questioning Mindset', or OQM. OQM refers to the development, in educators, of an open attitude towards the process of learning and the questioning at the heart of that process. It is a mind-set that is applicable to all subject areas and all pedagogical environments. Teachers who develop an Open Questioning Mindset listen openly for the cognitive content of student's contributions and look for ways to use what is given for learning opportunities, whether right, wrong, relevant or apparently irrelevant. OQM encourages a style of pedagogy that values genuine enquiry in the classroom. It provides teachers with the tools to move beyond what Worley calls 'guess what's in my head' teaching, that relies on closed and leading questions.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Open-ended question

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Open-ended question claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Open-ended question before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Open-ended question ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Open-ended question

In research: Open-ended question appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Open-ended question in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Open-ended question is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Grammar, Language, Linguistics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Open-ended question outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Open-ended question in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Open-ended question means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Open-ended question out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Open-ended question in simple terms?

An open-ended question is a question that cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no" response, or with a static response. Open-ended questions are phrased as a statement which requires a longer answer.

Why does Open-ended question matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Open-ended question?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Open-ended question.