Blank Pages, Burning Questions, and the Brain Train

Epistemology is how people know what they know. How do we ask questions and then seek answers? The first step to understanding how each of us thinks is unique is to write questions.  If we don’t understand how we think or how our unique brain works, then all research becomes difficult.

1. The Brain Train. Most students have what I call a Brain Train. They begin with one question and the brain takes off down that track generating similar questions. Soon the student has a page of questions. However, they are all similar in nature or content. A student may begin with “Why do trees create rings?” The next question might be “How is maple syrup created from maple trees?” Then, “How do trees know when to begin to produce leaves?” and “How do trees survive in harsh winters without leaves for sunlight?” The Brain Train is now at full speed and all the questions will be on this particular line. I coach these students to make another list on another day, or perhaps each day, and then create a list of questions that is varied but researchable. The brain train is on a different track each day and by sampling from one day to another, a more varied list of questions is created.
2. Burning Questions. Approximately 1/3 of students will have a list of questions ready. These are questions they’ve been meaning to research but haven’t had time or been given license to pursue them as more than a passing fancy. These questions tend to be more philosophical such as “How can the world recover from the current environmental crisis?” But the next question will not be related except that it’s been floating around in the person’s mind for some time such as “How can we as a world build peace?” These are indeed important questions. However, they tend to be what a colleague once called “Wicked World Problems”. That means that first they are too broad to research well or on demand and there is so much philosophical debate that a functional understanding is not yet possible. While these are valuable questions, they are cumbersome, unanswerable, globally diverse, impossible questions. The student is proud that they’ve created a varied list of questions, not realizing they’ve also created an impossible list of questions. I coach these students to try to make their questions smaller, with defined research criteria.
3. The Blank Page. Finally, a smaller portion of students sit with a blank page. They sit frustrated as others seem to take off and write their questions easily and quickly. They feel the pressure and begin to doubt themselves. Why can’t I come up with questions? But given time, a different environment, and the right framing of the assignment, students always come up with questions. Typically, not 10, but perhaps five solid, varied, researchable questions. This student struggles with how to begin. The classroom environment is not ideal for their mental digestion and the system shuts down. I coach these students that it’s ok to not have questions now. Activities done in class also have a later due date. As they go through their day, often a question will pop up. I urge them to write it down. These students often undervalue their questions, thinking their questions aren’t good enough because they come slowly along with other stimuli. However, these are often the strongest links to true curiosity.

The best questions to research are exploratory questions, not binary ones. A simple yes or no produces a false binary and limits understanding. However, asking questions that begin with how allows the researcher a look into processes. A question of why allows for the exploration of explanation, justification, causation, or motivation. Questions involving when offer timelines and rich historical sequences if all information is available. Questions involving where allow for geographical or cultural research. Less interesting are questions that involve what, as they merely identify and questions of who often result in a limited understanding of individuals and circumstances.

Such questions are best pursued when a student has a vague idea of what it is they seek. With no reference point, the pursuit of learning can be a journey without a destination or compass. More importantly, we must learn that a good question is difficult to draft.

I use the notes function on my smartphone to document questions as they come up in day-to-day life. I quickly type them in and know that the thought has been captured so that later, I can more fully frame the question.

In class, after questions are written, we discuss the different approaches to questions, it’s important to learn to identify a question that can be researched from one that cannot. But how do you know if a question is researchable or not? First, putting the question in a search engine and looking at the number of results is a good test. Results over 1m are an indication that the topic is too broad. Second, breaking the question down into two- or three-word search terms and putting that into a search engine is also a good test and will likely produce more results than the question. However, more pragmatically, these searches may produce a list of alternative vocabulary that can be used as discipline-specific search terms.

Categorizing Questions

Categorizing questions can help with the research process. Shifting questions from one form to another creates a diversity in approach that assists in clarity.

• Qualitative questions: These questions ask why, how, when, who, and what. These questions seek to explore a topic not merely answer a question.
• Quantitative questions: These questions focus on how frequently, how many, and what’s the relationship. However, these questions don’t seek to explore a topic. These questions are often yes or no questions. They seek to validate or invalidate by numbers.
• Descriptive questions: Seek to understand a process or situation through a thorough description. These questions are often associated with things like accidents or topics like climate crisis.
• Interpretive questions: These questions seek to explore how a topic can be viewed differently.
• Comparative questions: These questions seek to compare or contrast things.

After questions have been drafted, it’s beneficial to create a list of search terms. For this, an understanding of how search engines work is needed. Search engines can only produce results of the words put into the search engine. Typically called a Boolean String, the list of words included in the search engine will result in occasions where those words appear together and typically in that sequence. Higher Education has assumed that because the generation currently enrolled was born with the internet they understand innately how the internet works. But ask the previous generation how TV works and they begin to realize that they had to be taught how to search using search engines and to search for useful and credible information.

After creating, evaluating, and considering your questions, create a list of search terms or phrases you might use to research these questions.

I maintain a list of questions and search terms. When I am stuck for something to research, I return to the list.