What makes a good question?

A good teaching question possesses four properties:

1. It is something you can "figure out": A good teaching question requires students to do more than just memorize information from a lecture or book. It should be something the student must "figure out." Since the experience of "figuring it out" is essentially a learning process, a good thing to ask yourself about a question is: "How much can students haggle with each other over that question?" If it is a good question, then there will be lots to talk about. On the other hand, a simple recall question such as, "How many membranes does a mitochrondria have?" will not result in meaningful discussion. Avoid questions whose answers can be found on specific pages in your textbook.
   
2. It demands the application of core course principles: A good teaching question requires students to apply core course principles to deduce a response. It is more a matter of "how can you solve this?" than of "what do you know?"
   
3. It has an educative component: A good teaching question is educational. Even students who get a question wrong can learn something from their attempts to solve it. Likewise, the question is such that the teacher will learn about the student from the attempt.
   
4. It is appropriate to the learning goal: A good teaching question requires students to engage in the kind of activities practiced by people in the field or discipline.