DCD Questioning - Developing Analysis, Evaluation and Higher Order Thinking

DCD questioning is a very, very simple questioning technique that promotes higher order thinking; allows students to discuss different viewpoints and helps the teacher to facilitate a discussion (within a business studies lesson).DCD questioning is simple. D stands for 'develop' and C stands for 'challenge'. How it works is simple. After the teacher has posed a question and either asked a pupil to respond or waited for a pupil to volunteer an answer the teacher then selects another student to 'develop' that students response further. The teacher then selects another pupil to 'challenge' the argument that has been made. The teacher can then select another pupil to 'develop' this even further (DCD).The beauty of this is that the teacher becomes the facilitator of the discussion by simply asking students to develop and challenge other students responses.This strategy is perfect for business studies given the need for students to analyse and evaluate key concepts and topics.For example, the teacher might pose the question, 'what is the best strategy for the 'big four' supermarkets to adopt in response to the rapid growth of Aldi and Lidl?' Here, a student may respond by saying that the best strategy to adopt is to cut prices further. The teacher would then ask another pupil to 'develop' this argument further. Once the argument has been developed the teacher would select another student to 'challenge' this response (perhaps by pointing out the flaws in this strategy or by outlining a different 'best' strategy).The teacher can even ask another pupil to 'challenge' both of the previous arguments.One point to note is that students need some 'wait time' after being selected to allow students to carefully consider their response.