Theories of Childhood, Second Edition (Carol Garhart Mooney) / quote 58 of 70
Open-ended activities and questions
Open-ended activities do not have a predetermined result or product. For example, when a teacher plans a science experiment to which she already knows the answer, the experiment is not open-ended. However, when children plant seeds and chart the days until the shoot breaks through the earth, and then measure the seedling every day and keep a graph of how it grows, the project is open-ended. Neither the adult nor the child knows what the result will be. Similarly, open-ended questions do not have a predetermined answer. “What color is your shirt?” is a closed question. There is (probably) only one right answer, and the teacher knows what it is. “How do you think that works?” is an open-ended question. The teacher is asking the child for his reasoning and doesn’t already know the answer.