Open vs. Closed Research Questions: Home

7th-8th

Missouri School Library Standards

3-5: Reading Engagement: Develop Individual Reading Choices

AASL National Standards

INQUIRE - Build new knowledge by inquiring, thinking critically, identifying problems, and developing strategies for solving problems.

8.W.1.A.a

one class period

This lesson was created by Katie Berger, Discovery Middle School, Liberty 53 School District. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

In this interactive lesson, students will explore the key differences between open and closed research questions. They'll learn that closed questions lead to specific, factual answers, while open questions invite deeper investigation and critical thinking. Through examples and practice activities, students will evaluate various questions.The lesson will also guide students in formulating their own open-ended research questions to use in future projects.

• a computer to present
• presentation slides
• post-it notes

Students will be able to differentiate between open and closed research questions and how develop such questions for academic purposes.

Warm-Up: 

• Ask students: “Have you ever tried to Google something and only gotten really short or unhelpful answers?”
• Explain: “The way we ask questions matters! Today, we’re going to explore the difference between open and closed research questions and how they can help us find better information.”
• Share the lesson objective:
  • "By the end of class, you will be able to tell the difference between open and closed research questions and create your own!"

Direct Instruction:

The librarian will go through the presentation with students and then reflect using the embedded questions.

• Go through the slideshow presentation and discuss key points:
  • What is a research question? (Guides an investigation, helps explore topics)
  • Two types of research questions: Open and Closed
  • Characteristics of Open Questions:
    • Broad, exploratory, require explanation
    • Start with How, What, Why
    • Example: “How does social media affect teenagers' mental health?”
  • Characteristics of Closed Questions:
    • Specific, can be answered with “Yes” or “No” or a short fact
    • Start with Do, Does, Is, Are
    • Example: “Does playing video games for more than 2 hours a day affect students’ grades?"

Interactive Activity / Movement:

• Set up: Place "Open" and "Closed" signs on opposite sides of the room.
• How it works:
  1. Read a sample research question aloud (from the slideshow or additional examples).
  2. Students walk to the side of the room that matches their answer (Open or Closed).
  3. Ask students to defend their choice by explaining why they classified the question as open or closed.
  4. Discuss any disagreements and clarify misunderstandings.

Partner Discussion: Turn & Talk

• Pose the question: "What is the main difference between open and closed questions?"
• Have students turn to a partner and discuss their thoughts.
• Call on a few students to share their answers with the class.

Informal assessment questions are built into the presentation.

• Ask students:

  1. “Which type of research question do you think is more useful for big projects? Why?”
  2. “When might a closed question be useful?”
  3. “What is one thing you learned today that will help you with future research?”

• Encourage students to use open-ended research questions in their future projects to help them dig deeper into topics of interest.

Students could work in pairs to brainstorm and the teacher can be sure to read all slides as necessary.

For Struggling Students / English Learners:

• Provide sentence starters for research questions (e.g., "How does __ affect __?" / "Is __ true for __?")
• Allow them to work with a partner to create their questions.

For Advanced Students:

• Challenge them to revise closed questions into open-ended ones.
• Ask them to combine multiple questions into a stronger research question.

For Students Who Struggle with Engagement:

• Offer real-world examples of research questions used in science, journalism, or history.
• Let them act out a scenario where open vs. closed questions matter (e.g., a detective solving a case).