Inquiry and Asking Questions
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| inquiry | 探究 | tàn jiū |
| Sustained Investigation | 持续探究 | chí xù tàn jiū |
Questioning over time
- Inquiry 探究 is the intentional process of questioning that guides exploration over time (CED Big Idea 1).
- A workable inquiry is open, personal, and visual — answerable through drawing.
- "How can line weight express my grandmother's hands aging?" beats "I will draw hands."
A workable inquiry must be answerable ____.
It is answered through the drawings, over time.
"I will draw cars" is an inquiry.
That is a subject; an inquiry is a question you can develop.
Questions generate work
- A strong question generates the next drawing: each work answers a little and asks a little more.
- Test a question by listing ten works it could produce — fewer than five means it is too narrow.
- Questions may evolve mid-investigation; document the turn.
Workable inquiry, or not yet?
Sort each statement by whether it is a workable drawing inquiry.
Select all traits of a strong inquiry.
A one-word answer means it is closed.
Scored on the connection
- The Sustained Investigation 持续探究 is scored on how clearly works relate to and develop the inquiry.
- Pin the inquiry above your desk — every scoring row refers back to it.
- Vague or borrowed questions stall the whole body of work.
The section scored on how works relate to the inquiry is the ____ Investigation.
The Sustained Investigation.
Match the statement to its type.
Only the first can be developed over time.
"I will draw animals" is a subject, not an inquiry — it can never be answered, only illustrated. An inquiry must be a question your drawings can push on and partly answer over time.
Turn "I like the sea" into an inquiry: "How can erased, washed-out marks show a coastline disappearing to erosion?" Now every drawing tests a material (eraser, wash) against an idea (loss) — and there are twenty works waiting.
Inquiry is an open, personal, visual question, not a subject. A strong one generates many works, may evolve, and is what the Sustained Investigation is scored against — so state it clearly and keep it in view.