Umer Toor Blog: You don't just learn by solving questions...

... rather you can also learn - perhaps better - by 'posing (or developing) questions'. According to a research article in School Science and Mathematics, "Problem posing, with its emphasis on having students generate and develop their own mathematical problems from particular situations or on the basis of their prior problem solving experiences, may be an important activity that in fact helps students develop as inquiry-based problem solvers."*

Well, I have a friend who does the same with his O/A level students in Pakistan, helping them make DISTRACTORs: questions that only 1 out of 1000 can answer. One of his student said that this is the way of real learning and growth. How does it happen that by posing questions a student may better solve a problem? the article mentions two instance:

1. ... he or she may look to break down or reduce the original problem into smaller problems, the solution of which lead to a solution of the original problem.

2. ... students engaged in the solution of a problem may generate a result that challenges or calls into question their prior goals and actions. In these situations the ways that the student acts to resolve the new question often leads to a reformulation of the original problem which may in turn lead to progress in finding a solution.