Costa's Level of Questioning

This approach allows the student to incorporate three levels of learning referred to as a base level (basic understanding that involves the introduction of knowledge or comprehension), ground-level (application or analysis of material by the practiced knowledge), and penthouse level (synthesis and evaluation that demonstrates mastery of knowledge).

The strengths of this approach are getting the student to understand and personally reflect on the topic. Often, students do not internalize information and respond by saying things they want to the teacher to hear rather than provide deep reflective applied or demonstrated thought. Therefore, learning specific facts without relating to other material is preferred. This method may give the students the feeling of starting anew with each concept versus building on the related part from a previous thought. Once the concept has been learned, analysis and synthesis make sense.

The limitation of this approach can be the idea of repeated questions. Unfortunately, students tend not to reflect and grow tired of questions. Although this approach allows for continuous formative assessments, it still may not ensure the student understands the information. The types of questions are focused and suggest a personal response. The use of you rather than a general application can backfire, especially if the student feels they have nothing to contribute. In this case, the student will shut down.