Setting the scene

The core, strategic function of organisational learning is to develop capabilities. This ranges between the capabilities of the business, people or projects. The process harnesses the backgrounds and perspectives of staff to create and curate meaningful learning experiences. This reinforces that Learning and Development (L&D) retains its value by investing in its human capital (Brassey, Christensen and van Dam, 2019).

Within that capital is YOU. Yes, you, the person reading this and wondering how this article may apply. Stick with me.

Key Questions – The Big Three

As an L&D professional, the questions I often ask myself before, during and after a session are:

  1. Is my audience actively engaged?

  2. Is learning occurring or just being memorised and regurgitated?

  3. Am I making a meaningful impact?

I call them the Big Three: Three simple questions that have a Big influence on learning. These questions are crucial for engaging learners, optimising and maximising learning initiatives. With each of the Big Three, the follow-up question should always be:

  • How do I know this? and,

  • How can I be sure?

This is the difference between learning that ends when the session does, and learning which continues to show up, far beyond the end of the learning journey.

The ‘How?’

We often, consciously or unconsciously, prioritise the memorisation of information. This can be embedded in our programmes, projects and curriculums. Sometimes it’s due to lack of time, resources or even staff.

While we are faced with this enormous task with the odds stacked against us, we do it anyway. Now, you’re probably wondering ‘How?’. How can I engage my learners, move away from memorisation and regurgitation and make a meaningful impact?

First, let's focus briefly on what that impact is or could be.

The impact

For you – Is it fulfilment? Feeling content? Understanding? A job well done?

This is where it gets tricky. As professionals, facilitators, teachers – whichever noun you prefer, it’s safe to say that our role is to create safe, inclusive learning environments. Our role is to enhance knowledge, confidence and possibilities. One way to do this? By acknowledging The Big Three. Utilising it to your advantage to ensure learning is maximised.

For Learners – Is it fulfilment? Inclusion? Investment? Psychological safety?

The impact is simple: Belief. Belief in a system, process or project which seeks to do more. Seeks to look past the quantitative and move towards the qualitative. Or even better – looks to do both. A session, course or programme which encourages learners to go that step forward, actively engage and contribute to their own learning.

Now we understand the impact, let’s break it down and look at how we can answer the Big Three through effective questioning.

Questioning

The world is changing, and the learning sphere is changing right along with it. It’s adapting, evolving and becoming more AI-enabled day by day.

Helping learners understand the ‘Why?’, is a crucial component, even when they are answering questions correctly. Avoid asking why for the sake of asking. Instead, ask purposeful questions which separate deep learning from surface regurgitation.

One study which illustrates these notions is Salmon and Barrera (2021) research into the impact of intentional questioning. Albeit the participants in this study were children, the discussion of different questioning typology and levels such as, Ritchhart's Typology of Questions (2015) and Costa’s Questioning Levels (2015) extend the studies reach and make it a worthy point of discussion. This research concluded that questioning is a fundamental part of learning, with a particular mention for its implications in adult-learner interactions and scaffolding (Salmon and Barrera, 2021).

Scaffolding – Often defined as a finely tuned, structured strategy which provides support. Scaffolding engages learners to gradually enhance their knowledge, skills and independence by making small continuous adjustments to learning and the level of assistance provided (Taber, 2018).

To keep it short - Scaffold your questioning!

Scaffolding and Questioning

This is one answer to The Big Three! One of the many ways to engage your learners is by engaging their thought processes, critical and higher-order thinking. Scaffolding can also be split into categories such as: Procedural, Conceptual, Strategic and Metacognitive (Doo, Bonk and Heo, 2020) and transferred directly into how you propose or structure your questions.

Think about whether you are questioning learners on essential themes, resources or processes to prompt understanding and application. This goes hand-in-hand with the principles of Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning which encourages the hierarchical learning journey when developing skills (Ruhl, 2025)

More information on Bloom's Taxonomy can be found here: Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning | Domain Levels Explained

It doesn't stop there. When thinking about scaffolding learning, you can also consider the outcomes from scientific research into memory and use it as a tool to support learning. This can range from the studied effectiveness of low-medium to high utility strategies including mnemonics, self-explanation, interleaving, retrieval practices and intentional spacing (Biwer et al., 2020).

You may recognise the notions from Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which conceptualises the gap between what learners can do independently and with guidance from a knowledgeable other.

More information can be found here: Zone of Proximal Development (McLeod, 2025)

This may seem simple and self-explanatory, but these notions are the key divider between: meaningful, continuous learning and simple memorisation and recall.

And finally...

All in all, we have briefly discussed ‘The Big Three’ and in particular, scaffold questioning. My advice – when all is said and done, ask yourself:

1. Have I conquered the Big Three?

Future you will thank you for it.

Thanks for having a read. I’m eager to hear what you think. Leave a comment on this article and let’s discuss your thoughts, tactics and strategies!

References

Biwer, F., oude Egbrink, M., Aalten, P. and de Bruin, A. (2020). Fostering Effective Learning Strategies in Higher Education – A Mixed-Methods Study. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, [online] 9(2), pp.186–203. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.03.004.

Brassey, J., Christensen, L. and van Dam, N. (2019). Essential components of a learning and development strategy | McKinsey. [online] www.mckinsey.com. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-essential-components-of-a-successful-l-and-d-strategy.

Costa, A. and Kallick, B. (2015). Five Strategies for Questioning with Intention. Educational Leadership, [online] 73(1), pp.66–69. Available at: https://nwrpdp.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/5-strategies-for-questioning-with-intention-el.pdf.

Doo, M.Y., Bonk, C. and Heo, H. (2020). A Meta-Analysis of Scaffolding Effects in Online Learning in Higher Education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(3). doi:https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i3.4638.

McLeod, S. (2025). The Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding. [online] Simply Psychology. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html.

Ritchhart, R. (2015a). Creating cultures of thinking : the 8 forces we must master to truly transform our schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Wiley. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/997483/creating-cultures-of-thinking-the-8-forces-we-must-master-to-truly-transform-our-schools-pdf

Ruhl, C. (2025). Bloom’s taxonomy of learning. [online] Simply Psychology. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/blooms-taxonomy.html.

Salmon, A.K. and Barrera, M.X. (2021). Intentional Questioning to Promote Thinking and Learning. Thinking Skills and Creativity, [online] 40(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100822.

Taber, K. (2018). Scaffolding learning: Principles for Effective Teaching and the Design of Classroom Resources. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327833000_Scaffolding_learning_Principles_for_effective_teaching_and_the_design_of_classroom_resources.