How to Develop Effective Questioning Skill
Questions are still the most frequently used teaching tool.
However, not all questions are created equally.
Some are highly effective; others can be useless or even harmful.
There is an art and a science to effective questioning.
Here are tips gleaned from outstanding teachers and research for improving teachers’ use of questions:
#01
- As part of lesson planning, list the process questions to ask.
- Effectively worded questions can make a good lesson superb.
- Develop a logical sequence and strive for clarity in your
#02
- Challenge the whole class to respond mentally.
- When you ask a question, pause and then select the person to respond.
- Choosing the answerer randomly allows even the shiest child to become involved in the class discussion.
- The teacher’s encouragement and support can reduce anxiety and make the lesson a successful learning experience.
- It is best for the teacher to build on small successes by asking open-ended questions rather than factual recall.
- Unfortunately, researchers have observed that teachers ask low-ability students fewer questions and praise them less often when they respond correctly.
#03
- Wait at least five seconds after directing a question before saying anything
- Most teachers allow their students less than two seconds on average to answer a
- Permitting the student a reasonable amount of thinking time is essential, especially if you are asking for more than a recall of a single
- The length and quality of students’ responses increase when teachers allow more wait time.
#04
- Use closed-ended questions when you are seeking information, facts, or a commitment.
- The closed-ended question is most effective in assessing student mastery of specific
- Generally, avoid asking yes-or-no questions in your lessons.
#05
- Open-ended questions (beginning with how, why, or what) usually allow greater latitude in the student’s response with a variety of possible answers (How can air pollution be decreased? Why do people change careers?).
- A single correct answer does not exist.
- Such open-ended questions are most crucial in stimulating students’ creative abilities and developing higher-level cognitive processes such as evaluation, hypothesis generation, analysis, and synthesis.
#06
- What the teacher does after a student responds to a question significantly influences the group discussion process.
- Students who are ridiculed or intimidated will become increasingly reluctant to participate in discussions.
- No constructive end can come from put-downs, whether the teacher or students initiate them.
- People, including students, have a right to make mistakes and a responsibility to learn from those mistakes
- A positive class climate is attained when students feel accepted and sufficiently open to take risks, even at the price of sometimes being incorrect.
#07
- Encourage students to respond in some fashion, even if they aren’t completely sure of the
- Rephrase the question or provide cues, but don’t just accept “I don’t”
- Probe students’ responses for clarification and to stimulate further
- “Why?” is an effective probing question to force the student to a deeper level of thought.
#08
- Avoid multiple questions.
- Barraging students with a series of questions often only confuses them and obscures the lesson’s
- One question at a time, posed clearly and concisely, will more likely yield a clear and concise response.
- Effective teachers keep a balance between calling on volunteers and non-volunteers.
- Particularly when it is likely that many non-volunteers know the answer, calling on a non-volunteer is better.
#09
- Occasionally, have all students jot down an answer to your question before calling on one person to share the
- Also, for variety, have all students share their answers to your question in pairs or small groups.
- Call on a few groups to report their best answers to the whole class.
#10
- Challenging questions seem most effective for classes of high-ability students.
- A mixture of higher-order and lower-level cognitive questions seems to work best with mixed-ability classes.
- Low-level cognitive questions seem to work best when teaching basic skills.
- Effective teachers ask a combination of both low- and high-level cognitive questions.
#11
- Strive to ask questions that yield a high level of correct responses; research suggests around 70 percent is the optimal success level.
- Some evidence suggests that the most successful strategy is to begin a lesson with lower-level questions and to use higher-level questions as the lesson progresses.
- Learn to allow students to talk more.
- Typically, teacher talk consumes 70 percent of class discussion time.
#12
- Acknowledge correct responses, but be specific in your praise.
- What exactly was appropriate or creative about the student’s response?
- Avoid the cliché “Very good” in response to every question.
- Save genuine praise for the response that is truly
- Occasionally ask the student to repeat the question before replying.
- This assures students are listening and understand the question.
#13
- Give students an equal opportunity to respond to your questions.
- Research shows that students down the middle and across the front of the classroom get called on more frequently.
- Also, higher-ability students tend to get called on more than lower-ability students when they raise their hands.
#14
- Research supports permitting call-out answers with students of a lower socioeconomic level, particularly at the elementary level.
- With classes at a higher socioeconomic level, students should be acknowledged before giving their answers.
- In the latter case, students are typically more assertive and eager to respond, creating more chaos.
- Without having to seek permission to speak, lower-ability students are more likely to
- A risk of permitting call-out responses is that a few students may dominate class discussions.
#15
- Don’t accept an obviously incorrect answer.
- Gently yet clearly help identify a more appropriate response.
- Acknowledge if an answer is partially correct, but solicit a more complete response from the class before
- Have the student reflect a bit more on the question or your rephrasing of it. Don’t immediately call on someone else.
#16
- Encourage students to ask questions, but don’t just do it by saying, “Any questions?”
- Have each student write down one question, or have them pair up to make a list of questions related to the topic.
- Real learning is most likely when students are genuinely curious and enthusiastically generate their own questions.
- Encourage them to ask questions of each other as well as of you.
#17
- Be wary of asking why questions to confront misbehaviour.
- When we ask why questions about a person’s behaviour (“Why did you do that?”),
- We are generally seeking an argument, not an explanation.
- Why questions often put the student on the defensive, yielding a wisecracking defensive answer.
- A question such as “What are you doing?” is more effective in focusing the student’s attention on his or her misbehaviour.
