Handbook Table of Contents > Teaching Methods > Questioning in the Classroom
Indiana University Teaching Handbook
Teaching Methods
Questioning in the Classroom
How to Ask Questions
Adapted with permission from Hyman, 1980
By learning how to use questions effectively in the classroom, instructors can accomplish a number of interrelated goals. First, by engaging students in a question and-answer dialogue, the usual “one-way” flow of information from instructor to students is transformed into a more interactive process. Students become more active participants in their own learning. In addition, skillful questioning can encourage students to engage in higher-level cognitive processes (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation), thus helping to develop their capacity for critical thinking. The current literature suggests several tactics that may assist teachers in improving the use of questioning in their teaching.
- After asking a question, wait for a response. Do not answer the question yourself; don’t repeat it, rephrase it, modify it, call on another student to answer it, or replace it with another question until you have waited at least three to five seconds. Studies show that the average “wait time” is as low as 0.9 seconds, which is clearly not long enough. Students need time to think about the question and prepare their responses. With a wait-time of three to five seconds, students respond more, use complex cognitive processes, and begin to ask more questions.
- Ask only one question at a time. Do not ask a string of questions one after the other in the same utterance. For example, ask, “Compare the skeleton of an ape with that of a human.” Do not ask, “How are apes and humans alike? Are they alike in bone structure and/or family structure and/or places where they live?” A series of questions tends to confuse students. They are not able to determine just what the teacher is requesting from them. Napell (1978) states that videotape replays reveal an interesting pattern when the teacher asks a series of questions. “Hands will go up in response to the first question, and a few will go down during the second, and those hands remaining up will gradually get lower and lower as the instructor finally concludes with a question very different from the one for which the hands were initially raised.”
- Collect several answers to your question, even if the first student to answer gives a perfect response. Not all students think at the same speed, and you want to encourage those who were not first to continue reflecting. Often, the third or fourth answers will add dimensions that the first answer missed.
- When student questions are desired, request them explicitly, wait, and then acknowledge student contributions. For example, a teacher may wish to solicit questions about the plays of Shakespeare, which the class has been studying. The instructor might say, “What questions or clarifications of points need to be raised?” or, “Please ask questions about the main characters or the minor characters, whichever you wish at this point,” or “In light of Sally’s allusion to Lady Macbeth, I invite you to ask her some questions for embellishment or clarification.” Avoid soliciting questions without a context, as in the classic, “Any questions?”
- Indicate to students that questions are not a sign of stupidity but rather the manifestation of concern and thought about the topic. Be very careful not to subtly or even jokingly convey the message that a student is stupid for asking for a clarification or restatement of an idea already raised in class or in the text.
- Let students try out their answers by quickly discussing them in pairs or by writing for a minute or two. They are much more willing to share their answers with the class when they have had this opportunity.
- Use a variety of probing and explaining questions. Ask questions that require different approaches to the topic, such as causal, teleological, functional, or chronological explanations. Avoid beginning your question with the words “why” and “explain,” and instead phrase your questions with words which give stronger clues about the type of explanation sought. Thus, for a chronological explanation, instead of asking, “Why did we have a depression in the 1930s?” try “What series of events led up to the stock market crash of 1929 and the high unemployment in the 1930s?”
Answering Students’ Questions
When answering a student’s question, keep in mind your goals for that day’s class. If the question moves the class toward that goal, you will want to give a complete answer or to redirect it to the class for discussion. If the question is not pertinent, you can tell the student where he or she can find an answer or offer to discuss it after class.
New instructors are often at a loss when they do not know the answer to a question. But it is not necessary to be able to field every question, and students can sense when an instructor “fakes” an answer. Instead, the instructor can offer to find the answer (and then should be sure and follow up) or suggest to the student where he or she can find the answer to the question.
Rewarding Student Participation and Providing Feedback
Adapted with permission from Hyman, 1980
In responding to student questions, a number of guidelines can positively reinforce good student responses and facilitate further discussion.
- Praise the student in a strong, positive way for a correct or positive response. Use such terms as “excellent answer,” “absolutely correct,” and “bull’s eye.” These terms are quite different from the common mild phrases teachers often use such as “O.K.,” “hmm hum,” and “all right.” Especially when the response is long, the teacher should try to find at least some part that deserves praise and then comment on it.
- Comment specifically about that student’s response. Tell the student why it is a good answer. For example, suppose that a student has offered an excellent response to the question, “What function did the invasion of the Kuwait serve for Iraq?” The instructor might say, “That was excellent, Pat. You included national political reasons as well as mentioning the Iraqi drive to become a pan-Arabic leader.” This response gives an excellent rating to the student in an explicit and strong form. It also demonstrates that the instructor has listened carefully to the student’s ideas.
- Build on the student’s response. If the instructor continues to discuss a point after a student response, he or she should try to incorporate the key elements of the response into the discussion. If you do not acknowledge that this is the student’s point, you risk being seen as “co-opting” the student’s answer. By acknowledging the student’s response, the teacher shows that he or she values the points made. By referring to the student explicitly by name (e.g., “As Pat pointed out, Kuwait’s political status . . .”) the teacher gives credit where credit is due.
- Avoid the “Yes, but . . .” reaction. Teachers
use “Yes, but . . .” or its equivalent when a response is wrong
or at least partly wrong. The overall impact of these phrases is negative
and deceptive even though the teacher’s intent is probably positive.
The “Yes, but . . .” fielding move says that the response is
correct or appropriate with one breath and then takes away the praise
with the next. Some straightforward are:
- Wait to at least a count of five with the expectation that another student will volunteer a correct or better response.
- Ask, “How did you arrive at that response?” (Be careful, though, not to ask this question only when you receive inadequate responses, ask it also at times when you receive a perfectly good response).
- Say, “You’re right regarding X and that’s great; wrong regarding Y. Now we need to correct Y so we can get everything correct.”
- Say, “Thanks. Is there someone who wants to respond to the question or comment on the response we’ve already heard?”
- These four alternatives are obviously not adequate to fit all cases. Indeed, it is generally difficult to field wrong or partially wrong responses because students are sensitive to teacher criticism. However, with these alternatives as examples, you will probably be able to generate others as needed.
Teaching Outside your Field of Specialization
Adapted with permission from University of Nevada, Reno
If you are assigned to teach outside of your specialty, you’ll have to work to stay at least a week ahead of your brightest students. Remember that you are not responsible for knowing all the answers; don’t feel compelled to apologize for your “lack of knowledge.” If you cannot answer a question or you have made an error, admit it, but tell your students where they may find the answer or offer to look it up . . . and then do it. (This is good advice for teaching within your own field as well.) University students are usually forgiving in nature, but the one thing they will not tolerate is subterfuge on the part of an instructor.
