Effective Questioning in the Classroom

Strategies for Asking Questions to Improve Learning
Asking questions in the classroom increases student participation, encourages active learning and in my opinion, creates the classroom to be a welcoming place for students. There are a few basic strategies to asking and responding to questions in the classroom. The strategies include keeping course goals in mind, using follow up yes-or-no questions with an additional question, avoiding asking leading questions and being clear with the ones you ask, asking a mix of open and closed questions, only asking one question at a time, and for the teacher, planning out when you will pause for questions.

The first one that stuck out to me was that teachers should follow up yes-or-no questions with an additional question. With our classrooms moving to common core and career ready objectives, the students need to know more than just how to solve a problem; they need to know why as well Both Common Core and Career Ready objectives call for students to think at a higher level, more than basic memorization and recall. Simply asking, "Is 2+2= 4?" is not enough for higher level cognitive thinking. The students need to be able to explain how they came to the answer of 2+2=4, why 2+2=4 is the answer and why it is important and relative to real life.

The second strategy I thought was very useful was that teachers should ask a mix of open and closed questions. Closed questions are those that have a limited number of correct answers and really do not call for discussion. They are for lower level cognitive thinking. These are necessary in the classroom because they are a basic quick check for understanding, comprehension and retention of information. Open questions, which are my personal favorite, are questions that open the classroom for discussion. I love these when teaching math. I think a lot of people think that math can only call for closed questions, that there is just one answer and no need for discussion. Common Core and project based learning have changed this thought about math. Math teachers now have to instruct using open ended questions and create the classroom to be a discussion area. I love open questions because you really get to see how your students process information and how their mind really works. It gives them a chance to speak in front of their peers and even teach the class how and why they got their answer. I think open questions shows us teachers that our students can teach us almost as well as we teach them and gives everyone a chance to be heard and even kind of show off their brain.

Tips for Responding to Questions
1. Wait for your students to think and formulate responses.
2. Do not interrupt student's answers.
3. Show that you are interested in answers, whether right or wrong.
4. Develop responses that keep students thinking.
5. If a student gives an incorrect or weak answer, point out what is incorrect or weak about the answer, but ask the student a follow-up question that will lead that student, and the class, to the correct or stronger answer.

It's Not What You Ask But How You Ask
As teachers, when we ask questions, a lot of the time it is to check for understanding. The basic and obvious question would be, "do you guys understand?", but that simply is not enough. Ben Johnson tells us that as teachers we need to go more in depth with our questions because the students may not know the real answer to that question. We need to be specific in our questioning and address the entire class with the question first, then call on one student randomly. This way, no one student is completely on the spot without any time to think about the question and each student has the potential to answer at least one question. Also the floor is open for everyone in the class to think about the question and their answer. In my opinion, this creates a better way for the class to participate and confidence to be built within each student.

Questions are More Important than Answers
I love this motto in our EDM 310 class. I think that answers are important, but I also think that the questions that drive us to these answers and the thought process in between matters more. In my classroom, I want my students to think and think critically and not just become robots reciting answers all day. Answers are great for tests and checking for understanding, but for retention and comprehension I think that asking questions provides a better way of thinking critically and discussion. The robotic behavior of reciting and recalling answers can make the classroom boring and unwelcoming. I want my students to discuss with others and myself, which I think would give everyone another way of thinking critically, learning from others and teaching others.