Research findings about questioning can provide insights into how to establish a classroom environment where questioning has a focus on promoting student learning.

Questioning with a focus on student learning

Research findings about questioning can provide insights into how to establish a classroom environment where questioning has a focus on promoting student learning.

Preparation

As much as possible, teachers should try to plan their questions before asking to ensure a closer match between questioning and the lesson’s instructional objectives.

A few carefully prepared questions are preferable to large numbers of questions.

Higher level thinking

As well, teachers need to plan and ask questions that require students to engage in higher-level thinking.

This may mean that teachers also need to also help students become familiar with the kind of thinking required by higher order questions.

Teachers actively managing questions

In general, teachers, not students, need to decide who will answer questions using strategies that give all students an opportunity to respond.

As well, they need to establish classroom norms indicating that every student deserves an opportunity to answer questions and that all students’ answers are important.

This will assist more verbal students to monitor their own talking and allow other students an opportunity to respond.

Wait time

Silence can be golden!

Both the wait time after asking a question before calling on a student to answer, and the wait time before speaking after a student has answered, will help promote student thinking and encourage more students to formulate answers to more questions.

Prompts and guidance

In classrooms where the norm is that every student is capable of giving complete and correct answers, teachers provide prompts, when necessary, to help students give correct answers.

When students give either incomplete or incorrect responses, teachers should seek to understand those answers more completely by gently guiding student thinking with appropriate probes.

Teachers who are focused on the quality of their questioning, both verbal and written, will also value and encourage students’ questions. Such teachers understand that student questions are essential to deep engagement with and learning of particular content.

Additionally, as the teacher makes time for student questions, they help their students learn to formulate effective questions.

References