Questioning students is helpful
I find that asking students questions, open ended ones, helps me get them involved in the discussion.
Indeed. Sometimes our own idea of what we perceive as being presented is just that- ours. Asking students questions not only keeps them active in the learning process, but gives me an idea of how well or (hopefully) not I have delivered the information. They are our customers, and they are usually very open on giving input. But i try not to ask questions that veer them into a 'can of worms' scenario.
Hi Luke,
You make a good point about listening to students. When you are listening you are learning. This way you can keep your finger on the pulse of the class and make adjustments as they are needed.
Gary
Couldn't agree more with both of you. Genius!
I'm a big fan of open ended questioning. I frequently ask students open ended questions that they more or less have the answer to, I'm just forcing them to think more and synthesize the information available to them.
Questioning students will also give you a great indication of how you are getting your lesson plan across.
Asking "why" questions leads students to analyse their decision making.
Sometimes asking a question just leads to dead silence from the students. I find this difficult to deal with.
When I ask a question, I have to assume that no one will know the answer sometimes. My boss Wendy pointed out that it's ok to wait, to say "think about it" and even give a clue to the answer. It eliminates some of that uncomfortable silence, and it lets the class know that you'll keep asking questions.
Hi Paul,
Good advice. "Wait time" in questioning is good. In our culture silence is seen as a problem so in teaching we need to be willing to wait for the students to think about possible responses.
Gary
Hi Paul, I too have dealt with the "dead silence" situation. Here might be some ideas:
-silence can be beneficial as opposed to arkward; what seems as minutes may actually only be seconds; I try to relax my facial expression a bit, take a casual stance, and simply let silence happen; during that time, I watch student facial expressions to see what the next step should be
-try rephrasing the question, adding perhaps an example or brief story
-without putting anyone on the spot, ask a student, who you know does not mind speaking in class, to rephrase the question for you and ask it again
-avoid just calling someone's name to answer a question; it makes the next question you ask more challenging to get an answer
-hold a contest; students who answer questions are entered into a drawing with a small or silly prize
-make sure that your students understand that no answer, honestly intended, is really completely wrong - build on the answers that students give, even if a bit off the mark, by taking what you can extract from the answer and focusing it in the right direction to a correct response
Hope this helps and thanks again for your observation,
Jay Hollowell
MaxKnowledge
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I agree with you Luke. We are in an environment where we ask the students, not so much as a question, but more of a procedure. In a practical setting asking the student to repeat what was demonstrated to then yesterday is a great way to learn how they learn or what we didn't distinguish as important. Sometimes it's not the verbal responses but the action that needs to be attended to.
I also find that is can be helpful to break down a question. Ask older questions again that you know they know the answer to and will lead towards the answer of the question at hand. With a few of the answers floating out there, it may be easier for a student to see the bigger picture.
I do that alot also. It also ecourages more thought and the reason why. It challenges them from making simple answers to more precise knowlegeable answers.The knowlege of why it is so helps them to remember it more succinctly.Thus learning is attained and more importantly retained.
Carlos
Hi Carlos,
You make a number of good points about how to help your students grow in their knowledge and skills. Students like to be challenged and shown how they can and are acquiring new knowledge and skills. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Great ideas. I also find that if after a bit of silence and I don't think anyone is going to answer, I back track and ask a few questions that lead up to what I am looking for. Or I rephrase the question or break it down into smaller parts or answer part of it and then ask someone else to answer the next part now that I've given a hint.
Hi Celia,
I really like your approach to the questioning strategy you are using. This way students can feel free to respond to questions as you are offering them a number of different ways of answering the questions. You have reduced the risk but increased the opportunities. This is what good teaching is all about.
Gary
Paul, do you every play devils adovcate during these discussions?
In the case of my teaching assignments, for the most part, discussions about the class material are not appropriate -- the correct way to implement security policies in SERVER 2003 is not something which is up for debate.
Yet questioning still is helpful when the material is fairly 'uniform' in terms of what intellectual attitudes to it can be supported. The first thing, and indeed I think the most important thing, is that it opens a window into your students' minds -- you can guage what they don't know by their replies to questions, which in turn should feed back into your teaching process.
The other thing about questioning is that it tends to perk the students up. When I get mass silence from the class, I may give them the gimlet eye, depending on the degree to which "they should know this" -- as a result, people will tend to pipe up.
