Questioning Techniques Questioning Second most widely used teaching

Questioning Techniques

Questioning • Second most widely used teaching strategy • Some teachers used as many as 150 questions per hour • Average was 395 questions a day – 71% were factual – 29% required thought

Bloom’s Taxonomy • Knowledge – to know about • Comprehension – to understand • Application – to use knowledge & understanding • Analysis – to break down • Synthesis – to combine, to create • Evaluation – to judge

Convergent Questions • Knowledge and Comprehension levels • Low level • Encourage student responses to converge or focus on a special theme • Short, factual answers

Convergent Examples • What did the witch give Snow White? • Where did apprenticeships originate?

Divergent Questions • Application, Analysis, & Synthesis levels • Higher level questions • Questions that evoke student responses that may vary greatly • Longer student responses usually needed • Seldom determined to be write or wrong • More than one way to answer

Divergent Examples • What would happen in a school if it had no rules? • How does the environment affect human behavior?

Evaluative Questions • Evaluation level • Questions that ask for judgment • No right or wrong answers

Evaluative Examples • Is the world a better place because of computers? • What should Snow White have done when she received the apple?

Questioning Procedure • • • Ask Pause (3 to 5 seconds) Call on someone Listen to response Emphasize correct answer

Encouraging Responses • • Maintain a positive, friendly environment Be generous with positive feedback Offer some easy to answer questions Allow for making mistakes as a way of learning • Make a game out of asking/answering questions (teams)

Encouraging Responses • Draw cards out of hat for random names • Give students questions the day before • Balance responses from volunteers and nonvolunteers • Avoid being sarcastic or punishing • Watch your nonverbal cues • Try to make them feel successful

Prompts • Supply prompts to encourage responses • That’s a good description of the first part. Now what about. . . ? • Yes, that’s part of the answer. Tell me more. • That’s the basic idea. Can you expand on that? • Okay. Continue.

Handling Wrong Answers • Think about that again. Then take another try. • Can you tell us how you got your answer? • You’ve got the first part right. • Tell me more about your answer. • That’s a very unique way of looking at things.