Tips On Questioning Techniques That Challenge Minds

Cindy Riedl
Sep 15, 2008

"To question well is to teach well. In the skillful use of
questions, more than anything else, lies the fine art of teaching."

Earnst Sachs

Despite the fact that good questioning effectively improves learning, studies show that proper questioning is seldom practiced in teaching. Most often, questions are solely used to asses students' knowledge rather than a technique to expand it. The goal should be to diversify questioning techniques and seize the many unexplored advantages of good questioning.

  • What are the results of good questioning during teaching?

  • Helps students to participate actively in lessons

  • Provides an opportunity for students to express their ideas and thoughts

  • Allows students to hear divergent opinions from peers.

  • Draws attention and highlights important points in the lesson

  • Helps develop confidence and feelings of success in students, leading them beyond the conventional patterns of thinking


What types of questions should teachers plan before instruction that are more challenging than factual questions that are typically used to get information and test rote memory?

  • Clarification Questions intend to provide clarity. Such questions have important clueing effects and help students to revisit their earlier statements with alternative perspectives, i.e. "What did you mean by ____" "Can you rephrase what you have just said?"

  • Broadening or Extension Questions enlarge the existing theme, explore implications of the response and can be useful in opening up further possibilities, i.e. "Do you know any other situation where this can be applied?"

  • Justifying Questions probe for assumptions and explore reasons for particular answers. These questions require significant comprehension and reasoning skills, i.e. "You mentioned ______ as the most likely cause of ______. What are your reasons for such a response?"

  • Hypothetical Questions are used to explore students' understanding of complex situations, i.e. "Suppose this happened. How would you revise or rearrange ___?"


What are some tips about effective questioning during instruction?

  • Phrase questions clearly and succinctly.

  • Ask questions with specific intention.

  • Allow ten to fifteen seconds of wait time after asking a question before requesting a student's response.

  • Encourage students to respond even if they are wrong.

  • Probe students' responses to help them clarify ideas, reasoning process, or expand on their thinking.

  • Do not make automatic assumptions that failure to answer the question is due to ignorance.

  • Make conscious efforts to ask higher cognitive order questions! Justifying, clarification, hypothetical questions and questions about questions are better in promoting higher order thinking skills.

  • Use redirected questions that address the same question to several students and distribute responsibility. This technique shifts the focus from teacher-student interactions to student-student interactions.

  • During questioning use fewer questions that begin with what, when, where, who and which and more questions that ask why, how, suppose, justify, defend and elaborate.


What should teachers do when students fail to answer any questions?

  • Ask if the question is clear to them.

  • Ask if they want you to rephrase the question.

  • Ask which part of the question they do not understand.

  • Ask if the question is too difficult.


What should teachers do when a student's response is incorrect?

  • Provide the opportunity for revisions by not responding immediately, thus allowing the student time to come up with another answer.

  • Ask subsequent questions in a manner that contains clues to the first question leading the student to the correct answer.

  • Re-frame the question so that the wrong answer becomes correct.

  • Treat the wrong answer as plausible but in need of further elaboration and consideration.

  • Declare perplexity over the response, i.e. "Tell us more."


What are the benefits of extending 'wait time'?

For students:

  • More meaningful answers

  • Improved accuracy

  • Improved length

  • Fewer 'no answers'


For teachers:

  • Higher order questions

  • Precise formulation of questions

  • Varied and flexible questions

  • Convey teacher's attentiveness


In conclusion, teachers who plan specific questions before the lesson are more successful at providing questions that elicit higher level thinking from their students. Good questioning is a major determinant of the success of instruction reflected in higher levels of student achievement. All it takes is thoughtful planning of questions that encourage students to engage in critical thinking.

Resources:
Bacon, Tim. Asking effective questions: a collaborative problem solving technique. ThoughtWorks Inc, UK. http://www.primeeight.co/AskingEffectiveQuestions.AgileTimes.pdf

Cotton, Kathleen (2001). Classroom Questioning. School Improvement Research Series, Close-Up # 5. http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/3/cu5.html

McComas, W.F. & Abraham, L. Asking More Effective Questions.
Rossier School of Education. http://www.usc.edu/program/cet/private/pdfs/usc/Asking_Better_Questions.pdf