TEACHING�IDEAS�GALLERY Issue 2
October, 2010
M any of us are probably very familiar with the long silences that can ensue when asking our students questions in class. How many of us no longer prioritize asking questions as a result? Even though students often appear reluctant to ask and answer questions, it doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate the opportunity to do so. In this month’s issue we look at: Why questioning is an essential part of the learning experience both in and out of the classroom The reasons students give for their reluctance to ask and answer questions Ways to create a positive classroom atmosphere Effective strategies we can adopt to encourage our students to ask and answer questions The types of questions we should ask
Why it is important for students to ask questions It is the first skill to problem solving. It provides good practice for conducting research. It is an approach to gaining knowledge.
"When students are encouraged to ask good questions, their ability to understand and remember material is enhanced."
It encourages students to be self-motivated learners.
Palinscar and Brown, 1984
Why it is important for teachers to ask questions • It helps keep students actively involved in the
class/lecture.
• It enables other students to hear different explanations
of the material by their peers.
• If teachers ask the right questions that encourage critical
thinking skills they get students thinking about the important concepts and help them go beyond memorization to deeper learning and understanding.
• It allows students to openly express their ideas and
thoughts.
• It provides teachers with immediate feedback on how
much their students have learnt and provides them with opportunities to fill in the knowledge gaps and revise their lessons as necessary.
"Asking a question is the simplest way of focusing thinking … asking the right question may be the most important part of thinking." Edward de Bono
Why the reluctance to ask and answer questions? B eing aware of some of the reasons why students tend not to engage in asking and answering questions enables teachers to adopt suitable strategies that will encourage more active participation. In discussion with CityU students the following reasons were given for their tendency to keep silent. • Feel shy/nervous/scared about answering or asking
questions in front of their classmates.
• Find it difficult to express what they want to say in
English.
• Don’t want to risk losing face.
• Need more time to answer a question than their teacher
gives them.
• Don’t want to waste the teacher’s and/or students’ time
by asking a question.
• Don’t want to appear to be showing off in front of their
classmates.
• Don’t want to appear ‘stupid’ by not getting the right answer. • Not interested in the subject matter. • Were not encouraged to ask questions at school.
Ways to create a positive and relaxed atmosphere T he main reason CityU students give for not asking or answering questions in front of their peers is their lack of confidence and shyness. A teacher cannot encourage questions solely by standing at the front of the class and asking ‘Do you have any questions?’. Therefore creating a positive and safe classroom atmosphere is one of the first steps to encouraging more active participation and a ‘question-asking environment’.
M ake sure that students know each other by doing getting to know you activities (See Issue 1 for tips on ‘Getting to know one another’). H ave students interact with one another from the start of your course.
O rganise students to work in small groups. I n the classrooms move the chairs into small circles or a horseshoe shape, so everyone can see one another, rather than have students sit in rows, where they can be isolated or only get to see the back of their classmates’ heads. G ive students positive feedback when they ask or answer a question, for example, ‘Good question’ or ‘Well done’. Tactfully correct wrong answers and show that you value all questions and students’ attempts to give an answer.
L earn your students’ names and use them when asking or answering a question (See Issue 1 for tips on ‘Learning your students’ names’).
M ove around in a large lecture theatre rather than just standing at the front asking and answering questions so that you can include all the students even those at the back. Your proximity may draw a hesitant student into discussion.
What type of questions should we ask? U se a variety of questions. A void Yes/No questions that only have one answer. A void leading questions. F ormulate questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) to encourage critical thinking. Knowledge level questions (Who, What, Where, How ... ?)
Comprehension questions (What was the main idea? Can you provide an example of what you mean?)
Application questions (What evidence can you give for ... ? What factors would you change if ... ? Do you know another instance where ... ?)
Analysis questions (What are the parts or features of ... ? How does ... compare with ... ? What are some of the problems of ... ?)
Synthesis questions (What ideas can you add to ... ? How would you create/design a new ... ? Can you see a possible solution to ...?)
Evaluation questions (What changes to ... would you make? How effective is ... ?)
U se the Socratic Questioning approach in
which teachers do not give the information directly but engage students in discussion by asking a series of thoughtful questions. Questions of clarification (How does this relate to ... ? What is your main point?)
Questions that probe assumptions (What are you assuming? What would happen if ... ?)
Questions that probe reasons and evidence (Why is that happening? Are there any other reasons?)
Questions of viewpoints and perspectives (What is an alternative? What would someone who disagrees say?)
Questions that probe implications and consequences (What are the implications of ... ? How does ... effect ... ?)
Questions about the questions (How important is this question? To answer this question, what questions would we have to answer first?)
Teachers can encourage students to come up with their own questions by focusing on each of the Socratic Question types.
If you have any teaching tips or any comments on encouraging students to ask and answer questions, please post them on the Teaching Ideas Gallery site
http://go.cityu.hk/gallery
Strategies to encourage active participation In Class D iscuss
with your students the reasons why asking questions are so important to their learning early on in the course so they are aware of the value and how it can help enhance their learning.
Protecting Anonymity A t some point in your lecture/class give out small pieces of paper and ask students to write down a question relating to their class. The papers are then continuously passed around the room for 10 seconds by which time no one knows who wrote which question. The questions can then be read out to the whole class for students to answer. The teacher can then collect in all the papers to deal with any unanswered questions either online or in the next class. One-Minute Paper What is the main unanswered question you have about today’s class? What was the most important thing you learnt in the lesson today?
Time and Clarity G ive
students sufficient thinking time to formulate an answer. Wait for at least 10 seconds or more, depending on your questions. Don’t be embarrassed by the silence. The more time students are given the more likely they will respond.
A sk one question at a time, rather than two or three, so as not to confuse students. P hrase
questions clearly and grade the language in questions so students can understand.
T o help visual learners, put your questions on a power point slide or write them up on the whiteboard.
Groups and Pairs U se the Think-Pair-Share technique. Ask a question to the whole class and allow students to think about the answer individually first, then with a partner and then to share it with the class. To give students time to articulate a response ask them to write down their answer to a particular question before they share it.
D irect questions to small groups
or pairs of students rather than individuals. Ask each group or pair to present at least 1 – 2 questions. This gives them practice with formatting questions and asking them but takes away the pressure because they are part of a group.
H and
out the One-Minute papers and ask students to fill them in. There is no need for them to write their name. Collect all the papers in and either respond to the questions at the beginning of the next lecture/class or online in a wiki or discussion board. This technique encourages students to review their notes and to think about their lesson.
Random Selection A sk your question before asking a particular student to answer it. This way everyone is thinking about the answer instead of relaxing and thinking they don't have to be responsible for answering. At
the beginning of each semester, distribute one playing card to each student in the class.
A
A
A
A A
A A
A
Ask the students to write the name of the course on the back of the card, and their ‘classroom name’ (i.e., the name they want to be addressed by) on the front. Collect the cards and explain that you will use the cards as a ‘lucky draw’ system to put students into discussion groups and/or to decide who should answer the questions that you ask the whole class. It's useful to offer the students the opportunity to say ‘pass’ on occasion, if they're genuinely unable to answer. This random method of selecting students helps to keep all members of the class on their toes, and always seems to reduce embarrassment and reluctance to speak up. The cards can also be used to nominate which student[s] should ask you questions, for example at the end of a lecture or after an in-depth reading of a text..
Strategies to encourage active participation Out of Class When you assign your students an assignment or homework task ask them to prepare 2 – 3 questions they had while they were doing the given task. Then in your following class have students share their questions in small groups or as a whole, depending on the size of the class. This will help stimulate discussion and allow the teacher to fill in gaps the students had with the assignment.
Test/Survey Tool
E-Learning
Discussion Board and Wiki
Students often prefer and feel less inhibited about asking and answering questions, if they can do it online, because it enables them to ask and answer questions in their own time in a less threatening way.
At the end of your class ask students to submit a question or comment via either the Test or Survey tool. You can then either: Direct some of the questions to the discussion board for students to answer individually, in pairs or in groups. Select the most relevant issues to deal with in class.
Post a question on your discussion board or wiki and ask all your students to answer it. Students then read each others’ and make comments. You can decide when to enter into the discussion. Questions and answers that are posted online can be graded as part of the students’ assessment or an incentive, such as a participation mark, can be given, which contributes to the final grade.
Inviting ideas Dear Teachers, As we are now preparing for the third issue of the Teaching Ideas Gallery, we'd like to receive your ideas. A survey was conducted earlier this year with 500 CityU students to find out what they believe helps enhance their learning. One frequently mentioned approach was the use of relevant multi-media, especially short video clips, in their classes. So, in the next issue, we'd like to explore using multimedia materials (e.g. videos, drawings, cartoons) to engage students in class. If you use any of these and want to share your ideas with other teachers at CityU, please contact Penny Akers at elpakers@cityu.edu.hk Editorial Team
Many thanks to the following teachers who contributed ideas: Stephen Bolton (ELC) Clara Chan (CTL) Dean Fisher (ELC) Annis Fung (SS) David Jaffee (EDGE) Julie Mo (BST) David Randall (EDGE) David Santandreu Calonge (EDGE) Lilian Vrijmoed (BCH)
Editorial Team: Chief Editor: Editor: Assistant Editor: Graphic Designer: Programmer:
Penny Akers (ELC) Hokling Cheung (EDGE) Josephine Chen (EDGE) Anthony Wong (EDGE) Vicky Chan (EDGE)
References Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm
Types of Questions
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teac htip/questype.htm
Using Socratic Questioning
http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/socratic/
Socratic Questioning Techniques
http://www.harrison.k12.ms.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=gyVCgxoaEn w%3D&tabid=173&mid=1494
How College Faculty Should Ask Their Students Questions http://collegeteachingtips.com/?p=169
Asking Questions to Improve Learning
http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/asking-questions-improve-learning
TA Tips: Asking Questions
http://learningandteaching.dal.ca/aqh.html