| Classroom Questioning Questioning Techniques: Questioning can be a very effective process assessment tool. It is often used in discussions, debriefings, conferences, interviews, or journal and learning log review. It gets students actively involved in the learning process by providing all students with opportunities to think about the process skills as they learn and use them. That is an essential element of teaching process skills. Effective questioning techniques are a key component in encouraging students to process what they have done and how they did it (metacognition). Questioning can be a very valuable part of the teaching-learning process. It enables both students and teachers to establish what is known, to use and extend from this knowledge, and then to develop new ideas. It is a cornerstone of inquiry and can be used to extend thinking skills, clarify understanding, gain feedback on teaching/learning processes, provide revision strategies, create a link between ideas, enhance curiosity, and provide students with a challenge. “Children learn best in a supportive, classroom environment where their contributions are valued.” (http://www.nexus.edu.au/teachstud/gat/painter.htm) But to create this type of environment, teachers must implement proper questioning strategies. Wait-time is very important for effective questioning. It is simply the silence that is created by the teacher after a question has been asked. The 3-10 seconds of silence allows for students to think about the question before the teacher calls on one of the students for an answer. Use of this strategy in a classroom setting has many benefits. It increases student involvement and interaction, which makes it easier to implement authentic assessment procedures. Student’s responses lengthen and they begin to listen to each other more effectively. Clarification, extension, justification, and on-task conversation also increases while failure to respond appropriately decreases. Students make their own inferences and start to question each other. Teachers also change. They become more flexible and listen to their students more carefully. They also learn right along with the students most of the time. The following was a handout that provides some simple lead-ins for proper questioning at the six different cognitive learning levels as established by Bloom et al. (1996). They are classified from low level (knowledge) to high level (evaluation) questioning. The higher levels are desirable and somewhat natural in an authentic assessment (reform) style classroom. |
| What's the Question? Asking good questions at the right time is an important process skill. This handout provides sample lead-ins forquestioning at all levels of knowledge. Asking questions at the higher levels--the application level and above-will encourage more productive and reflective thinking and processing. |
| I. Knowledge (elicit factual answers, recall, recognition) Who... What... Why... When... Where... How... How much... Which one... Recall . . . Describe... Define... Memorize... Select... Name... Point out... Label... Reproduce... List... 2. Comprehension (translate, interpret, extrapolate) Translate in your own words.., Slate in your own words... Select thc definition . . . What does this mean... State in one word.., This represents... Read the graph/table... What part doesn't fit... Locate . . . Give an example... What are they saying... Condense this paragraph ... What expectations are there... Explain what is meant by... Explain what is happening.., What restrictions would you... Indicate... Tell... Match ... Outline . . . Identify . . . Summarize . . . Translate . . |
| 3. Application (use in situations that are new, unfamiliar) Relate the day-to-day use of this concept... What is the use for.., Choose the statements that... How would you diagram... How would you chart... How would you use... Demonstrate how... That applies to... If... how... Illustrate... Show how... Identify... Construct... Explain... Apply... 4. Analysis (break down into parts, relate parts to the whole) Compare the... (comparing) From the discussion, what can you infer about the... (inferring) How can you arrange the... (sequencing) What characteristics made you think this was... (distinguishing) How will you categorize these.., (investigating) How can you arrange... (classifying) What do you think caused... (determining cause and effect) Arrange in-groups... (grouping) What other things can you think of with qualities/processes similar to ... (making analogies) What can you do to test your.., (experimenting) How are these different from or similar to... (contrasting) How can you arrange... (organizing) How can you go about.., (planning) What data are we going to need to ... (analyzing) |
| 5. Synthesis (combine elements into a pattern not clearly there before) What can you say about all... (generalizing) What will happen if... (relating/forecasting) Imagine if... (hypothesizing) Is there a way you can think of... (designing) How would you test... (forecasting/inferring) Propose an alternative... (formulating) How else would you... (predicting/imagining) Given the supplies on this table, devise a... (Inventing) 6. Evaluation (judge according to some set of criteria and state why) Which of these two is the... (judging/ deciding) What other examples meet the stated criteria... (verifying) How can you prove... (verifying) How would you critique this... (rating) What value do you see in... (disputing/ defending) Can you find the errors in... (critiquing/ assessing) What inconsistencies appear... (appraising) Which is more valid/ important/appropriate/ logical . . . (appraising,/ choosing) |
| * Handout from Alternative Assessment Resource Guide Another important aspect of questioning in a reform style classroom is that of using open-ended questioning. The opposite is closed questioning, which is a process that asks questions in a situation where teachers want something that they do not have. These questions do not offer a student to use inquiry in arriving at the solution that the teacher is looking for. Closed questioning, often called convergent questioning, are usually yes and no style. They can also be used to recall information that is usually memorized, which is not always bad. This type o questioning just doesn’t allow for student thinking. It is ideal for teacher centered learning environments. Open-ended questions, or divergent questions, offer inquiry. Student responses do not usually signal closure and are very likely to stimulate further inquiry from classmates and elicit longer student responses. Open-ended questions also promote open-mindedness and invite students to think more. They should be appropriate to the context to allow for students to build on prior knowledge and experience. Most importantly, open-ended questioning allows students make connections to real life applications. To implement this style of learning, teachers have to be flexible and get students involved in the planning process. If students feel as though they are important and involved in the learning process, they will become more involved in classroom procedure, activities, and discussions. This increased level of involvement creates a different style of learning in students. They create a better understanding for themselves of the context by making their own inferences and connecting past experiences and knowledge to the real world. All this is as essential part of any reform style classroom (learning) environment. The last questioning strategy that can be used is that of evaluative questioning. The only difference between this strategy and the divergent strategy is that the evaluative strategy has a built in set of evaluation criteria. It is usually asked in the form of why. When framing this type of question, it is important to emphasize the specific criteria on which students should base their judgements or responses. Responses are different from answers. Using the term “answer” implies the connotation of being final. We want responses in which students share ideas/inquiry. If we want answers, then we, as teachers, should ask convergent questions. But that is not the case is a reform style learning environment. Thus, teacher must change how they ask questions so that they create inquiry in their student’s responses. |