Effective questioning techniques.

1. Effective questioning techniques. Ann Nelson

2. What is the purpose of questioning? • To check on prior knowledge • To focus thinking on key concepts and issues • To interest, engage and challenge

3. Did you know? TES article Steven Hastings • Teachers ask up to two questions every minute, 400 in a day, 70,000 in a year, about 2 million in the course of a career • Questioning accounts for up to a third of all teaching time; second only to the time given to explanation • Most questions are answered in less than a second; that is the average time teachers allow between posing a question and accepting an answer, throwing it to someone else, or answering it themselves.

4. Ask first! • When you call on a pupil BEFORE asking the question, the rest of the class is much less likely to listen to the question, let alone think about an answer. • Asking the question before identifying someone to respond lets pupils know they will be held accountable and should be prepared to answer every question.

5. Think time • Allow plenty of “think time” by waiting at least 7-10 secs before expecting pupils to respond. • Ask pupils not to respond until you ask for a volunteer or identify someone. • Since most teachers wait only 1-3 secs before expecting a response, the increased waiting time can seem like an eternity and very uncomfortable at first. • To help pupils adjust to an extended wait time, use the time to repeat and rephrase the question; also suggest that pupils may like to use the time to write down their responses.

6. Give everyone a chance to answer. • Create a system to help you keep track of who you call on, so you can ensure that all pupils have the same opportunity to contribute. • If you call on a pupil who is not ready to respond or who does not know the answer, allow the pupil to “pass” and then give him/her another opportunity later.

7. Never answer your own questions! • Hold pupils accountable by expecting, requiring, and encouraging their participation. • If the pupils know that you will give them the answers after a few seconds of silence, what is their incentive to “have a go”?

8. “I don’t know”. • Do not accept “I don’t know” for an answer. • Allow additional think time, if necessary, by moving on and then coming back to the pupil for a response later. • Offer hints to guide pupils to formulating quality responses. • If a pupil is unable to give a response, offer two or more options and let the student choose one.

9. Learning from their mistakes. • Always “dignify” incorrect responses by saying something positive about pupils’ efforts; public embarrassment only confirms their worries about class participation. • When pupils make mistakes, build their confidence and trust by asking follow-up questions designed to help them self-correct and achieve success. • Let pupils know that it is OK to make mistakes!!

10. Bloom’s Six levels of thinking/questioning. • Knowledge. • Comprehension. • Application. • Analysis. • Synthesis. • Evaluation.

11. Knowledge • Is simply recall. Pupils can say that they ‘know’ something if they can recall it, recite it, or write it down.

12. Comprehension • Means that pupils can say what they ‘know’ in their own words. • Retelling a story, stating the main idea, or translating from another language are ways in which pupils can show that they ‘comprehend’ or understand what they have learned.

13. Application • Means that pupils can apply what they have learned from one context to another. • For example they could apply what they have learned in Maths about how to calculate area, to working out the cost of a carpet.

14. Analysis • Means that a pupil can understand the attributes of something so that its component parts can be studied separately and in relation to one another. • Experience in analysis can be gained from asking pupils to compare/contrast, categorize, recognise inferences, opinions, or motives.

15. Synthesis • Requires pupils to create a novel or original thought, idea, or product. • Everything we call ‘creative thinking’ gives pupils experience with synthesis. • If pupils can take bits from several theories or combine ideas from different sources to create an original idea, they are working at synthesis level.

16. Evaluation • Gives pupils opportunities to make judgements about what they have analysed.

17. Aspects of Challenge • Challenge needs to be realistic. • Challenge needs to be free from anxiety. • Mistakes are accepted as an important part of learning. • Effective learners take risks. • Challenge is a prerequisite of learning.

18. Aspects of Challenge • Getting the level of challenge right is crucial. • The more stimulating the challenge, the higher the tolerance of frustration during learning. • Support should encourage independence in the learner and success depends on receiving support when needed.

19. Increasing the level of challenge • Increase pace. • Encourage pupils to be more independent. • Increase high order questioning. • Widen the range of sources used by pupils. • Demand more precision in language. • Expect pupils to justify answers. • Provide open-ended problem solving tasks. • Provide opportunities to apply new ideas. • Encourage self and peer review.

20. Making challenging tasks achievable. • Encourage risk taking. • Use targets and goals based on prior attainment. • Set high expectations. • Praise success and effort. • Use rewards to build ‘learning stamina’ • Break tasks down into small achievable steps. • Intervene early if needed. • Provide lots of feedback.