Questions

There is an old adage, "The only stupid question is the one left unasked". While I do agree that no question is particularly stupid, I do believe that some questions serve a more meaningful purpose than others. Developing, organizing, and asking students questions will be at the very core of an effective teacher’s lesson. Classrooms in which students do not feel that they are encouraged to ask or answer questions, will offer students little or no chance to deeper understand material. Even if higher order thinking questions are not being asked during lectures, questions will still remain a central component of any classroom’s evolution in a number of ways. For example, teachers will ask questions before teaching a lesson that prompt students to make predictions or connect new ideas to their existing knowledge, and afterward teachers may use test questions to assess students’ understanding. We teachers use questions everyday in the classroom with the intention of examining students’ understanding, recollection, and interest.

In making use of an assortment of text-based reading strategies, teachers will ask a variety of higher order thinking questions that will increase student participation and better develop their thinking skills. In the text it noted that a student’s ability to respond to a test question is not based solely on what the student knows about the information at that given time, but the student must also be able to bring into play a variety of skills in order to respond as it should be. For example, in a short answer test question, students must be able to summarize and identify the main points of a topic, all while showing understanding of the overall theme. Short answer questions are great, but if a student is not skilled at organizing and analyzing information, due to not having enough experience practicing in this activity in the classroom, they are less likely to record information effectively on an exam. Teachers ought to allow their students the time to practice essential skills such as these. Furthermore, teachers must give students more than enough time to respond to questions, and then be prepared to respond in any case.Questions should be asked frequently throughout every lesson to keep students’ attention and make learning the active process that it truly is.

 

While there ought to be many questions posed during a lesson, students should not be asked more than one question at a time, so as not to confuse and discourage them. Aside from merely asking questions with the purpose of assessing and promoting learning, teachers have got to enthusiastically use questions to motivate students towards learning in the first place. For instance, a personal question such as, “What do you think about the idea that your classmate just presented?” will persuade students to develop an individual standpoint, as well as promote a class discussion. Teachers should carefully develop meaningful, significant, interesting, individual, and challenging (but not too challenging) questions that will be asked during each lesson to arouse students’ involvement in learning and pose problems for them to consider. Regardless of the type of questions, teachers can rest assure that when students are being probed, they will ultimately understand information better and think more confidently and independently.