Effective questioning techniques.

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Effective questioning techniques.

• Ann Nelson

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What is the purpose of questioning?

• To check on prior knowledge
• To focus thinking on key concepts and issues
• To interest, engage and challenge

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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I dont know.

• Do not accept I dont 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.

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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!!

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Blooms Six levels of thinking/questioning.

• Knowledge.
• Comprehension.
• Application.
• Analysis.
• Synthesis.
• Evaluation.

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Knowledge

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Evaluation

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

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So what do we mean by CHALLENGE?
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.