Question asking is an imperative part of the learning process. We don't just answer questions but need to devise questions to ask that are relevant and meaningful to the discussion and the course as a whole. Moreover, the way you ask, listen to and respond to student questions provides a model, in turn, for students to emulate. Students need to learn how to ask questions to learn how to learn, to learn how to be critical and engage analytically with the material they are studying. Good modeling results not only in better class discussion, but also in better learners.

Have you ever thought about how you ask questions, or is it something you've done through osmosis/trial and error? What processes of question asking do you engage in, in your classroom? If you are unsure about how you go about asking questions of your students how can you except them to ask questions themselves? Thinking about what kinds of questions yuo ask and why, will help to improve the questions asked and the responses we receive.

KINDS OF QUESTIONS TO ASK

1. Ask different levels of questions (See Blooms Taxonomy distributed at the workshop).
2. Ask questions that require extended responses rather than yes/no answers.
3. Ask open-ended not closed-ended questions.
4. Ask divergent (many correct answers or even unknown answers) as well as convergent (single or limited number of response) questions. Teachers tend to ask convergent questions 5 times as often as divergent questions, but both are valuable.
5. Ask questions that have an educative component. The student will learn from attempting to answer it and the teacher will learn about the student from the attempt.

WHY ASK QUESTIONS?

1. Gain information from students to diagnose their understanding and evaluate their performance.
2. Identify students' interests and backgrounds.
3. Lead students to consider new ideas and make use of ideas already learned.
4. Assess the knowledge students bring to the class so lessons can be made to meet their needs.
5. Help students clarify their ideas and thought processes.
6. Provide motivation by encouraging students to actively participate in learning.
7. Encourage students to ask their own questions.
8. Provide a means for stimulating class discussion.
9. Challenge beliefs and guide reconsideration of values students hold.
10. The teacher can assess the effectiveness of his/her own teaching.
11. Develop rapport with students.
12. Get a student having difficulties back on task.
13. Revise information from a previous session.
14. Provide a springboard for discussion.

HOW TO ELICIT RESPONSES

1. Wait at least 20-30 seconds for responses. Silence is acceptable in a classroom to allow students time to think about the question and their response. The more time you give students to think the higher level answers you will receive. There will be increased student participation, more student-student interaction, and more students responding. Responses that are fast are not necessarily the best, don't establish an environment where the fastest student always gets to speak. Wait for further hands and ask them, or if no other hands appear encourage the class to give the fast student a rest. You can tape record your class and time your silences as a test to see how long you wait for responses.
2. Ask clearly worded questions and speak clearly when you ask them.
3. Only ask one question at a time.
4. Rephrase a question only after the wait time.
5. Don't answer your own questions.
6. Call on a student directly by name (this means you have to know students' names). This is a controversial method. Some teachers prefer not to put students on the spot, some prepare students that they are going to ask them to respond to direct questions so they must be prepared to answer by doing the readings. Allowing some students to remain silent throughout the term means that some students become dominant further silencing other students. However, some teachers prefer to respect a student's decision to remain silent.
7. Ask the 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 this question.

HOW TO RESPOND TO STUDENT RESPONSES

1. Ask students to comment on a student's response rather than responding immediately yourself.
2. Sometimes students' answers will not be fully formed. Clarify what the student has said by repeating, rephrasing or writing on the board. Ask the student for clarification. Help them to develop their response rather than filling in the gaps for them. Ask, 'tell me more about that' 'what do you mean by.....' 'why do you think that....' 'could you clarify that further....' 'please repeat' 'I don't understand what you mean by ....'
3. Ask students if they've understood a response, or do they need further clarification.
4. There are NO stupid questions - don't treat students questions as stupid, and don't let students define their questions as stupid either.
5. Engage in active listening. Don't use the time the student is talking to think about what you are going to say next, or the direction you want to take next or your next question. Listening and responding will provoke further discussion.
6. Listen to the subtext. What is the student saying/asking between the lines? Watch students' body language. Who is listening, who is not listening? Who wants to participate but is afraid to put up their hand?
7. Once a student has responded, find a way to enter into a discussion with the student, rather than asking another question right away.
8. Wrong answers. It is important not to ignore wrong answers, as students may leave class believing that a wrong answer is correct. If possible, alleviate the wrong answer response by telling the student where they were correct, or where they raised an interesting point. Then go on to tell them that other aspects of their responses were incorrect. In some cases, it is necessary to simply tell the student that they are wrong.
9. Don't forget to praise good responses.