Questions and answers are essential components of teaching and learning. You will ask questions of your students and answer questions from them.

Asking a good question will help you motivate students' curiosity about the topic, and it will help you assess how well they understand the material.

There are two kinds of questions: closed and open.

Further guidelines for answering student questions
Points concerning questions addressed to the class

A closed question (sometimes called a "lower order" question) is usually used to check student comprehension. It requires a factual answer and allows little opportunity for dissent; e.g., "What does `x' equal in this equation?"; "Which of Henry VIII's wives survived him?" The answer will be either correct or incorrect.

An open or "higher order" question offers the students much more opportunity to speculate, draw inferences, extrapolate from data, or contribute their own opinions; e.g., "What do you think would happen if we reduced the temperature by 25 degrees?"; "Which of the two short stories provides the best description of adolescence?"

Open questions are frequently the springboards for lively class discussion. You might want to think of some possible answers to an open question before you ask it in class.

Answering student questions can be unnerving at first. If you do not know the answer, say so. It is better to be honest than to give an inaccurate answer which will have to be retracted later. Tell the students you will find out for them by next class; better still, invite the questioner to find the answer and report it at the next class.

1. Take a moment to think carefully before you respond to student questions.

2. Listen to the question carefully. It may indicate that the student is having difficulty with the material. You may wish to answer with another question until you discover where the student's misunderstanding begins.

3. If the question requires a very lengthy response or demonstrates that the questioner has missed some classes, you may wish to ask the student to stay behind after class or come to see you at another time to get the answer.

1. Ask only one question at a time.

2. Wait at least 15 seconds for a response.

3. If there is no answer, rephrase the question and ask it again. Asking a different question will confuse the students.