By Josh Hagler, Quinn Johnson, Matt Lehman and Kristen Wellman Questioning By Josh Hagler, Quinn Johnson, Matt Lehman and Kristen Wellman

Why Use Questioning? Questions can be used to help students move between what is commonly referred to as higher and lower order thinking. Also as an attempt to encourage student participation and investment in learning.

Why Use Questioning? Continued Help teacher check for student understanding (in the form of a test or quiz for example) Help teacher reflect on effectiveness of a lesson Help create an open and inviting atmosphere Encourage self monitoring of behavior Manage the pace or direction of class

When to Use Questioning Questioning is a very useful activity for a social studies classroom where the material often has subjective aspects. It can be used to review simple facts such as dates and names, or it can also be used to prompt students to engage in critical thinking and higher level answers. Also, questioning is useful for getting students to be more actively involved with the subject material.

Aspects of the Classroom to Consider Though questioning has many uses in the classroom, it is important to consider if high or low level questions are used. Depending on whether the goal is to review basic facts or get students to use these facts to formulate more critical response will determine what kind of questions should be used. Bloom's taxonomy can be used as an outline for the different levels of questioning, and what kind of questions are appropriate for a given lesson.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Knowledge ? recall information Comprehension ? understand ideas Application ? use ideas Analysis ? see relationships Synthesis ? combine ideas Evaluation ? make judgments

Types of Questions Questions can be thought of as lower or higher order in terms of what kind of answer they are trying to elicit. Convergent questions have few possible answers and are lower order questions. Divergent questions however require more thought and encourage broader answers and are thus higher order question. Teachers do not have to only use lower order as a stepping stone to higher order. Low order questions are useful for reviewing and focusing student's thoughts.

When Questioning is Not Appropriate Besides asking inappropriate leveled questions, questioning can also be wrong for certain student compositions in a classroom. Class with many ELS students may have difficulty formulating higher level responses, particularly when questioning is done orally. Depending on how mature and vocal a class is can also affect the effectiveness of questioning and what kind of response a teacher can expect.

How Questioning Should Be Implemented Even though the teacher will ask the most questions, they should also encourage student questions. Use the proper WAIT TIME!! Create an atmosphere of participation. Respect student responses, by responding properly.

How Questioning Can Be Misused Poor questions Teacher creates a negative atmosphere through their response to questions. Participation is one-sided Teacher talks to much

The End Any Questions???