Teaching strategies/skills Questioning Susie Fawcett

What is the purpose of questioning in physical education lessons? Check on prior knowledge and understanding To stimulate recall, mobilising existing knowledge and experience in order to create new understanding and meaning To promote pupils’ thinking about the way they have learnt As a management tactic Diagnose learning difficulties Develop children’s cognitive skills Interest, engage, challenge pupils

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Questioning (cognitive development) Low in cognitive demand-knowledge questions (closed) Intermediate cognitive demand-comprehension and application (open) High cognitive demand-analysis, synthesis and evaluation (open)

Sequencing of questions Sequencing or combining questions must be planned with particular objectives in mind The sequence must be logical and ideas linked Start with low order questions to remind pupils of certain facts Then encourage them to apply their facts to particular problems (high order questions)

Brown and Wragg ‘if we want to ask questions which get children to think, then we’ve got to think ourselves about questions we are going to ask them.’

How can teachers produce effective questions? IDEA approach to questioning (Brown and Wragg 1993) I- Identify the key questions in relation to lesson objectives D- Decide on the level and order (timing) of the questions E- Extend the questioning. A- Analyse the answers that you are likely to receive and the responses you might give

What are the tactics and skills of producing a good question? Clarity- questions should not be vague and unclear Brief- Pupils have difficulty understanding long questions Appropriate language Well-planned

The skill of effective questioning Ensure the whole class can hear the question and the answer Planned distribution Develop rules and routines for answering questions Give pupils time to think of the answer (3-5 seconds, chat with partner, activity before answering). Appropriate handling of pupil responses

How do we respond to inappropriate or incorrect answers? Listen carefully to the pupil answer so you can fully understand what they are saying Try not to answer the question yourself Prompt or probe follow up question to direct the pupil to a more accurate or precise answer Be positive to pupils attempts and provide a safe environment However you must ensure you correct answers

Most common questioning errors Not looking at pupils they are questioning Speak too fast Lack of clarity of speech Questions too complex, lengthy Vocabulary beyond understanding of pupils Disjointed Not providing adequate wait time for pupils to think (Rowe 1986)

Wait time Rowe (1986) Wait about 3 seconds Encourages longer answers Greater number and variety of responses More risk taking when answering

Strategies to give pupils time to think Collaboration before answering Writing the key open (big understanding) questions on the board or resource card at the start of the lesson Question-activity-answer

Recommendations Plan questions in lesson plan with a number of correct answers alongside Think carefully about strategies you will use to enable pupils to think about answers Ensure pupils can hear both question and answer Develop rules and routines to avoid calling out Observe experienced teachers Request mentor to provide specific feedback on how your questioning technique could be improved

Helping pupils develop their own ability to raise questions Being able to raise questions to explore a problem or to find an answer is a key learning skill.