Questioning: Consider the following statements The majority of questions asked during lessons are: Asked by teachers Answered by teachers Are closed questions For review and to assess understanding, rather than to challenge thinking and develop understanding. What is your experience?

Pitfalls of questioning asking too many closed questions; asking pupils questions to which they can respond with a simple yes or no answer; asking too many short-answer, recall-based questions; asking bogus ‘guess what I’m thinking’ questions; starting all questions with the same stem; It is easy to fall into the trap of:

Pitfalls of questioning dealing ineffectively with incorrect answers or misconceptions; focusing on a small number of pupils and not involving the whole class; not giving pupils time to reflect, or to pose their own questions; asking questions when another strategy might be more appropriate.

The purpose of questioning To promote reasoning, problem solving evaluation and the formation of hypotheses To lead pupils through a planned sequence To promote pupils thinking about the way they have learned. The purpose of questioning Interest, engage and challenge pupils Check prior knowledge To extend thinking from the concrete and factual to the analytical and evaluative To focus thinking on key concepts and issues To build on prior knowledge in order to create new understanding and meaning

Effective questioning reinforces and revisits the learning objectives; includes ‘staging’ questions; involves all pupils; engages pupils in thinking for themselves; promotes justification and reasoning; creates an atmosphere of trust;

Effective questioning shows connections between previous and new learning; encourages pupils to speculate and hypothesize; encourages pupils to ask as questions; encourages pupils to listen and respond to each other as well as to the teacher. Includes ‘wait time’

Alternatives to questioning Invite pupils to elaborate. Speculate about the subject Make a suggestion. Offer extra information Reinforce useful suggestions. Clarify ideas Echo comments. Non- verbal intervention.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Knowledge Low order skills Comprehension. Application. Middle order skills Analysis High order skills Synthesis Evaluation

Retention rates Lecture – 5% Reading -10% Audio – visual -20% Demonstrating – 30% Discussion-50% Practice by doing – 75% Teaching others – 90% Source: National Training Laboratories, Bethel, Maine