Effective Questioning NQT+1

Aims of this session… O To explore why we ask questions O To consider what type of questions we ask O To develop our understanding of what is effective questioning

What is Effective Questioning? And what is the purpose of it?

Facts O Questioning plays a critical role in the way teachers guide the class, engage students with the content of the lesson, encourage participation and foster understanding. O Questioning has deep implications on the way that students receive and process information presented and discussed in class. O Research has shown that typical teachers ask between questions per day; however quantity and quality are not the same. O There is both an art and science to the "asking of questions.".

Facts continued.. O Questioning is most effective when it allows pupils to become fully involved in the learning process. O While you are planning your lesson it is absolutely vital that you think about the types of questions you will be asking your pupils. O You also need to be clear on what the intended outcomes of your questions/answer session should be.

The purpose of questioning.. O to interest, engage and challenge pupils; O to check on prior knowledge and understanding; O to stimulate recall, mobilising existing knowledge and experience in order to create new understanding and meaning; O to focus pupils’ thinking on key concepts and issues; O to help pupils to extend their thinking from the concrete and factual to the analytical and evaluative; O to lead pupils through a planned sequence which progressively establishes key understandings; O to promote reasoning, problem solving, evaluation and the formulation of hypotheses; O to promote pupils’ thinking about the way they have learned

Classroom tactics… O Create a climate where pupils feel safe to make mistakes O Using a ‘no hands’ rule O Probing O Telling pupils the big question in advance O Building in waiting time O Allowing time for collaboration before answering O Placing a minimum requirement on the answer

Video O This video gives examples and discussion points of Blooms Taxonomy of questioning based on the underlying notion of "cognitive demand.” O How and when to use questions as an effective pedagogical tool O 005/asking_effective_questions.html 005/asking_effective_questions.html

Question 1 Which is the better show ‘X-Factor’ or ‘Strictly Come Dancing?’ What type of Question is this?

Question 1- Rephrased O In your group try to come up with a rephrased question that leads to a more in depth answer. 1.Summarize….. 2.Compare and Contrast 3.Add a why….

Examples O Is X-Factor better than Strictly? Or Is strictly better than X-Factor? Answers: Yes or No Could you answer the question if I say is X-Factor better than Strictly? Answers: Yes or No O Why is X-Factor better than strictly? Answers: open question have to give opinion

Open & Closed Questions O Most common reason for asking questions is to check pupils have learnt facts. -These require short sharp answers ‘Closed Questions’ These only have one correct answer, pupils are recalling information. Pupils either know the answer or not, no real thought is required. -This is a good way to recap prior-learning.

Open & Closed Questions O Open questions have several possible answers. These questions are used to develop understanding ‘Open Questions’ -These questions are more complexed than closed questions, they are designed to extend pupils’ understanding of a topic. To understand them the pupil has to think and manipulate information using knowledge, logic and imagination. - Open questions can not usually be answered quickly. Pupils need time to gather information, discuss ideas and plan answers.

O FACTUAL designed to establish knowledge of essential facts O What time did you set off? O How long did it take you to reach Grandma’s house? O At what point in your journey did you meet Mr Wolf? O CONVERGENT designed to dig deeper, gain greater insight probe beneath the surface designed to come to a common understanding O Did your mother often ask you to go Grandma’s house? O How did you feel when you first saw the wolf? O Did you immediately notice something different O about your grandma’s appearance? DIVERGENT designed to broaden the scope of the question to work outwards rather than inwards to elicit a range of different answers such questions can be imaginative and provocative Are all wolves like this? What would have happened if the woodcutter had got up late that morning? Should Grandma be allowed to continue to live alone in a wood where there are wolves with malign intent? EVALUATIVE designed to draw some more general conclusions from the incident - not just at an individual but a broader more conceptual one Has the time come to eradicate the wolf population? Girls need greater levels of protection and greater levels of parental supervision – than boys. Do you agree? How we can prevent further occurrences?

Choice…. O Learning tip…. O Give pupils a choice.

‘Blooms Taxonomy’ O What is this?

Questioning Techniques O What different ways could you set up questions/discussions in your classroom. O In groups try to come up with a variety of different techniques. O Think about all types of learners, visual, auditory

Say what you see..

Say what you see…

Urbaniziation O Urbanization is the physical growth of urban areas which result in migration and even suburban concentration into cities, particularly the very large ones. O Urbanization is closely linked to modernisation, industrialisation and the sociological process of rationalization.

1. Visual Stimuli O Provide visual stimuli to support your question/answer sessions O Use photographs, drawings, prints and video clips as the bases for ‘entry’ or ‘starter’ tasks. Make use of animated clipart as visual clues for some of your questions; for example, if you were attempting to get the pupils to show their understanding of the term ‘urbanization’ you could start by displaying walking cartoon figures. Hopefully the pupils would be able to deduce from this image that urbanization involves the movement of people. The next animation you could display would be of a city with factories belching out smoke. With a little teasing you would be able to get the pupils to understand that urbanization involves people moving to urban areas to work in factories. At this point you could display the definition of urbanization in textual form. O The point about this strategy is that pupils will have already arrived at the answer before any text has been displayed.

Research (Wragg and Brown 2001) Suggests that lessons where the questioning is effective are likely to have the following characteristics O Questions are planned and closely linked to the lesson objectives O Open questions dominate O Closed question are used to check factual understanding O Sequences of questions are planned so that cognitive level increases as the questions go on O Pupils ask their own questions and seek their own answers. They are encouraged to provide feedback to each other O The classroom climate is one where pupils feel secure to take risks and make mistakes

Learning walk reflections O In your trios reflect upon the different techniques that you saw. What worked and why? O Use sheet A to support

Sharing of good practice O In your trios chose a couple of the techniques to share back to group

Planning… Chose one new technique for Questioning from your learning walks and plan for a lesson next week where you could apply this.

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