Rebekah Linton EDM 310: Blog Assignment #4

Outline

In this post, we were asked to do research about the question above. I used my research to explain the importance of questions and a few guidelines to follow when creating questions. I wrote that it is important to plan the questions we should ask, come up with different styles that invoke deeper thinking, and keep the questions we create. I have included a few sources at the bottom that can be helpful, including one that I didn't use in this post.

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

In order to be an effective teacher, it is important that we ask questions that will provoke critical thinking and problem solving skills. It is not enough to ask close-ended questions that merely require a yes or no answer because that doesn't get students engaged in the lesson. We want students to really think about the topic we are covering so that they can improve their learning and understanding. I have found some guidelines from my research about questions that I think could be very useful.

First of all, it is vital that we plan out what questions we are going to ask and when. Maryellen Weimer wrote "When you write out a question, you can make it clearer"(Three Ways to Ask Better Questions). Often times, instructors will ask questions that students don't understand which results in a silent classroom and time wasted. Planning ahead can help to make sure that instructors are asking questions that will improve understanding of the material and could even result in students participating in class discussion. Instead of just asking a random mix of questions that are unclear or close-ended, we can ask thought-provoking questions that will get the students truly engaged.

Secondly, it is important to come up with a mix of questions that will result in critical thinking. Students won't get anything out of the lesson if the instructor only asks yes or no questions. In the video Questioning Styles and Strategies, Dr. Harvey Silver gives examples of different questioning styles that accompany different learning styles. Each questioning style furthers the students' understanding of the material and keeps them engaged. He also uses a random pattern to call on students and asks questions about their answers that forces them to think more about their answers. These two techniques help to engage students and get every student to answer rather than a select few.

If a teacher has good questions, but notices that his or her students are responding with short, simple answers, there are some techniques that he or she can employ to make them more open-ended. Andi Stix gives teachers a few ideas to enhance their questions. By adding "for what reasons", "in what ways", "describe in details", "explain", and "generate a list of" to the beginning of the questions, instructors can create a deeper meaning to them. For example, Stix asked "For what reasons did the American Revolution begin?" (Open Ended Questions). This helps students think of the various reasons the American Revolution began and to really dig inside their brains rather than just asking "why?".

Finally, instructors should keep the questions that they ask that seem to be the best or most thought provoking. This can be useful in the future so that they can tweak the questions to make them even better. Old questions can also be used as guidelines for future questions or can be referenced back to for class discussions. Teachers can also pass those questions along to other teachers who may need ideas for ways to create more critical thinkers.

These guidelines can really help instructors and future educators to really think about the importance of questions. Questions guide the discussion and enhance the material.In order to create critical thinkers and problem solvers, teachers have to ask questions that guide that type of thinking. Hopefully, students will begin to ask instructors more thought provoking questions.