1. Ask only one question at a time

A series of questions tends to confuse students who will wonder what your question is. Give students time to think and wait for a response. Silence is okay. Be patient. Try your best not to answer your question yourself. Repeat it, rephrase it, modify it to ensure understanding. (Be careful in rephrasing your questions—not to confuse your students!) Show that you are expecting an answer!

2. Use a variety of probing and explaining questions

Questioning is one of the most common activities in both large group and small group learning. Questions may be used for a variety of purposes. There are at least 6 common types of questions you may encounter in learning situations. Use them variably in your teaching and avoid using yes/no questions. Ask questions that urge students to synthesize, evaluate, criticize or summarize.

Rhetorical questions

The speaker uses a pattern of question, pause, response & usually with rising intonation, to focus the listener’s attention on the information to be presented. No answer is expected from the audience.

For example:

• "Is that all we need to know?" (a pause) "Of course not. We also need to find out..."

Clarifying questions

Often these are used to make sure that a person understands what the other has said.

For example:

• "Do you mean that this is the same kind of problem that we faced at the last tutorial?"
• "I’m not very clear about your question. Is it something related to...?"

Confirming questions

When one speaker thinks s/he understands what another one has said but is not certain, a confirming question may be used.

For example:

• "So, if I miss the test, there won’t be any makeup exam and I will just fail, huh?"
• "So you are asking ...." (The TA rewords what s/he thinks the question is.)

Information-seeking questions

This type of question is used to elicit information from others. It can further be divided into the followings:

a. Recall questions

Used to determine what information has not been forgotten. Usually one correct answer is expected.

For example:

• "What is the formula for water?"

b. Descriptive or comparative questions

Faced with this type of question, the respondent has to organize the data s/he has gathered, compare and contrast aspects of it.

For example:

• "How does poetry writing in the early Tang dynasty differ from that of the Sung dynasty?"

Questions to stimulate thinking

These questions are used to stimulate different kinds of thinking. They are particularly useful in achieving specific teaching goals. Several types of questions are involved.

a. Explanatory questions

This kind of question involves a search for reasons behind actions, events or outcomes and an analysis of the reasons so that an explanation can be given.

For example:

• "Why is it important to check ... first before we proceed to ... in this experiment?"

b. Synthesizing or summarizing questions

The respondent has to recall some unrelated ideas, knowledge or features, formulate and/or identify their relationships and come up with a conclusion.

For example:

• "What principle will account of all these phenomena?"

c. Questions of judgment

The respondent has to decide which of the two or more alternatives is the best according to clearly specified criteria. S/he has to evaluate the quality of a relationship or conclusion.

For example:

• "Which of the following strategic planning models would most likely be applied in organization A to achieve its set mission?"

Open-ended questions

This type of question aims to generate divergent thinking and creative answers based on possible predictions.

For example:

• "If you were the Governor of Hong Kong, what would you do to introduce democracy to the mass? Where would you begin?"

 

3. Recognize answers and build on student’s response

Acknowledge students’ contributions to answers, though the answer may not be the desirable one. You can rephrase the answer to provide further hints for thinking or point out what is missing in the answer. Never joke on students’ answers or comment them in a sarcastic manner. Praise the student in a strong positive way for a correct or positive response. Say "thank you" to students.

Address question to the group first

Questions that are directed at a particular person should be used only after allowing a long pause for a reply. Direct questions to a student might put the student in an awkward position. Help students to step down, if needed and divert the question the others.

Further Readings

1. Davis, B. G., "Asking questions" in Tools for teaching, San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers, 1993, pp.82-90.
2. Stafford, K., "Asking questions" in Teaching Ideas, Professional Development Unit, ETC, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.
3. "Asking questions in class" in Teaching-Learning Tips, Instructional Development Unit, ETC, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, 1993.

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