In my last blog I had discussed about the important skill a student needs to develop which is reading.Here I am going to share my thoughts on one of the effective strategy in teaching that is ‘Questioning’.
The art of questioning and powerful questioning methods dates back to Vedic ages, probably Mughal period and medieval periods too in the East, and to ages of Socrates in western culture. Socrates asked questions to his fellow Athenians in a dialectic method (the Socratic Method) which compelled the audience to think through a problem to a logical conclusion. Wherever used, questioning skills always leads a scholar to win over their opponents and to spread their ideologies and philosophies on a particular concept.
Their questioning patterns brought out the insight and deep knowledge they had. It also showcased the vast knowledge they had gained in their life time through education and experiences.
Questioning -Is it an art? Does questioning involve a bit of science?
I think it has both in the process. I believe ‘Questioning’ has lead to clarity and wisdom. It has challenged assumptions, exposed contradictions, has paved path for new knowledge and theories.
As teachers,licensed person who gets the authority to spread knowledge and expel darkness from young minds, don’t they need to train themselves to use this powerful tool efficiently?
For instance if I were to ask you at the end of this article,
Did you understand what is questioning skill?(I may get these replies )
Yes I understood,
Some what I understood
May be its important skill but still not clear.
There could be no response from few of you. You may not want to extend your replies more than the yes/no or just keep mum and wait for others to reply that.
Instead if I were to ask you…
Given that there are many ways to question students in class such as verbal/written/multiple choices or a subjective question, which questioning method would you prefer for your students and why?
The moment you read the above question…
- You will start processing in your mind and try to answer this by considering the age group of your learners, recalling your experiences in class, connect it with your peers experiences if they had shared it with you and many others factors.
- You will also think of your recent classes where you had tried any of these and you will start justifying which worked better for you.
- Your brain makes connections spontaneously without any external motivation to answer.
- You are self motivated to answer this because you link it to yourself and your experience.
The way I inquire should make you recall/Identify/classify/justify your replies.It should make you speak few more words than a simple chorus yes/no
This was just an example for close ended and open ended questioning.
There has to be methodical approach in questioning too. This technique can be arrived based on Bloom’s taxonomy verbs. Renowned educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom’s had researched in 20th century on the classification of learning objectives and created purposeful verbs that a teacher can use while making her lesson plans. These verbs would guide her to be clear and specific about the objective of a particular session.
The complexity of questions should move from lower order questions to higher order questions.Here is why I consider ‘Questioning skill’ also involves scientific approach.
Of course there needs to be questions like…
What is the name of author? Who wrote this book? What book you read yesterday?
A good teacher should slowly shift this to divergent questions that will make them think and answer. Here we can make use of Bloom’s taxonomy verbs to make the shift from Lower order to Higher order thinking through questions.
It is imperative that a teacher must give importance to lower order questions and then move on to higher order.No where in studies and researches it is mentioned that teacher needs to rule out lower order questions.
Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a structure for developing questions that encourage students to think on different levels. In order, from lower to higher the levels are:
- Knowledge (facts, recall, recognition)
- Comprehension (translation, interpretation, extrapolation)
- Application (to new or unfamiliar situations)
- Analysis (break into parts)
- Synthesis (combine elements into a new pattern)
- Evaluation (apply criteria to defend the conclusion)
Check out this link for more insights in to Bloom’s https://tlc.iitm.ac.in/PDF/Blooms%20Tax.pdf
It is essential that a teacher enters the classroom with planned questions and possible replies. At the same time, as she plans to ask open ended questions she also needs to have an in-depth knowledge on the topic to be discussed in the class. Many a times I have observed that if a teacher fails to sustain that interest of ‘probing by questioning’ method from a student’s end then the students slowly lose interest in the topic.
Here are few questions that can be asked to invite multiple replies and delve on discussions for enriched experience in a class room
- Is the boy happy or sad? Instead you can ask…
What kind of expression do you see on the boy’s face?
- Can you sort these objects in to big and small? Instead you can ask…
In what all ways you think these objects can be sorted?
- What is the name of our national bird? Instead you can ask…
A bird that can sense rain seeing dark clouds and can dance beautifully is our national bird. Can you guess the name?
Any indirect clues that will make students imagine, relate to their learning, make connections, in turn even ask you back a question to verify and answer…
Training students to ask value added questions in a class empowers them and makes them accountable for their own learning.Reward a student and acknowledge them if their question provokes a thought process in class discussion.
Isn’t questioning skill a must for a teacher?
This is a close ended question. From here I should move on to higher order thinking questions…
Create few questions for your next session and classify them as closed ones and open ended ones.
Frame questions in such a way that brings out the best from a child. Plan your questions! Do expect a surprise and an ‘Aaha’ moment in your class.
(courtesy-wikipedia About bloom’s and classification of bloom’s)
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