Questioning and Wait-Time

----Ying Dai
1. After asking a question, how long does the teacher wait before she/he calls on a
student for an answer? Does the wait time vary?
The teacher waited about 5-10 seconds according to different kinds of questions. If the
question was about pre-knowledge or memorizing, waiting time was around 3-5 seconds.
If the question was about thinking and analyzing, waiting time was around 5-10 seconds
and even longer.
2. There are 6 levels of questioning.

Did the teacher use these different levels of questioning in the lesson? What are some
examples?
In order to increase students motivation to learn and develop their thinking skills, the
teacher asked a lot of questions in class. The teacher asked different levels of questions
according to different concepts.

During the Unit Ecology, one warm up question- what does the prefix ECO
mean? It was classified to knowledge ---recall information students learned.
Then the teacher asked, What is ecology? What is ecologist? I think it was about
comprehension and application. The teacher tested students if understand the eco
means and when eco was used in a new word.
When learned about the concepts about food chain, food web and the levels of
consumers. The teacher asked what kinds of organisms start with in a food chain?
Why it was producer?
What was after producer?

What was primary consumer? Secondary consumer? Tertiary consumer?

Then the teacher written down one food chain. Ask students which were producer,
primary consumer and other levels of consumer.

The teacher also asked, why it is called tertiary consumer?

What about 34th consumer?

The teacher used different kinds of questions to evaluate students understanding and
stimulate their independent thinking. Most of questions are used through knowledge,
comprehension, analysis and evaluation level.
3. Did the teacher probe the students for more information? What types of questions did
the teacher use to probe the students understanding?
Yes, the teacher asked different kinds of questions to probe students for more
information. If some students did not get the idea, she would change the way she asked.
For example, the teacher asked, why it is called tertiary consumer after the question
which organism is tertiary consumer in one food chain. The teacher explored more for
evaluating students.
4. What role does the teacher play in the class discussion?
The teacher did not only teach students concepts directly. In the warm up part of one
lesson, the teacher asked questions to actively involve students in class and increase their
interests. The teacher guided students to think independently by asking questions.
5. Did all students have a chance to participate or were there some subgroups or
individuals who did not participate or did not participate as much?
Most of students have the chance to participate; students will raise their hands to answer
questions. If there were some subgroups or individuals who did not participate as much,
she would say, I need to see more hands in your group. Pick one member of your
group answered questions. Therefore, most students will follow the teacher in class.

6. Reflect on your observation in relation to wait time and questioning.

Questioning and Wait Time

Classroom questioning in an extensively researched, heavily used teaching strategy. From
my observation, the teacher typically spent 35 to 50 percent of instructional time asking
questions and most students were engaged thinking and answering. So I think teachers
should know what kinds of effective questions could raise students achievements and
how can teachers ask better questions to increase motivation of their students.
Teachers have traditionally classified questions according to Blooms Taxonomy, which
includes six levels of questions.

Knowledge- Recall of information. For example, teachers may ask questions about
definition, recall data or information

Comprehension- Understand the meaning. For example, teachers may ask students
explain the concepts in their own words.

Application- Use a concept in a new situation. Teachers should give students the
chance to apply what was learned in class into novel situations.

Analysis- Separate concepts into parts, distinguish between facts and inferences. For
example, teachers may ask students compare the process of mitosis and meiosis.

Synthesis- Combine parts to form new meaning. Students can make a summary
about what they have learned in one class.

Evaluation- Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials. Teachers may ask
questions to justify students understanding.
From my observation, the teacher used different levels of questions to guide students
thinking, develop their thinking skills and get students involved in class. I think the
instruction involves questioning is more effective that instruction without questioning.
Sometimes, teachers may think of many different activities to engage students, while if
we can ask better and more effective questions to students, students may more motivated
than we thought. Questions that focus students attention on important elements of a
lesson result in better comprehensive than those that focus on interesting elements.
Therefore teachers should learn how to ask effective questions, what kinds of questions,
how many questions. One more important thing is how long for wait-time of the
questions.
Before you say anything-count to three
Wait-time is one crucial factor in questioning. In the classroom, if the average wait-time
after a question was posed one second or less, students perceived slower. From my
observation, I think three to five seconds is good for waiting for the answers. Teachers
cannot push students to give the answers immediately; increased wait-time may improve
students achievements and retention. So we can count to three before we say anything.

In Miss Benders class, I always heard she said, I need to see more hands. I think this
was an effective way for making more students involved and also allowing students to
think longer. I seldom heard about I dont know or no answer responses but Oh, I
know, I know!
After reflecting about the questioning and wait-time, I realized that it is not easy to
prepare an effective class to teach students concepts and engage them at the same time.
But there are lots of good strategies we can use to improve our lesson. Question is not
only an effective strategy but also important part of instruction. There is no one teacher
may teach one lesson without asking questions. I should also pay attention on wait-time
after asking questions. I have gained a lot through this observation and I will seek out
more resources to improve my questioning skills.