Effective Techniques

of Questioning

Prof. Ma. Elena Bernadette P. Hojilla

Resource Speaker
 Introduction

 The ability to ask and answer questions

is central to learning. For more than two
thousand years (since Socrates) the
question has been an integral part of
teaching. Only within the last decade and
a half, however, has extensive research
been directed to questions and
questioning strategies.
Why do teachers
ask questions?
 The use of questioning skills is
essential to systematic investigation in
any subject area.

In such an investigation:
1) one asks questions to identify the
reason or reasons for the investigation;
2) questions are asked to direct the
search for information and to
synthesize what has been discovered;
and
3) the conclusions resulting from
investigations are evaluated via
questions.
 However, using questions to assist
students' investigations is a relatively
new technique in the schools.

 In the past, teachers primarily

questioned students to ascertain
whether or not they were learning the
book content and to see if students
were paying attention in class.
 This shift in emphasis from
learning solely content to
learning processes is to enable
individuals to deal intelligently
with their world and their lives.
 If students can analyze their
lives and the lives of others
while in the school setting, they
will comprehend effectively their
reality when they are outside
the formal school situation.
 Education today aims at the
creation of a rational being.
 A rational being does not merely
possess an effective memory;
he/she must be able to react to
data.
 He/She must be able to think
and he/she must be active in
seeking an understanding to
problems.
 Effective questioning is
considered a vital
component of adult
education and an integral
part of teaching.
Questioning can:
 clarify concepts
 reinforce student understanding
 arouse curiosity
 emphasize key points
 stimulate interest
 promote higher order thinking in
students.
 Questions
should play
a central role
in the learning process.
 Since questions play a
central role in the learning
process, we, teachers
need to plan our questions
carefully.
 This doesn't mean script
writing; that would negate
creative teaching.
 However, it does mean we
need to carefully plan our
questions by thinking through
possible questions which
would guide the students
toward further investigation
and a deeper understanding of
the concepts being stressed.
 If a teacher utilizes
questions effectively,
students will discover that
the question is a very
valuable learning tool.
 It is a device through which
they can organize their
thinking to achieve certain
objectives.
 Students who ask themselves
questions as they deal with
various learning situations will
provide themselves with data and
will develop an awareness of
where there are deficits in
data. This type of knowledge is
essential if students are to
assume major roles in their
learning process.
 "True/False Question Cards"
 Patty Limenski: 6th Grade Teacher
"Some days it takes me forever to get responses from my
students. They duck behind one another trying not to get
called on in class. So I came up with what I call my
"Question Cards". I find it helps to get my students ready
to respond in class and become more engaged in what we
are doing.Each student gets two index cards with the word
"True" on one and "False" written on the other. This helps
me in being about to elicit responses from my students. As
the class usually progresses, we move to "1, 2, 3, 4"
multiple choice cards. I found that if I use this early in the
class, later in the class it is easy to higher level responses
from them. We have even started to make little games out
of it. You may find it useful!"
"Question of the Day"
 Hal Stewart: 3rd Grade Teacher

 "I have 17 students in my full day class program.

Each student is assigned the task of researching and
asking the class one question per month. The
question must be relevant to what we are doing in
class. For instance, today we were exploring the
topic of community helpers. Today's Question of the
Day was "What does a veterinarian do?" I make sure
to approve all questions at the beginning of each
day.Every student in the class must place an answer
to the daily question in the answer box. If the
question stumps the entire class, I give the student a
reward. I show all of the students the answers to the
question in a dramatic format. I even play the music
from Survivor the TV Game."
 Types of Questioning

According to thinking process involved

 Low-level questions
 High-level questions

According to type of answer required

 Convergent questions
 Divergent questions
Low-level type of questions

 1. Factual - Soliciting reasonably simple,

straight forward answers based on
obvious facts or awareness. These are
usually at the lowest level of cognitive or
affective processes and answers are
frequently either right or wrong.
 Example: Who discovered the atom?
2. Convergent –
•Answers to these types of questions are
usually within a very finite range of
acceptable accuracy.
•These may be at several different levels
of cognition:
comprehension,
application,
analysis,
or ones where the answerer makes
inferences or conjectures based on
personal awareness, or on material read,
presented or known.
Convergent Questions:

Example: On reflecting over the impact of the

long drought that may strike an area, what
were the main reasons why it should be
prevented? ( This is not specifically stated
in one direct statement in the text of the
occurrence of the long drought. Here the
reader must make simple inferences as to
what consequences will the drought bring
about.)
High-level type of
questions
 Call for higher thinking skills development
 Learners are expected to provide more
possible answers such as to defend their
points of view or judgment on a certain
issue.
 May also require higher mental faculties
to function especially in the reasoning
process.
High-level type of
questions
 Frequently the intention of these high-
thinking questions is to stimulate
imaginative and creative
thought, or investigate cause
and effect relationships, or
provoke deeper thought or
extensive investigations.
High-level type of
questions
 One needs to be prepared for the
fact that there may not be right
or definitely correct answers to
these questions.
Divergent Questions
 These questions allow students
to:
1. explore different avenues of answering
the question;
2. create many different variations in
attacking the question;
3. find varied alternative answers or
scenarios.
 Divergent Questions
 Correctness may be based on :
1. logical projections,
2. may be contextual,
3. or arrived at through basic knowledge,
4. conjecture,
5. inference,
6. projection,
7. creation,
8. intuition, and
9. imagination.
Divergent Questions

 These types of questions often

require students to:
1. analyze,
2. synthesize,
3. evaluate a knowledge base;
4. project or predict different outcomes.
Divergent Questions
 Answering divergent questions may be
aided by higher levels of affective
functions.
 Answers to these types of questions
generally fall into a wide range of
acceptability.
 Often correctness is determined
subjectively based on the possibility or
probability.
Divergent Questions

 Divergent questions may also

serve as larger contexts for
directing inquiries, and as such
may become what are known as
"essential" questions that frame
the content of an entire
course.
Divergent Questions
 Example: In the forest
ecosystem, what might have
happened to the living
organisms and their feeding
relationships if illegal loggers
were not allowed operate in
the area?
Divergent Questions
 Example of a divergent question
that is also essential and
divergent: Like many authors
throughout time, Shakespeare
dwells partly on the pain of love in
Hamlet. Why is painful love so
often intertwined with good
literature? What is its never
ending appeal to readers?
Do you recall the original taxonomy with
the 6 major categories of learning?
The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives:
Cognitive Domain
(accdg. Benjamin Bloom)

 Knowledge
 Comprehension
 Application
 Analysis
 Synthesis
 Evaluation
 Knowledge
 1.1 Knowledge of specifics
Who discovered the Mississippi River?

 1.2 Knowledge of ways and means of

dealing with specifics
 What word does an adjective modify?

 1.3 Knowledge of universals and

abstractions in a field
 What is the best method for calculating the
circumference of a circle?
 Comprehension
2.1 Translation
 What does the word in vivo mean?
2.2 Interpretation
 How do the Democrats and Republicans
differ in their views of spending?
2.3 Extrapolation
 Given the present birth rate, what will be
the world population by the year 2010?
 Application

 How has the legalization of abortion

affected the right to life of the unborn?
 Given the magnification values of both
the ocular and objective lenses of a
compound microscope, how would you
compute the number of times the image
of the specimen was enlarged?
 Analysis

 4.1 Analysis of elements

Who can distinguish between fact and
opinion in the science article we read?
 4.2 Analysis of relationships
How does temperature affect pressure in a
system?
 4.3 Analysis of organizational
principles
How does John Steinbeck use his characters
to discuss the notion of friendship in Of Mice
and Men?
 Synthesis
 Production of a unique communication
Who can write the chemical formula of acetic
acid?
 Production of a plan or proposed set of
operations
How would you go about determining the
chemical weight of an unknown substance?
 Derivation of a set of abstract relations
What are the common causes for cell
breakdown in the case of mutations,
cancers and aging?
 Evaluation

6.1 Judgment in terms of internal

evidence
Who can point out the flaws in
Lamarck’s theory of evolution?
6.2 Judgment in terms of external
evidence
 Who can judge what is wrong with the
architect’s design of the plumbing and
electricity?
Categories in the cognitive domain of Bloom's Taxonomy
(Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
 Some critiques of Bloom's
Taxonomy('s cognitive domain)
admit the existence of these six
categories, but question the
existence of a sequential,
hierarchical link (Paul, R. (1993).
Critical thinking: What every
person needs to survive in a
rapidly changing world (3rd ed.).
 Rohnert Park, California: Sonoma
State University Press.). Also the
revised edition of Bloom's taxonomy
has moved Synthesis in higher order
than Evaluation.
 Some consider the three lowest
levels as hierarchically ordered, but
the three higher levels as parallel.
Others say that it is sometimes
better to move to Application before
introducing Concepts. This thinking
would seem to relate to the method
of Problem Based Learning.
 COGNITIVE OPERATIONS
AND LEVELS OF QUESTIONS
 Cognitive task 1: concept formation

What did you see? Hear?

1. Enumeration and
Note?
listing

What belongs together?

2. Grouping
On what criterion?
together

What would you call these

3. Labeling, groups? What
categorizing belongs under what?
 COGNITIVE OPERATIONS
AND LEVELS OF QUESTIONS
 Cognitive task 2: Generalizing and inferring

What did you note? See?

1. Identifying points Find?

Why did so-and-so

2. Explaining
happen? Why is so-and-
identified items of
so true?
information

What does this mean? What

3. Making inferences would you
or generalizations conclude? What
generalizations can you
make?
 COGNITIVE OPERATIONS
AND LEVELS OF QUESTIONS
 Cognitive task 3: application of principles

1. Predicting consequences,
explaining unfamiliar What would happen if…?
phenomena, hypotheses

2. Explaining and Why do you think this would

supporting predictions happen?
and hypotheses
What would it take for so-and-so
3. Verifying predictions to be true?
and hypotheses Would it be true in all cases? At
what times?
Principles of Questioning

 Distribute questions so that all,

including non-volunteers, are
involved.
 Balance factual and thought-
provoking questions.
Principles of Questioning

 Ask both simple and exacting

questions, so that the poorer
students may participate and
the brighter students may be
extended.
Principles of Questioning

 Encourage lengthy responses and

sustained answers.
 (Avoid yes-no questions, questions
overlaid with afterthoughts, fragmentary
questions, and those that tug or
encourage guessing.
 NOTE: If you catch yourself asking a
yes-no question, add "Explain.")
Principles of Questioning

 Stimulate critical thinking by asking: "To

what extent?" "How?" "Under what
circumstances?" "Why?" "Compare (or
contrast)..."

a. Avoid: "Does anyone know...?" and

"Who can tell us...?"
Principles of Questioning

 b. Allow time for thought. Wait until five or

six want to speak.

c. Be a model of exact phrasing and

coherent thinking.
 Phrase questions clearly, within the
vocabulary limits of the class.
 Make each question specific, short, and
proactive.
Principles of Questioning

 d. Encourage students to comment on the

answers of classmates.
 Start the crossfire by asking, "What's your opinion of
that answer...?"
 Follow up promising leads, building on contributions.
 Tactfully curb aggressive students. (No student or
teacher domination should prevail.)
 Don't drop too quickly a student who seems unable
to answer. If a student is nonplussed, inquire "How
can we help...out?"
Principles of Questioning

 e. Never interrupt a student

who is attempting to answer
nor tolerate ridicule of an
honest effort.
Principles of Questioning

 Use the overhead technique:

1) question, 2) pause, 3)
name.
Principles of Questioning

 Insure audibility, then refuse

to repeat questions or
answers (Except in large
classes always repeat
questions and answers!)
Principles of Questioning

 If a student asks a question,

don't answer it until you've
asked the class, "How would
you answer that question...?"
Principles of Questioning

 Personalize questions
("Pretend you are ... what
would you do?")
 Suggest partnership by
inquiring, "How can we ... ?
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 The teacher should pay attention to

his/her questioning technique because it
is a frequently used tool and the way to
good teaching.
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 Since method cannot be divorced from

content, the teacher must master his/her
subject if he/she is to perfect his/her
questioning technique. There is no
substitute for sound scholarship.
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning
 Questions must be guided by definite aims. They should be
asked:
 to test a student's preparation (Find out if students did their
homework.)
 to arouse interest (Bring them into the lesson by motivating them.)
 to develop insights (Cause them to see new relationships.)
 to develop ideals, attitudes and appreciations (Ask questions
that cause students to get more than knowledge in the classroom.)
 to strengthen learning (Review and summarize what is taught.)
 to stimulate critical thinking (Develop a questioning attitude.)
 to test achievement of objectives (Check to see if what has been
taught "sank in.")
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 Good questions are:

 purposeful (asked to achieve a specific purpose)
 clear (students understand what they mean)
 brief (stated in as few words as possible)
 natural (stated simply, in conversational English)
 thought-provoking (they stimulate thought and
response)
 limited in scope (only one or two points in chain
of reasoning called for)
 adapted to the level of the class (tailored to the
kinds of students in the class)
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 There is a language of questioning. In

addition to "what," the teacher should
ask "why" and "how." His/Her questions
should call upon students to explain,
illustrate, justify, trace, discuss,
compare, contrast, agree or disagree,
interpret, evaluate, and summarize.
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 Question types that should be avoided

include:
 yes-no (These draw one-word -- Yes or No
 responses: "Does the square root of 9
equal 3?")
 elliptical (These are vague: "What about
the League of Nations?")
 tugging (These place emphasis on rote:
"Come on, think of a third reason.")
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 guessing (These encourage speculation

rather than thought: "How long do you think
man has been on earth?")
 leading (These tend to give away answers:
"How do vitamins help to build strong bodies
and make up deficiencies?")
 vague (These don't give students a clue as
to what is called for: "Tell us about concave
lenses.")
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 Questioning will be most effective when

questions are:
 planned
 logical and sequential
 addressed to the entire class
 posed so students have time to think
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 Questioning will be most effective when

questions are:
 balanced between fact and thought
 distributed widely
 not repeated
 asked in a conversational tone
 designed to elicit sustained responses
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 Handling answers is an important part

of the questioning procedure. The
teacher should be prepared to handle
incorrect, partially correct and fully
correct answers. Each type calls for
careful follow-through.
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 Classroom discussion is based upon

questions and answers. To be effective
discussions should be:
 significant (concerned with something
important)
 purposeful (guided by a clear aim)
 socialized (characterized by considerable
student participation)
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 Classroom discussion is based upon questions

and answers. To be effective discussions
should be:
 guided (helped by the teacher's questions and
class management)
 open and honest (conducted so that students can
reach their own conclusions)
 ended with summary and conclusions (tied up at
the end so that students understand what has been
said, and why)
Teacher's Check List for
Artful Questioning

 In training students for classroom

discussion, students should be trained
to:
 speak up
 give complete answers that include facts
and reasoning
 agree and disagree politely
 wait to be recognized before speaking
 Wait-Time
One questioning technique which is essential
to the development of higher thought
processes is wait-time. This is the amount of
time that elapses between a teacher asking a
question and calling upon a student to
answer that question. The average teacher's
wait-time is one second!!
 Wait-Time
In a research project
conducted at Columbia
University by Mary Budd Rowe
the following gains were
reported when the teachers in
the project increased their
wait-time.
 Wait-Time

If you can prolong your average"wait-

time" to five seconds or longer, the
length of student responses increases.
Student When wait-time is very short, students
Responses tend to give very short answers or they
Lengthen are prone to say, "I don't know." In
addition, their answers often come with
a question mark in the tone, as if to
say, "Is this what you want?"
 Wait-Time

 Whole Sentences. . . .you

are more likely to get whole
sentences, and the
confidence as expressed by
tone is higher.
 Wait-Time
Another bonus that results
from increased wait-time is
the appearance of speculative
Speculative thinking (e.g., "It might be
Thinking the water,". . ." but it could
be too many plants.") and the
use of arguments based on
evidence.
 Wait-Time

If the wait-time is prolonged

an average of five seconds or
Shift to
more, students shift from
Student-
teacher-centered show-and-
Student
tell kinds of behavior to
Behaviors
student-student comparing of
differences.
 Wait-Time

As you increase the wait-

time, the number of
Student's
questions students ask and
Questions
the number of experiments
Increase
they need to answer the
questions multiply.
 Wait-Time

. . .By increasing the

Teacher's
wait-time, you buy for
Flexibility
yourself an opportunity
Increases
to hear and to think.
 Wait-Time
Wait-time can change your
expectations about what some
students can do. (Before
Teachers
teachers increased their wait-
Revise Their
times, students rated as slow
Expectations
or less apt by teachers had to
of Students
try to answer questions more
rapidly than students rated as
bright or fast.)
 Wait-Time

As wait-time increases,
teachers begin to show much
Teachers
more variability in the kinds
Increase
of questions they ask.
Their
Students get more opportunity
Variety of
to respond to thought rather
Questions
than straight memory
questions.
DO’S IN ASKING QUESTIONS
 Ask questions that are stimulating and
not merely memory testing.
 Ask questions that are commensurate
with students’ abilities.
 Ask questions that are relevant to the
students.
 Ask questions that are sequential.
 Vary the length and difficulty of
questions.
DO’S IN ASKING QUESTIONS

 Ask questions that are clear and

simple.
 Encourage students to ask questions
of each other and to make
comments.
 Allow sufficient time for deliberation.
 Follow up incorrect answers.
 Follow-up correct answers.
DO’S IN ASKING QUESTIONS

 Call on non volunteers and volunteers.

 Call on disruptive students.
 Prepare five or six pivotal questions.
 Write the objective and summary of the
lesson in a question, preferably as a
problem.
 Change your position and move around
the room.
DON’TS IN ASKING QUESTIONS

 Ask yes or no questions or questions

that allow a 50-50 chance of getting
the right answers.
 Ask indefinite or vague questions.
 Ask guessing questions.
 Ask double or multiple questions.
 Ask suggestive or leading questions.
DON’TS IN ASKING QUESTIONS

 Ask fill-in questions.

 Ask overload questions.
 Ask tugging questions.
 Cross-examination questions.
 Call the name of a student before
asking a question.
DON’TS IN ASKING QUESTIONS

 Answer a question asked by

a student if students should
know the answer.
 Repeat questions or repeat
answers given by students.
DON’TS IN ASKING QUESTIONS

 Exploit bright students or

volunteers.
 Allow choral responses or
hand waving.
 Allow improper speech or
incomplete answers to go
unnoticed.
 Types of Questioning

According to the degree of personal

exploration or valuing.

 Choosing
 Prizing
 Acting
 Seven Components of Valuing
in Three Levels

 Choosing
 Choosing freely
 Choosing from alternatives
 Choosing thoughtfully and reflectively
 Prizing
 Prizing and cherishing
 Affirming
 Acting
 Acting upon choices
 Repeating the action
 QUESTIONING STRATEGIES
FOR THE VALUING PROCESS

Choosing freely
 a. Where do you suppose you first got
the idea?
 b. How long have you felt that way?
 c. What would people say if you weren’t
to do what you say you must do?
 QUESTIONING STRATEGIES
FOR THE VALUING PROCESS

Choosing from alternatives

 a. What else did you consider before
you picked this?
 b. How long did you look around before
you decide?
 c. Was it a hard decision?
 QUESTIONING STRATEGIES
FOR THE VALUING PROCESS

 Choosing thoughtfully and reflectively

 a. What would be the consequences of
each alternative available?
 b. Have you thought about this very
much? How did your thinking go?
 c. This is what I understand you to
say…[repeat the idea]
 QUESTIONING STRATEGIES
FOR THE VALUING PROCESS

Prizing and cherishing

 a. Are you glad you feel that way?
 b. How long have you wanted it?
 c. What good is it? What purpose does it
serve? Why is it important to you?
 QUESTIONING STRATEGIES
FOR THE VALUING PROCESS

Affirming
a. Would you tell the class the way you
feel?
b. Would you be willing to sign a petition
supporting that idea?
c. Are you saying that you believe…
[repeat the idea]?
 QUESTIONING STRATEGIES
FOR THE VALUING PROCESS

Acting upon choices

 a. I hear what you are for; now, is there
anything you can do about it? Can I
help?
 b. What are your first steps, second steps
etc.?
 c. Are you willing to put some of your
money behind this area?
 QUESTIONING STRATEGIES
FOR THE VALUING PROCESS

Repeating
 a. Have you felt this way for some time?
 b. Have you done anything already? Do
you do this often?
 c. What are your plans for doing more it?
 REFERENCES
Aschner, M.J. (1961). Asking questions to trigger
thinking. NEA Journal, 50, 44-46.

Bloom, Benjamin S. (ed.) (1956). Taxonomy of

Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain. New
York: David McKay Company, Inc.

Carin, Arthur A. & Sund, Robert B. (1971).

Developing Questioning Techniques (A Self-
Concept Approach). Columbus, Ohio: Charles E.
Merrill Publishing Company.

Carner, R.L. (1963). Levels of questioning.

Education, 83, 546-550.
 REFERENCES
Groisser, Philip L. (1964). How to Use the Fine Art of Questioning.
Teachers Practical Press, Inc.

Hunkins, F.P. (1972). Questioning Strategies and Techniques. Boston,

Mass.: Allyn and Bacon.

Lewis, Karron G. (Retrieved Oct 26, 2008) Developing Questioning

Skills. Center for Teaching Effectiveness. University of Texas at Austin.
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/sourcebook/questioning.html

Ornstein (1998). Strategies for Effective Teaching.

Pate, R.T. & Bremer, N.H. (1967). Guided learning through skillful
questioning. Elementary School Journal, 67, 417-422.

Sanders, N.M. (1966). Classroom Questions: What Kinds? New York:

Harper and Row.
Thought about Teachers

Teachers, like leaves,

abound;
Teachers, like fruits, are
rarely found.

Alexander Pope