Question Strategies for a Learner- Centered Education

Learner-centered education, is a teaching methodology which shifts the focus of instruction from the teacher to the student. One important aspect of this approach is to increase student interaction both inside and outside the classroom. Asking questions in the classroom is one way to ensure student participation and interaction. This is even more important in online classrooms.

In this article, we look at the need for asking questions and a few question strategies which will encourage a learner centric environment in the classrooms.

Why do we ask questions?

Questions are the simplest form of interactive teaching tool.

Questions help teachers ascertain the extent of understanding among the students.

They make students active learners and keep the students engaged and attentive.

They are useful in any discipline.

What is the need for question strategies?

Effective question strategies capture students’ attention.

They promote student involvement.

They develop a positive, active learning environment.

Question strategies applied to asking questions, responding to questions and listening can help instructors in getting their students to answer the questions asked in class, in ways that promote learning.

Question Strategies- Asking Questions(CTE,University of Waterloo)

1. Establish expectations early

Start asking questions early in the course term to set the tone for an active learning environment.

Make it clear on the first day that you will be posing lots of questions and that you want the students to interact with you during a lecture.

Let them know that you are interested in their ideas and that you encourage questions and comments throughout class.

2. Let students know who will be called on and why

Will you wait for volunteers to answer questions?

Or will you call on students — a practice sometimes referred to as “cold calling”?

A study by Dallimore, Hertenstein, and Platt (2012)suggests that more students respond to questions voluntarily in classes with high cold-calling.

3. Prepare meaningful questions in advance

Welty (1989), recommends preparing a question outline that accompanies your lecture outline.

Not a note that says “ask a question here” but a written out, thoughtful, question that has been prepared before class.

Write questions as part of preparing for class.

Think about different questions that you can ask your students as well as different ways to ask them.

How should the questions be ?

The types of questions teachers should ask should capture students’ attention, spark their curiosity, reinforce important material, and foster an active learning environment.

Questions should be

high level

divergent

structured and

single

These type of questions can generate student engagement.

High-level questions

require analysis, synthesis, or evaluation and often begin with “why” or “how.” High-level questions are more engaging.

For example: How do we construct a binary tree given the preorder and inorder traversals?

Low-level questions, or questions that require rote memory or restating course content, can help you assess whether or not students understand the material.

For example: What is an AVL tree?

Divergent questions or open questions

have multiple plausible responses, and encourage high-level thinking.

For example: Write an algorithm to search an element “x” from the given list. Convergent questions or closed questions only have one correct answer (e.g., “What is the running term of binary search?).

Structured questions point students toward a context or frame within which they can formulate an answer

For example: What is the running time of the algorithm built for this model?

Unstructured questions (e.g., “What is at work in this solution?”) are wide open and as a result can feel riskier to answer or can elicit responses outside of the relevant area.

Single questions clearly let students know what you are asking them

Example : How can this method clarify the problem for the data scientists?

Ask just one question at a time and refrain from adding others to qualify or clarify what you are trying to express.

Asking multiple questions in a row can leave students uncertain of which direction to move in.

Asking”how” and “why” questions, avoiding questions with one correct answer(including yes/no questions), making sure your question is sufficiently specific, and asking only one question at a time will help foster high-level thinking and engagement in your classes.

4. Be cautious of asking”Are there any questions?“

This question, and others like it (e.g., “Do you understand?”) are often viewed by students as a “ritualistic” exercise on the instructor’s part and are often met with silence.

When asking the above, be sure that your question is genuine and has a clear purpose.

If the question is met with no response, be prepared to use follow-up probing questions.

Question Strategies- Responding to questions(CTE,University of Waterloo)

1.Wait for the answer

Instructors often do not give students enough “wait time,” or the amount of time an instructor waits after asking a question before giving the answer or moving on (Rowe, 1986).

Waiting at least five seconds after asking a question can result in deeper student learning and a more dynamic classroom environment.

Summarizing the research on wait times, Rumohr (2013) explains that “as the use of wait-time increases, so do:

The number of student responses.

The number of unsolicited but appropriate responses.

The use of higher levels of logical thinking.

The incidence of speculative thinking.

Although the silence of wait times might seem awkward and uncomfortable, smile, wait patiently, scan the room, and endure at least a five to ten second wait between your question and student responses.

2. Reach non-responsive students with wait times

Do the same students tend to respond to your questions?

When the first person to raise their hand is always chosen to give an answer, it can communicate to students that the fastest answer is the best answer.

In fact, we might prefer to encourage answers that take time to formulate — thoughtful, logical, or analytical answers.

To avoid this, consider explaining to your students that you want everyone in the class to reflect on your question for a set period of time (between 20–60 seconds) and that you will then open the floor to answers.

This strategy has the added benefit of giving less extroverted students and students with learning disabilities more time to prepare to participate.

If this is not a feasible strategy to use with all questions, consider using it once a class instead.

3. Encourage student-to-student interaction

Try to structure your comments to encourage students to interact with one another,

“Shubham, that’s a good point. Could you relate that to what Sowjanya said earlier?“

Be prepared to facilitate recall of Sowjanya ‘s comment.

When students are required to respond to one another, they become more attentive.

4. Admit when you do not know the answer

You will lose more credibility by trying to fake an answer than by stating that you do not know.

If you do not know the answer to a student’s question, say so, “That’s a good question. I’m not sure about that.“

Then follow up in one of the following ways:

ask the class if anyone knows the answer (be sure to verify any responses)

suggest resources that would enable the student to find the answer

volunteer to find the answer yourself and report back at the next class

Question Strategies- Listening Actively(CTE,University of Waterloo)

1.Repeat questions/comments to the whole class

Repeating student questions or comments to the whole class ensures that everyone can hear the information.

You may need to paraphrase a long or complex question/comment.

When responding to student questions or comments, be sure to look around the room to include all students in your comments.

A general rule of thumb is to respond by focusing 25 percent of your eye contact on the questioner and 75 percent on the rest of the class -this is the 25/75 rule.

2. Give clear signals to students that you are listening

Avoid interrupting a student’s answer, even if you think the student is heading toward an incorrect answer.

Also, be sure to maintain eye contact and use non-verbal gestures such as smiling and head nodding to indicate your attention and interest in the student’s response.

3. Acknowledge all student contributions

Thank or praise the student for having asked a question or expressed a view with comments such as “Good question” and “Thank you for sharing that with us.”

Such comments reinforce the behaviour of asking questions and volunteering information during class.

Be sure, however, that you vary your reactions to students to avoid overusing the same comments

You can vary your responses in the following ways:

restate what the speaker has said to reinforce the point.

invite the student to elaborate: “Tell us more about that.“

ask for clarification: “What do you mean by that?“

expand the student’s contribution: “That’s right, and to follow up on that point…“

acknowledge the originality of the response: “That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of that.“

connect the students’ response with other students’ comments.

Summary

1.Develop key questions before class. They will not occur to you on the spot.

2. Decide when you are going to ask them. Thinking ahead also allows you to plan your time.

3. Ask questions that can be answered, but favour open-ended questions over yes/no questions.

4.Vary the form and level of the questions. Questions that have multiple correct answer or that rely only on general knowledge are good for encouraging participation. More complex questions can be used to gauge student knowledge.

5. Ask only one question at a time or you will confuse the students.

6. Pause between asking and accepting replies (pausing gives students a chance to think of an answer, and by not asking the first person who raises his/her hand, you encourage quieter students to participate).

7. Acknowledge all answers –thank students for participating, repeat their comments so the class can hear and/or write them on the board. This supports continued participation.

8. Keep the whole class involved in the question and answer exchange. Move around the room when trying to elicit participation. When responding to a student question or comment, split your attention so that you are focused on the class in general 75% of the time and the student commenter 25% of the time.

Acknowledgements: This writeup was prepared and presented as part of a Faculty Development Program series at BITS Pilani, India.

References

http://www.magnapubs.com/mentor-commons/?video=13205 ,What Kinds of Questions Encourage Student Interaction?

Andrews, J. D. W. (1980). The verbal structure of teacher questions: Its impact on class discussion.POD Quarterly: The Journal of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education. Paper 32.

Dallimore, E. J., Hertenstein, J. H., Platt, M. B. (2012). Impact of cold-calling on student voluntary participation.Journal of Management Education, 37(3).

Question Strategies. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.

Rowe, M. B. (1986). Wait times: Slowing down may be a way of speeding up.Journal of Teacher Education. 31(1), 43–50.

Rumohr, F. (2013). Reflection and inquiry in stages of learning practice.Teaching Artist Journal, 11(4), 224–233.

Welty, W. (1989). Discussion Method Teaching: How to Make it Work. Change, July/August, 41–49.