Using questions in instruction

Asking questions is one of the most powerful teaching tools.

Instructors can use questions strategically to:

• assess needs
• check understanding
• promote deeper analysis and synthesis of material
• prompt discussion and dialogue
• facilitate learner engagement
• change the pace, tempo or focus of a discussion

Asking the right questions

The right question invites learners to share their knowledge and offer a creative response, rather than rely solely on the instructor's expertise.

Improving the way you ask questions can help instructors enhance their skills as learning facilitators.

Types of questions

You can use different types of questions to achieve different instructional goals.

Plus, varying the kinds of questions you ask promotes interactivity in the classroom and learner engagement. You'll keep the conversation open, varied and interesting.

Paula Beltgens, a former Royal Roads associate faculty member, explains the different types of questions and provides some examples.

 

Purposes of questioning

Instructors can match the types of question to specific instructional goals or outcome.

David (1993, p.83) compiled this collection of purposes associated with different questioning strategies:

Exploratory

For probing facts and basic knowledge.

For example: What research evidence supports the theory of a cancer-prone personality?

Challenge

For examining assumptions, conclusions and interpretations.

For example: How else might we account for the findings of this study?

Relational

For comparing themes, ideas, and issues.

For example: What premises of Plessy v. Ferguson did the Supreme Court throw out in deciding Brown v. Board of Education?

Diagnostic

For probing motives or causes.

For example: Why did Jo assume a new identity?

Action

For coming to a conclusion or committing to action.

For example: In response to the sit-in at California Hall, what should the chancellor do?

Cause and effect

For developing causal relationships between ideas, actions, and events

For example: If the government stopped farm subsidies for what, what would happen to the price of bread?

Extension

For expanding the discussion

For example: How does this comment relate to what we have previously said?

Hypothetical

For posing a change in facts or issues

For example: Suppose Greg had been rich instead of poor; would the outcome have been the same?

Priority

For identifying the most important issue

For example: From all that we have discussed, what is the most important cause of the decline of American competitiveness?

Summary

For creating opportunities for synthesis and closure

For example: What themes or lessons have emerged from today's class?

Situational questioning

Situational questioning is when an instructor thoughtfully and strategically selects questions to bring about a desired learning outcome.

Developed by Susan Chandler and Estelle Paget at Royal Roads University, situational questioning means asking the right question at the right time to enhance learning. By carefully choosing questions for specific learning situation, instructors require students to use the appropriate thinking skill — the skill the instructor wants the students to develop.

Bloom's Taxonomy (1956) is a hierarchical system of ordering thinking skills. It moves from lower to higher, with the higher levels including all of the cognitive skills from the lower levels.

Questions can support learning at different levels. For example, "What was the Vichy regime?" encourages students to recall facts. On the other hand, "Why was the Vichy regime controversial?" encourages students to analyze.

Here are Bloom's levels of the taxonomy, a brief explanation of each level, and examples of questions you can use to help students use the desired thinking skill at each level.

Knowledge

Remembering previously learned material, for example, definitions, concepts, principles, formulas.

Comprehension

Understanding the meaning of remembered material, usually demonstrated by explaining in one's own words or citing examples.

For example:

• What are some techniques that are commonly used to facilitate learning in an online environment?
• What are some strategies to diffuse conflict?
• Explain the process of photosynthesis.

Application

Using information in a new context to solve a problem, to answer a question, or to perform another task. The information used may be rules, principles, formulas, theories, concepts or procedures.

For example:

• Using the procedures we have discussed, what would you include in a summary of Parker Palmer's book The Courage to Teach?
• How does the law of supply and demand explain the current increase in fruit and vegetable prices?
• Based on your knowledge, what statistical procedure is appropriate for this problem?

Analysis

Breaking a piece of material into its parts and explaining the relationship between the parts.

For example:

• What are the major points that this learner used to develop the thesis of his essay?
• What factors in the American economy are affecting the decisions taken in Canada?
• What is the relationship of probability to statistical analysis?

Synthesis

Putting parts together to form a new whole, pattern or structure.

For example:

• How might the author's previous work experience and the thesis of her major project be related?
• How are long-term and short-term consumer loan interest rates related to the prime rate?
• How would you proceed if you were going to do an experiment on the level of toxicity of a particular chemical in the soil?

Evaluation

As the most advanced level of thinking, evaluation involves using a set of criteria, established by the learner or specified by the instructor, to arrive at a reasoned judgment.

For example:

• Does Addison use examples effectively to build her argument in favour of genetically modified crops?
• How successful would the proposed federal income tax cut be in controlling inflation as well as decreasing unemployment?
• How well does this article demonstrate the validity of the author's main thesis?

Tips for asking questions

• Planning ahead
  Plan how you expect to use questions in your instructional activity. But, be open to asking different questions on the fly, depending on the flow of discussion or responses. Consider having questions as back-up resources to take advantage of serendipitous opportunities to stretch learners' thinking.
• Time to think
  Give learners enough time to think about responding to questions. Doing so will help learners provide thoughtful answers and give the less assertive learners more time to process their thoughts.
• Avoid asking leading questions
  Avoid using biased or leading phrasing, such as "Do you agree..." or "Would you say..." Using open questions will help learners view their contributions as meaningful.
• Ask straightforward questions
  To assist in learner comprehension, ask questions in a clear, straightforward manner. Avoid asking two-part questions or multiple questions in the same sentence to reduce confusion for learners.
• Ask questions that build on each other
  Deeper learning can be achieved by scaffolding questions — asking questions in a series that build upon the responses of the previous question. Using a variety of questioning strategies in sequence can enrich this scaffolding.
• Tone and body language play a role
  Be mindful of how you ask questions. Use a tone and body language to communicate that you are co-inquiring with your learners, not holding an interrogation.
• Use active listening
  Use active listening strategies to acknowledge and build on learner responses. Acknowledge the contribution, paraphrase the response and probe for deeper learning and conversation. Probes are great to ask for further specifics or clarifications, check understanding, build bridges to other issues or perspectives, and explore reasoning and underlying assumptions.
• Use questions as a method to include everyone
  Use questioning strategies to make the conversation inclusive. Techniques include linking one learner's response to another's; asking learners to describe common themes that link responses; using questions to expand the diversity of responses (e.g., What's another perspective on this issue?)
• Correcting responses
  Correct wrong information or responses delicately. Responding to questions involves some risk-taking by learners; be careful not to unwittingly discourage future engagement. Tactfully redress a wrong response by using thoughtful probes that help the learner re-examine his or her response. Or, ask another learner to help out. Always acknowledge the effort that someone displays in responding to a question. You can avoid situations where a student may be right or wrong by changing the type of question (i.e., using open-ended questions).

References

Bloom, B. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook I Cognitive Domain New York: David McKay Co.

David, B. G. (1993). Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.