ART OF QUESTIONING WHAT IS A QUESTION? A question is any sentence which has an interrogative form or function.

. In classroom settings, teacher questions are defined as instructional cues or stimuli that convey to students the content elements to be learned. Directions for what they are to do and how they are to do it.

WHAT ARE SOME TYPES OF QUESTIONS? James Gallaghers Categories of Questions as modified by A.C Ornstein (1990) to include Raths Valuing Levels 1. MEMORY QUESTIONS need recall of facts or discrete content items 2. CONVERGENT QUESTIONS require one correct response or a conventional answer. These deal with background information and are useful for practice and review. 3. DIVERGENT QUESTIONS involve high-level, critical-creative thinking. These allow many acceptable responses because they are often open-ended. 4. VALUING QUESTIONS explore students feelings and attitudes. Their emphasis is on the personal development through clarifying attitudes.

HOW EXPERTS VIEW THE ART OF QUESTIONING? instruction which includes posing questions during lessons is more effective in producing achievement gains than instruction carried out without questioning students oral questions posed during online recitations are more effective in fostering learning than are written question Posing questions before reading and studying material is effective for students who are older, high ability, and/or known to be interested in the subject matter Very young children and poor readers tend to focus only on material that will help them answer questions if these are posed before the lesson is presented asking more questions can improve their level of understanding than limited ones

WHY ASKING QUESTIONS IS IMPORTANT? Effective questioning will enable you to: P-romote an active learning environment E-xtend students analytical skills. D-evelop the communication skills I -nteract better with students G-ain an insight into your students knowledge R-ecognize and reward students. E-xercise creative thinking skills. E-mpower students to express their opinions
WHAT ARE SOME QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES?

1. Extending 2. Extending and lifting 3. Funneling 4. Sowing and reaping 5. Step-by-step up 6. Step-by-step down 7. Nose-dive 8. Random Walk WHAT QUESTIONS TO AVOID IN CLASS? 1. YES- NO questions 2. elliptical 3. tugging 4. guessing 5. leading 6. vague HOW TO IMPROVE QUESTION FRAMING? Teachers may 4 questioning techniques effectively in teaching: 1. Redirection is a questioning technique which increases student participation and prevents teacher domination. 2. Prompting uses hints and clues to assist a student to come up with a response successfully. 3. Probing is a questioning technique which deals with insufficient answers. It promotes reflective thought and critical thinking. 4. Wait time is the amount of time teachers wait after asking a question or more. It is the time teachers spend in waiting for students to respond.

EXERCISES ON QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Jay and the Peacock A JAY venturing into a yard where Peacocks used to walk, found there a number of feathers which had fallen from the Peacocks when they were moulting. He tied them all to his tail and strutted down towards the Peacocks. When he came near them they soon discovered the cheat, and striding up to him pecked at him and plucked away his borrowed plumes. So the Jay could do no better than go back to the other Jays, who had watched his behaviour from a distance; but they were equally annoyed with him, and told him: IT IS NOT ONLY FINE FEATHERS THAT MAKE FINE BIRDS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Lion and the Mouse A LION was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up angrily, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying: "If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness." The Lion laughed and let him go. It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came and gnawed the rope with his teeth and set him free, exclaiming: "You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor; now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to con benefits on a Lion." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sometimes the questions we ask are more important than answers we seek.~ Nancy Willard