A wheel of opportunities for a world of individuals Questioning Improving questioning techniques You should have: a)a booklet containing the following

A wheel of opportunities for a world of individuals

QuestioningImproving questioning techniques

You should have:

a) a booklet containing the following presentation.b) handouts no 1, 2, 3 and 4 to complete the activities.c) a pen or pencil to complete the activities

http://teachertools.londongt.org/?page=questioningTechniques


Objectives

• To develop teachers’ self-awareness and analysis of their own questioning techniques

• To identify key features of good questioning

• To enhance the planning for, and use of, questions


Questions for learningWhy is questioning important?

1) Questions are the most common form of interaction between teachers and pupils in whole-class lessons as well as in group and individual work.

2) Questioning is a key method of altering the level of challenge provided and determining the progress made in lessons.

3) It is an immediate way for the teacher to check the effectiveness of teaching.



The purposes of questioning

1) Questions prompt pupils to inspect their existing knowledge and experience to create new understandings.2) Questions can help pupils to develop thinking from the concrete and factual to the analytical and the evaluative.3) Questions focus pupils on the key issues.4) Questioning models for pupils how experienced learners seek meaning. 5) Closed questions are useful in recap sessions and during explanations to check understanding.6) Open questions are useful during class discussions and debriefings.


Risks of questioning

1) Sometimes, questioning is used in situations where explanation would be a more appropriate teaching strategy.2) It is easy to fall into the trap of asking bogus questions – ‘Guess my answer’.3) A period of interrogation takes place until the ‘right’ answer is reached.4) Teachers retain control over the process so that pupils do not have opportunities to initiate questions or provide feedback.5) Sometimes, oral comprehension exercises predominate.6) There can be too many closed questions and one-word answers.7) Teachers can be diverted by the pursuit of red herrings.8) There can be problems of fielding incorrect, wayward and unexpected answers.


Bloom’s taxonomy

In 1956, Bloom researched thousands of questions asked by teachers, categorised them, and arranged the categories into a hierarchy or taxonomy. He related the taxonomy to a ladder – the higher the rung, the deeper the learning.

Research has consistently shown that the large majority of questions asked by teachers come from the first two categories, which require factual recall and comprehension. Few questions come from the other categories which require higher order thinking skills.

Broadly speaking, within national curriculum levels of attainment, the demand for higher order thinking skills appears at Level 5.



What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?A) KnowledgeDescribeIdentifyWho, when, where

B) ComprehensionTranslatePredictWhy?

C) ApplicationDemonstrate howSolveTry it in a new…

D) AnalysisExplainInferAnalyse

E) SynthesisDesignCreateCompose

F) EvaluationAssessCompare/contrastJudge


Activity 1See Handout 1 & 2

Use handouts no 1 & 2 to help you analyse the following questions and

categorise them using Bloom’s taxonomic levels.

Write your category choice next to the question


1 Which of these three tools would do that most effectively and why?2 What name did we give to …?3 Why did the South American Indians have no word for ‘season’?4 Why do you think the South American Indians might have no word for‘season’ in their language?5 What does this style of painting remind you of?6 What do you think is the main point the writer is making in the secondparagraph?7 Which of these four sources might be most reliable in helping us to …?8 Now, the difficult bit. Given all the conflicting arguments, where would youbuild the new refinery?9 What would happen if you mixed ...?10 What choices did Harold have when faced with that situation?11 Which words do you already know in this sentence?12 Given all of the sources we have looked at, where would you now expectthese people to have moved to?13 If we are unsure, how could we set about translating …?14 Why did the Normans invade ...?15 What similarities can you spot between the two ...?16 If this verb looks like this when it follows ‘il’ what would you expect of theseverbs?17 What repeating pattern can you see in the events …?18 How will you set about remembering what you have learned?

Bloom’s Taxonomy ActivityAnalysing questions using Bloom’s taxonomy


1) Assess your self-awareness of questioning techniques and your ability to

analyse questions.

Objective no 1To develop teachers’ self-awareness and analysis of their own questioning techniques


Objective no 2

• To identify key features of good questioning


What is effective questioning?

1) It is closely linked to the learning objectives in the lesson.2) It is staged so that the level of challenge in the lesson increases as the lessonproceeds.3) Group and paired work can allow questions to be matched to the level of challengeneeded to move different pupils forward.4) Closed questions check pupils’ knowledge and understanding.5) Open questions have more than one possible answer. A well-designed set ofquestions leads pupils from unsorted knowledge to organised understanding. It models how learning evolves.6) Effective questioning provides opportunities for pupils to ask their own questions,seek their own answers and provide feedback to each other.7) Effective questioning makes space for pupils to listen to each other’s questions andanswers as well as to the teacher’s.8) Effective questioning requires an atmosphere where pupils feel secure enough totake risks or be tentative.


Tips for effective questioningPlanning for questioning

1) Ensure that examples of effective questions are included in schemes of work.2) Use Bloom’s taxonomy to ensure that you are asking questions which demand more than recall of knowledge and a demonstration of understanding.3) Share key questions at the start of a lesson – a different way of sharing learning objectives. ‘These are the questions we will be trying to answer in this lesson.’4) Ensure that these key questions are answered by the end of the lesson. The plenary can then be based on these questions.5) Forewarn pupils about some key questions: ‘Later in this lesson I am going to ask you a question about ….’6) Stop during the lesson to check whether these key questions have been answered. ‘Have we answered this? Discuss with your partner. What else do you need to know?’7) Ensure that there is a balance between asking and telling.


Asking open questions

1) Make sure the question has more than one possible answer.2) Don’t have a single ‘right’ answer in your head that pupils have to get to!3) Follow up answers with words and phrases like ‘Explain’, ‘Why?’, ‘What makes you think that?’ and ‘Tell me more’, to provide greater challenge, encourage speaking at greater length and get pupils thinking around the question in greater depth.4) As part of the development of their enquiry skills, encourage pupils to ask their own questions.5) Use techniques such as ‘What do you already know about …? What do you want to know? What questions will help you to find out? How will you find out?’6) Use questioning to develop collaborative work.7) Begin a lesson by giving pairs of pupils a question to answer from the last lesson.8) Ask pairs to discuss a question for a minute before they answer it.9) Set up ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ structures for groups and individuals – ask a friend, ask a group, ask the class to seek discussion and support for answers.10) Make questions a normal part of the lesson. ‘Earlier this lesson I asked you two questions. Turn to your partner and see if you’re ready to answer them yet.’11) Get one group or pair to set questions for another group or pair to answer.


Cont’d12) Treat questions seriously.13) Give pupils time to answer: count a few seconds in your head to allow slower pupils to form a response and put their hands up.14) Allow pupils time to research answers to more complex questions, either individually or collaboratively.15) Provide structures to enable pupils to find answers and to form their own questions. Sorting and matching exercises are useful for this.16) Encourage pupils to seek answers to their own questions.17) Treat answers with respect and give pupils credit for trying.


Checklist for planning questionsIt is a good idea to select some questions that can be used across a whole year group and then to monitor the quality of pupils' responses. An alternative plan

would be to direct specific questions to a group of very able pupils who could feed back their thinking to the rest of the class.

A Checklist for planning questionsKnowing as a basis for action• What basic knowledge does the learner need?• What particular skills does the learner need? (E.g. map-reading skills, ecology techniques, science skills, silk-screening procedures)• What are the relevant facts? And theories?• What skills does the learner need to find out for herself or himself? • How is the work to be communicated? Does the learner have a variety of recording skills and techniques from which to choose?

Demonstrating understanding• Can the learner identify main points? Similarities? Differences?• Is it possible to ask any of these questions:• Can you explain in another way?• Why did this happen?• What were/will be the consequences?• How does this affect you/other people? Why?• Would you make the same decision? Why? Why not?


Looking for overall patterns and relationships• Can learners identify connections, sequences, patterns and themes?• Is it possible to ask any of these questions:• What is the overall plan?• How do the components fit together?• What is happening now?• What happened before?• What is likely to happen?• How do you feel about it?• Is it logical? Why? Why not?


Alternatives to questionsAlternative strategy examples

1) Invite pupils to elaborate ‘Would you say a little more about that.’2) ‘I am not sure I’m certain I know what you mean by that.’3) Speculate about the subject under discussion ‘I wonder what might happen if …’4) Make a suggestion ‘You could try …’5) Reflect on the topic ‘Perhaps we now have a way of tackling this next time you …’ 6) Let’s bring this all together …’7) Offer extra information ‘It might be useful to know also that …’, ‘I think that I have read that …’8) Reinforce useful suggestions ‘I especially liked … because …’9) Clarify ideas ‘We can tell this is the case by …’10) Correct me if I’m wrong ‘But I thought we had agreed that …’, ‘So now perhaps we all believe …’11) Echo comments / ‘So, you think …’12) Summarise - ‘Jane seems to be saying …’13) Use non-verbal interventions e.g. eye contact, a nod or raised eyebrows to encourage extended responses, to challenge or even to express surprise.


2) Explain key features of good questioning.

Objective 2To identify key features of good questioning


Objective 3

• To enhance the planning for, and use of, questions


Activity no 2

Using the tips and suggestions in your handout, devise questions focussing on one or two topic areas within your

subject.Use handout no 3 to record your questions.

Think about;

1) the variety of questions you are devising.2) which category of Bloom’s they are in.3) devising open questions.4) using alternatives to questions.


Ask yourself…

1) Has your questioning improved now that you are more conscious of the techniques you use?

2) Are you using the questions to drive the learning objectives forward?

3) Do your questions have increasing levels of challenge?

4) Are your questions helping to develop the kinds of thinking described in Bloom’s taxonomy in categories C, D, E and F?


3) How has this training enhanced your planning for, and use of, questions.


Activities

All staff – Complete activity no 3 and take the sheet along with you to your next departmental meeting to

share good practice.

Heads of Department – Place questioning on the agenda for your next departmental meeting and request that staff members bring examples of

effective questioning techniques they have used since this training.

Documents

A wheel of opportunities for a world of individuals Questioning Improving questioning techniques You should have: a)a booklet containing the following