© Kamla-Raj 2016 J Communication, 7(1): 111-117 (2016)

Questioning ‘Questioning’: Examining the Use of Questioningas an Interactive Teaching Tool in Higher Education

Cosmas Maphosa1 and Newman Wadesango2

1University of Fort Hare, South Africa1University of Limpopo, South Africa

KEYWORDS Constructivist Learning. Staff Development. Student Attainment. Student Participation. UniversityTeaching

ABSTRACT Questioning is an essential component of effective teaching. The extent to which lecturers are ableto ask appropriate questions goes a long way in ensuring content mastery and content application. In this paper weexplore questioning as an interactive teaching tool in higher education. The paper is informed by the socialconstructivist learning theory which asserts that learning is a social practice and learning is construction ofmeaning by learners through interaction. We argue for the importance of appropriate questioning, its purpose andeffect in teaching and learning. Different ways of questioning that ensure effective interactive lecturing arecritically discussed. Effective timing of questioning, response rate, dealing with students responses as well aslinking questioning to Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives, as important issues in appropriate questioning,are also explored. Conclusions are made on the importance of effectively handling questioning as a teachingmethod and recommendations are given for university teachers to have proper training in questioning.

Address for correspondence:C. MaphosaProfessorUniversity of Fort HareFaculty of EducationEast London CampusEast London, 5201South AfricaCell: +27 73 660 1920E–mail: cmaphosa@ufh.ac.za

INTRODUCTION

One of the basic skills of effective teachingis the ability to ask students questions (Adler1982). Adler (1982) further states that teachersoften ask different questions to students in or-der to ensure that they are fully engaged in learn-ing and are involved in deeper-level thinking.The teacher’s ability to effectively ask questionsdoes not only assist in extracting factual infor-mation from students but it also helps in stu-dents’ making connections in concepts learnt,make inferences, increase awareness, encour-age critical thinking and other necessary ingre-dients of deep learning (Tagg 2003). Tagg (2003:70) further states that;

Deep learning is learning that takes root inour apparatus of understanding, in the embed-ded meanings that define us and that we use todefine the world.

Making meaning out of what is learnt be-comes an imperative of deep learning. To thisend, students understanding of concepts learntcan be enhanced by appropriate use of ques-tions. Research indicates that questioning is only

second to lecturing as a teaching technique. Thisshows that teachers spend a lot of instructionaltime asking questions in class. However, it isalways necessary to examine the effectivenessof the use of questions in enhancing learning.

Questioning is considered an influentialteaching act because it is the most basic wayteachers use to stimulate participation, thinkingand learning in the classroom (Blosser 2010). Aquestion is any sentence which has an interrog-ative form or function. In classroom settings,teacher questions are defined as instructionalcues or stimuli that convey to students the con-tent elements to be learned and directions forwhat they are to do and how they are to do it(Cotton 2010). The million dollar question to askis “Do teachers know what kind of questionsthey ask most frequently?” Research on thequestions teachers ask shows that about 60 per-cent require only recall of facts, 20 percent re-quire students to think, and 20 percent are pro-cedural in nature (Blosser 2010).

Leslie (2012) asserts that the art of askingquestions is an ancient part of good teachingand one of the basic skills all teachers should beable to master. Socrates believed that knowledgeand awareness were an intrinsic part of eachlearner. Leslie further points out that in exercis-ing the craft of good pedagogy a skilled educa-tor must reach into learners’ hidden levels ofknowing and awareness in order to help themreach new levels of thinking through thought-fully developed questions. Teachers should

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therefore hone their questioning skills by prac-ticing asking different types of questions, andtry to monitor their teaching so that they in-clude varied levels of questioning skills.

WHAT IS QUESTIONING?

Questioning is regarded as an influentialteaching act since it is the most fundamentalway teachers use to motivate participation,thinking and learning in the classroom (Blosser2010). Most authors view a question as any sen-tence which has a probing form or function. Inclassroom situations, teacher questions are de-fined as instructional nods or spurs that conveyto students the content elements to be learnedand guidelines for what they are to do and howthey are to do it. The million dollar question toask is “Do teachers know what kind of ques-tions they ask most frequently?” Research onthe questions teachers ask shows that about 60percent require only recall of facts, 20 percentrequire students to think, and 20 percent are pro-cedural in nature (Blosser 2010).

The second Princile (2012) asserts that theskill of asking questions is an olden part of goodteaching and one of the basic skills all teachersshould be able to master. It was believed thatunderstanding and awareness were a fundamen-tal part of each learner. Leslie (2012) also pointsout that in exercising the skill of good instruc-tion, an experienced teacher must reach intolearners’ hidden levels of knowing and atten-tiveness so as to help them stretch to new levelsof intellectual through considerately craftedquestions.

IMPORTANCE OF QUESTIONING INTEACHING AND LEARNING

It is common knowledge that a learner is bydefault a questioner. The drive in any humanbeing to increase expertise, knowledge or skillsis driven by disbelief, astonishment and confu-sion of the need, or inquisitiveness (Bond 2010).This ensures that the learner formulates andpursues an issue so as to come up with answersto. This could take a different form from a merequestion that looks for pure facts to multifacet-ed ones that investigates notions or principles.Furthermore, an answer that solves the learningneed may be provided from such questions ormay generate further questions. This implies

that teachers should ask relevant and well-con-structed questions instead of vague questions.

There are different purposes for classroomquestioning as suggested by Akandi (2009: 10)in Fakeye and Ayede (2013) and The SecondPrinciple (2012). One of the purposes is that ques-tioning stimulates students’ thinking and devel-ops their zeal to participate in the teaching andlearning process. Through questioning teach-ers are able to ascertain students’ preparednessfor lessons and. questioning enhances studentscritical thinking skills. Questioning also allowsteachers to assess work done previously in termsof achievement of set learning outcomes. Teach-ers are therefore encouraged to utilise more learn-er-centred teaching approaches as opposed totraditional methods of teaching which promoterote learning.

Questions in the teaching and process arevital as they motivate or drive students to thinkcritically in multidimensional ways. Well-con-structed questions should not be directed at onecorrect answer only as the majority of teachersmay think. It is believed that due to people’spreoccupation with their cell phones and socialmedia, there is a possibility of danger of losingsuch capabilities to relate person-to-person atmeaningful intellectual levels (Leslie 2012; Fak-eye 2007).

Without asking questions, we cannot findsolutions to problems. This is supported by(The Second Principle 2012; Erickson 2007; Le-slie 2012) when they point out that encouraginglearners to reflect, to learn and to recall throughasking them questions is a very primordial formof education and it must be understood andmaintained. Educative questions turn to advancepedagogical purposes, classroom purposes andeducational ends. For example they facilitate stu-dent thinking and enhance participation (Dilton2012).

TYPES OF QUESTIONS

There are different types of questions teach-ers can use to in ensuring effective use of ques-tioning for improved teaching and learning (Uni-versity of Kansas 2012; Leslie 2012; Blosser 2010;Erickson 2007; Fakeye 2007). There are probingquestions which require learners to go beyondtheir first answer (University of Kansas 2012).What it therefore means is that following teach-er questions will be formed on the basis of what

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students would have said. Under probing ques-tions there are clarifying questions in which stu-dents are asked to elucidate their responses.Students may also be required to rephrase theirstatements or elaborate on their points. Thereare also questions on increasing critical aware-ness where students are required to validate andsubstantiate their responses. In such a way stu-dents learn to give reasons as justification fortheir responses to questions. Questions maydwell on refocusing and students will be requiredto give implications of their responses or relat-ing their responses to a given scenario. Suchtypes of questions evoke higher order thinkingin students (Wellington and Osborne 2001).

There are also prompting questions in whichstudents are asked questions in order to stimu-late them to think (Leslie 2012). Students may begiven a scenario to examine and in analysing thegiven scenario they are stimulated to think crit-ically. In ensuring the promotion in interactivityin the learning process the teacher may redirecta question to another student: In this case, aftera student has given his/her response, anotherstudent is asked to elaborate on the same issuebut giving his/her own views and implications.In this way, students learn from each other andgive different opinions on the same issue

Teaches may also make use of factual ques-tions which are asked to inspire students to re-call what they would have learnt in previouslessons. Under normal circumstances, the teach-er uses verbs such as where, who, when andwhat when asking such questions. Factual ques-tions require practically modest, simple andstraight forward response grounded on evidentrealities. These are at the bottom level of rea-soning and in most cases responses could ei-ther be right or wrong.

Divergent questions are part of factual ques-tions that may be employed by teachers. Suchtypes of questions have no definite answer, asstudents will be required to explore a variety ofpossibilities. It is believed that they require bothabstract and concrete reasoning to explore themost possible responses. Divergent questionsenable students to discover different possibili-ties and come up with a variety of answers (TheSecond Principle 2012; Leslie 2012). Studentswill be required to evaluate, investigate, assess,or create a knowledge base and then come upwith different conclusions (University of Kan-sas 2012; Leslie 2012; Ames and Ames 2004).

Higher order questions can be utilised inteaching and learning to allow students to re-spond after critically engaging with issues rath-er than merely recalling them. Such questionsrequire students to generalise responses asso-ciated to realities in meaningful forms (Universi-ty of Kansas 2012). For example, in evaluation,students will be required to exercise judgementbased upon a comparison of viewpoints to usu-al criteria. Comparison will entail students’ ex-amination of relationships between issues andideas. Students’ capability in drawing similari-ties and differences on issues under examina-tion is an important higher cognitive ability.

Questions should also allow for applicationin which students are required to use a conceptor principle in a context different from that inwhich she/he learned it. Through use of appli-cation questions, learning ceases to be merelytheoretical but becomes practical. Applicationquestions are closely related to problem-solv-ing ones. In problem solving, students will berequired to refer to known knowledge so as tobe able to find a solution (Ames and Ames 2004).Acquisition of knowledge, skills and values inlearning is motivated by a strong desire to solveproblems. This is contrary to acquisition ofknowledge for knowledge’s sake.

It is also important for teachers to use ques-tion related to the affective domain. Accordingto the University of Kansas (2012), such ques-tions provoke expressions of student’s attitudeor feelings. It is vital to develop appropriate atti-tudes and values in students. Use of questionswhere students reflect on issues and bring in feel-ings and attitudes assists in inculcating impor-tant and requisite values as deemed by society.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEENQUESTIONING METHODS AND

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

A scenario whereby questions are posed asteaching progresses has been found to be moreproductive in producing positive outcomes thanteaching whereby students are not asked anyquestions (Cotton 2010). It is believed that stu-dents perform better on test items previouslyasked as recitation questions than on items theyhave not been exposed to before. This goes tosay that verbal questions asked during class-room presentations are more effective as in mostcases they promote deep learning as opposed

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to surface learning promoted through writtenquestions. Fakeye and Ayede (2013) noted thatif students are to be successful in any examina-tion, this entirely depends on the calibre of teach-ers who ask good questions during the teach-ing and learning process as this expedite learn-ing Oshodi (1998), Duyilemi and Duyilemi (2002)in their studies in Fakeye and Ayede (2013), ech-oed that students cannot be expected to per-form above the calibre of the teachers. In hisown contribution, Bangbade (2004) found outthat teachers’ qualities have a substantial con-nexion with students’ academic achievement.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING THEORY

The social constructivist learning theoryadvances the view that learning does not solelytake place within the individual but that it is asocial process. Learning is also not a passivedevelopment of behaviours that are influencedby external forces (McMahon 1997). The theoryfurther reveals that meaningful learning occurswhen individuals are engaged in social activi-ties. Questioning becomes important in ensur-ing that students are involved in social activi-ties as inquirers into knowledge. Through theuse of well conceptualised questions, studentsare able work together to inquire into issues andsole problems.

Social constructivism, as advanced by Vy-gotsky (1982), gives preeminence on the role ofthe significant others in knowledge construction.The teacher in this case of teaching and learningin a higher education environment is the ‘signifi-cant other’ responsible for mediating learningenvironments for students. This mediation is doneby use of questions to provide students with di-rection of what to engage in as they become ac-tive learners in student-centred learning activi-ties (Gray 2002). Furthermore, questions are uti-lised to assist students to construct their ownmeaning by building on their previous knowl-edge and experience. Another important peda-gogical practice in social constructivism is scaf-folding which encourages dialogue between stu-dents and teachers. Scaffolding makes use ofquestions to assist students to understand con-cepts taught. In responding to questions, stu-dents will be required to elaborate their respons-es as well as justify their opinions.

In anchored instruction, social constructiv-ism advocates learning environments that aredesigned to provoke thoughtful engagement thathelps students develop effective thinking skillsand attitudes that contribute to effective prob-lem solving and critical thinking. Such engage-ment is also made possible by effective use ofquestioning. Lecturers’ use of higher order ques-tioning allows critical thinking in students andnormally such thinking is targeted towards solv-ing real life social problems. In this regard, learn-ing becomes important in solving problems incontrast to acquisition of knowledge for knowl-edge’s sake.

QUESTIONING AS AN ASPECT OFINTERACTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

The ability of a lecturer to ask questions isan important element in the learning process(Albergaria et al 2012). Through use of effectivequestioning in the learning process, studentsare assisted to expand their knowledge. Ques-tions ‘cognitive disequilibrium’ in students andensure that they think critically to provide an-swers to their states on mental uneasiness(Graesser and Olde 2003: 525). Questioning en-ables students to develop different cognitivelevels of handling information and such levelsare acquisition, specialisation and integrationof knowledge (Cardosoa and Almeida 2014). Onthe same note, Hofstein et al. (2005) supportquestioning that promotes higher cognitive lev-el capabilities, such as critical analysis and prob-lem solving. This is in line with calls that today’seducation should place emphasis on develop-ing and inculcating students higher-order think-ing skills and conceptual understanding (Lauand Yuen 2010).

One of the interactive teaching approachesinvolves the method of action learning whichprovides for the organization of self-learningenvironments and allows students to solve prob-lems (Yakovleva and Yakovlev 2014). Similarly,Etemadzadeha et al. (2013) argue that question-ing, as a teaching strategy, assists to promotestudents to think critically. So apart from pro-moting interactivity in the classroom, question-ing assists in inculcating critical minds in stu-dents as they deal with different types of ques-tions from the lower order to higher ones. Thisbuttresses the view by Wilen (1991) that stu-dents’ learning, thinking, participation and their

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engagement during lessons depend on how theteacher formulates and asks questions. Hence,emphasis on the importance of the teacher’s artof questioning (Wilen 1991).

Effective questioning is also important inpromoting cooperative learning, which is a crit-ical element of interactive learning. Felder andBrent (2007: 34) define cooperative learning as;

… students working in teams on an assign-ment or project under conditions in which cer-tain criteria are satisfied, including that theteam members be held individually account-able for the complete content of the assignmentor project.

In such an approach different goals such asthe academic, affective and social ones are pro-moted and achieved at the same time. The ap-proach does not only seek to develop thinkingskills but social skills as well. Clear questioninginstructions should be given to ensure that stu-dents are aware of expectations in the grouptask.

Importance of Student Participation inLearning

Students’ participation in the learning pro-cess is informed by the constructivist learningtheory or belief structure is a theory built on theassumption that knowledge is constructed bystudents’ participation in provided learning ex-periences (Driscoll 2005). Through questioning,students’ participation in learning is enhancedand they become more involved in constructingknowledge by collaborating with other students.Questioning promotes active learning and as-sists students to derive meaning from what theyexperience (Alessi and Trollip 2001).

As observed by Jones and Araje (2002) cit-ed in Ndebele and Maphosa (2013) student in-teraction in learning is informed by a construc-tivist view of learning which places emphasison students’ active engagement with content.In constructivist earning environments, learn-ers’ assume more responsibility and being moreactive in learning (Köksal 2009). Through use ofquestioning learners are directed on the differ-ent active learning activities that they shouldengage in and this in a way promotes their par-ticipation in learning. Active learning allows stu-dents to exercise higher order thinking as op-posed to passive listening (Cherney 2008). Lec-turers are, therefore, encouraged to make use of

higher order questions to stimulate thinking instudents.

Students’ in-class participation is alsodeemed important as it enhances their classroomexperience (Allred and Swenson 2006). Studentsshould not be passive listeners in classrooms.There should be planned and deliberate attemptsto actively involve them in the learning process.Effective use of questioning assists in promot-ing lecturer-student as well as student–studentinteraction for enhanced learning.

The university teacher should develop theart of questioning in order to effectively utilisequestion for enhanced teaching and learning.The fundamental issue is for the teacher to beaware of the purpose of using question, whichinclude, among other reasons to increase moti-vation or interest, to evaluate students’ prepa-ration, to develop critical thinking skills, to ac-tively involve students in the lesson, to nurtureinsights, to assess achievement or mastery ofgoals and objectives and to stimulate indepen-dent learning (Marzano et al. 2001).

IMPLICATIONS FOR STAFFACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

Academics teaching in universities may findthemselves not adequately equipped as teach-ers (Stes et al. 2010; Maphosa and Mudzielwa-na 2014). Such staff members may be experts intheir disciplines with no formal training in facili-tation of learning. While there are calls for theprofessionalization of teaching in the university(Simon and Pleschová 2012), there is still needfor continuous and sustained academic profes-sional development programmes in the univer-sities. These programmes should be meant toequip academics, particularly those with no for-mal qualifications, with basic skills in teachingand learning.

On the importance of staff academic devel-opment in the university Seyoum (2012: 2) statesthat;

It is strongly underpinned that profession-al development activities through professionaltraining and interaction improve universityinstructors’ professional proficiencies and thequality of student learning. Indeed, it is basedon the empowerment and dedication of teach-ers to take ownership of improving their con-tinuous practices …

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It is clear from the above cited view that theultimate purpose of any academic staff develop-ment programme is enhancement of studentlearning. Handling questioning in classrooms isone such area that university teachers wouldrequire professional development in. in this re-gard, emphasis should be placed on the utilisa-tion of questioning to promote interactive learn-ing approaches.

On stressing the need for professional de-velopment in the university, Berg and Haung(2004) observe that such development shouldfocus on proven and useful instructional prac-tices and ways to incorporate these into under-graduate teaching for improved student learn-ing marked by increased student engagement,retention and success. Academics in the univer-sity would only be in a position to improve teach-ing and learning approaches if they are exposedto such approaches as well as to theories thatinform such practices. Similarly, Scott (2006)underscores the need to embrace more activelearning strategies in university teaching. Aca-demics should be exposed to different activelearning strategies and their benefits in improvedinstruction.

Staff development programmes played a piv-otal function in ensuring that teacher compe-tencies were enhanced (Singh 2011). One of thecompetencies could be the utilisation of ques-tioning to promote interactive learning. Graham(2011) points out that knowledge, skills attitudesand performance of staff members have a directimpact on the quality and effectiveness of theirwork in the university. It is therefore significantthat where knowledge and skills gaps are identi-fied in teaching capacities of lecturers, such gapshave to be attended to by continuous and sus-tained staff academic development programmes.

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