Effective Questioning
What questions do you currently use when talking with students? How do you know they are effective?
I ask what has changed in your life bringing you here today?
Great, Julie! Open ended questions are best for discovering information about the prospective student! When might you use a closed ended question?
Elizabeth Wheeler
I ask ask questions such as "what in your life brought you to the decision to go to school"?
I also ask about different obstacles and things of that nature. I try to ask open ended questions to get to know the student and what their specific needs are
I ask ask questions such as "what in your life brought you to the decision to go to school"?
I also ask about different obstacles and things of that nature. I try to ask open ended questions to get to know the student and what their specific needs are
I always greet the student with a smile and make he or she feel at home. I ask the student what they are looking for in a school. What made them chose this school. This tends to have the student open up and also may expose any unreasonable expectations.
I like questions that generate responses that expose students true feelings.
It is beneficial to use closed question when redirecting conversation back to the original communication when student is getting side tracked. I also think that asking a closed question is a great tool to use when one wants to just get to the point.
Great, Sylvia! Skilled questioning using open questions really engages prospective students in true exploration. When might it be beneficial to use a closed question?
Elizabeth Wheeler
I use a lot of open questions because many times students do not tell the whole story nor the background story. They just want to resolve the issues. Open questions allow me to get into the details and to do some fact finding. I know that asking open questions is effective because it allows me to give them the correct response to their inquiries and most of the time solves the issue.
Excellent, Jessica! Helping students discover their goals is essential.
Elizabeth Wheeler
After some general rapport questions I ask "what is your goal after completing the program?" I try to uncover what the goal is and what program is the best fit for their goal. I also ask "Have you shared your interest in attending our program with your friends or family yet?" This gives me insight on the seriousness of the student and if they have support from their parents or spouse. I use "When are you able to come take a tour?" That leads to "It sounds like you are ready to apply.." or "It sounds like this is a long term goal..."
when first meeting the students when training, one of my first questions are what made you want to get into the trucking industry, because i want to know if the student really wants to make a career being a truck driver or is it something that they just wanted to try just because. but either i train and teach them everything from top to bottom. i sometimes ask what are their goals in life and and have they accomplished any, so i can try and give them the best training ever to succeed in and say they have accomplished one of their goals in life.
Bernadette,
Great questions to start a conversation. It sounds like you concentrate on building rapport while discovering the prospective student's goals. How do they typically react to these questions?
Dr. Jean Norris
With new students, I ask them what their intentions are and how do they plan to use their degree. These are effective ice-breaker questions and helps to establish a good rapport between the advisor and the student.
After introduction, We have several programs so what program are you looking for. I ask what got you interested in this field? Why do you think you are a fit for this type of work/career... When are you looking to start this new career is my closer.....
Opened question when a want to underrating the details of a petition or situation and close question when I want to focused the student in to the solution for a situation.
Scott,
These are great questions for getting to know a prospective student. Thank you for posting!
Dr. Jean Norris
Veronica,
You're absolutely right that open questions allow you to discover the most information. When is an appropriate time to use a closed question?
Dr. Jean Norris
Veronica,
Great! Thank you for your post!
Dr. Jean Norris
Scott,
These are great ways to open up a conversation with prospective students. Do you also ask questions to help them discover what their goals are?
Dr. Jean Norris
