Keeping focused during questioning sessions
What are some methods to use to keep students on target with their questions and responses?
Sometimes keeping students on-track can be challenging. I usually restate the question and move to a student who is not participating to try to get the class back on-topic.
agree.
sharing personal experiences at the same time keeping focused on the course engages students
keep active, make, roam with eye contact so everyone focuses on you as you speak. build up to a larger question.
Hi Lawrence, Our Medical Faculty have the same problem! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
As an instructor at a technical school for automobile repair during any given lesson I invariably get asked to diagnose a student's automobile through a series of questions. I have to get back on track without sarcastically commenting "let me get my crystal ball out".
Hi Matt, Thanks for your post to the forum. I agree that it is essential for instructors to "read" the engagement of their students and as you point out, make adjustments accordingly. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
This is tricky as I find that if a student is already struggling, questioning sessions can provide and opportunity to tune out. Using a variety of questions from a range of topics is useful. Also, providing short breaks helps when students are distracted or disengaged.
Showing how the material is relevant or relates to contemporary issues/trends is also helpful
Sometimes I make a game of answering questions by ringing a bell whenever a student makes a correct answer. The students get a kick out of it and it makes it fun and less stressful. It also makes the class less boring. It is also fun for me as an instructor.
Thanks for those suggestions. I do find that students like to veer off onto slightly different topics and find it hard to stay focused sometimes. I will try these techniques this term! Repeating the question and tying it into the answer-response seems very straightforward and easy to do.
Hi Sultana, Thanks for sharing good suggestions for effective questioning!
Susan Polick
Question and answer session is a very important part of my lecture class. Usually i praise the student who comes with a correct answer. Sometime add some extra credits. Some students have irrelevant questions,I prepare a parking lot on the corner of the board, if time permit we discuss the questions in class or I ask the student to meet me after class. keep focus in Q/A session is very important.
Hi Richard, Yes, students do enjoy relating what they are learning to their own experiences! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
When a student asks a question, I will typically go around the room and have a student answer the question if they know the answer. This helps me to keep all of the students involved in what is going on in the lecture. Alot of times I will also ask leading questions, like, "Can anyone give me an example of when you might use geometry in your everyday life?" This gives the students an opportunity to think of a subjective answer, and maybe come up with a time when they might use it, which will lead to more questions.
I tend to keep questions brief and to the point. Whenever questions appear too broad, students tend to beat about the bush because they seem not to really know what the indtructor wants.
If, however, the question asked by the instructor is brief and a student seems to miss the point by addressing other unrelated issues, one can respectfully re-direct the student to the question. One can also appreciate the attempt (e.g. "good try") while the question is re-directed to others in the class.
Use of examples and utilizing a wait time for a response.
I find myself doing the same thing rewording to engage each student.
Students engaged in the questioning process benefit from the clarification of concepts. I monitor, watch over and have students seated in groups of four, students are formulating collective responses to a focus on.
I provide students with reading prompts on the forums. We discuss the content in class. The students are generally prepared for class discussion based on their forum responses. They are free to discuss personal experiences that relate to the class content.
Methods I use to keep students on target with their question and responses are;
Praising students for their participation and responses
Ask if others can elaborate more on a classmates response
Ask open-ended questions
