Hi Timothy, That is a good point and a good reason to include breaks for questions in our lesson plans. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I usually try to ask questions to students were they have some knowledge bases. This seems of aid in building there confidence.
kh
I don't think any instructor will deny the value of questioning but it is easy to get into the lecture and forget about getting your class engaged by asking questions. When you ask questions of your students it becomes very easy to determine if the student has clarity or not.
In the learning enviroment it is important that students have a opportunity to engage individually and as a group. The participation of group discussions are great, when allowing students to ask questions and also answer them. Its a good way of engaging at a higher level of understanding. Questions are used often to help student understanding and implement different learning styles. These methods help the student as well as the instructor with clarity of content.
At the beginning of each course, I explain to the students that there is specific course content; however, I am interested in other things that they are wanting to know that are related to the subject but are not included in the course content. Those topics are listed on the board. I explain that if they come prepared, so we finish the required content, then they may choose from the other topics to discuss. Sometimes, I use it as a reward for a week of good learning.
While I am teaching, I occasionally stop to ask a question about the information that we are talking about or about a subject that we previously covered in order to show how relevant the information that was previously covered is to the current discussion. I like to see them respond and the feeling of learning come into their faces realizing that they are remembering the information.
Richard
Hi Raymond, Thanks for your post to the forum. I also start with a review of the previous lesson for the same reasons that you cite! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Michelle, I agree, students do relate to questioning that concerns the relevancy of what is being taught.
Susan Polick
I like to start class with questions regarding the last lesson. This opens the discussion and acts as a review as well. Then I gradually introduce new material
Utilizing other cohorts past experiences of questioning students. I have brought own experiences of being a student and having to answer questions in class to light
Hi Stephen, Thanks for your post to the forum. I like to use case studies or scenarios to get students participating. I like your "Book in three pages" idea! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Peggy, Questions and scenarios that demonstrate relevance are always valuable!
Susan Polick
I try to have questions that are something the student will come up with in their massage practice and have the class participate in how they would handle the situation. It makes it interesting for all students to hear what other students would do.
Polick
What are some questioning techniques you have used that were successful in getting students to participate in class discussions?
I use an activity I call “a book in three pagesâ€. I read a book and write a 3-4 page summary/synopsis and pass it out to the class. We read it out loud together and then we discuss the concepts. The book is always a self-help book (for example-“You are the Message†by Roger Ailes) with a bent for improving soft skills. The directed questioning revolves around applying their personal experiences with the book’s learning application. I like this activity because many of my students do not do any reading of books, magazines or newspapers.
Hi Amy, I agree that a brief review of the previous lesson is time well spent!
Susan Polick
Some days i will start class with questions from either previous day content or previous experience that will lead into what we are talking about today so students can see how they apply what they know to build on for the lecture.
Hi William, Thanks for sharing some good examples of effective questioning!
Susan Polick
First, I always instruct the class to always ask questions if they don't understand what was presented. If there weren't any questions, then I would ask several prepared 'open ended' question followed by 'closed ended' questions to ensure understanding. The closed ended questions would be formulated by the responses I obtained from the students.
Hi Nicole, I also teach online and my college made the same adjustments to the facilitation of discussion boards. We also saw much improvement in terms of interactivity.
Susan Polick
Hi Susan,
I work/teach online and in an asynchronous learning format which, as I am sure you can imagine, poses some challenges in terms of classroom discussions. There are discussion board forums the students are required to participate in each week. Many students were initially submitting their work at 11:59 PM on that Sunday prior to the start of the next week, making it difficult to engage in any type of meaningful discussion – which was a problem. In an effort to increase participation as a whole, we have since established parameters around when students are required to submit certain portions of the discussion board assignment throughout the week. As a best practice, faculty members are responsible for posting regularly (e.g. asking follow-up questions) and ensuring their responses follow a 5 to 1 ratio as well. We have found the combination of holding both the students and faculty more accountable for facilitating these discussions in the online classroom has helped to increase participation tremendously!
~ Nicole
