I love these scenerio questions because it helps them to think through the problem to come up with a solution.
Hi John - Welcome to Ed 103! Humor is indeed terrific to use in the classroom. It's so much a part of me that my students expect it! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I like to use real world questioning. For example, if we did this, what could be the expected results? So I guess opening ended question would be my preferred method of questioning.
In addition, sometimes I will ask a student to look up a fact in the text or on the internet. Then I have them share the answer with the class. I do this very respectfully and sometimes I use humor. I prefer to use humor with myself as the focus of the humor. It breaks the ice and keeps students interested
Hi Herb- Welcome to Ed 103! Thanks for your post to the forum - great ideas on getting students involved! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I like to begin by asking simple questions from the reading assignment to see if I get quick, correct answers. This tells me if they have read it or maybe not, and indicates how much of the "teaching" of the material I will have to do.
I also ask more difficult questions in general that let students build on previous students responses. That will sequentially lead them to build steps to the solution.
A couple of techniques I use are: 1. Connecting the subject matter to possible personal situations..'have you, family members, friends even been in this situation etc... and 2. Always looking to 'current events' to tie to the subject matter...students seem to like this and eventually will bring into discussions things they have read or seen.
I like to use scenario type questions. I will set up the scenario and encourage the students to get involved.
What are some questioning techniques you have used that were successful in getting students to participate in class discussions?
I try using different types of questions. I find that students like to talk about themselves and get bored with me talking all the time. Encouraging students to talk about their experiences and relating to what we are learning is key. We all learn together in that way.
Bobbi Bricker
HI Kimberly- Welcome to ED 103! I like the idea of having the shyer students come up with some of the topics for questions. They participate but are not immediately put on the spot.
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career and all the best in 2010! Susan
Hi Brian - Thanks for your post to the forum. Using current events items is always a great way to get your students participating. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career and all the best in 2010! Susan
I agree that asking open ended questions is important. I especially like to use questions that start with "why" to get students to think critically.
I like to use examples from current events in my classroom discussions. I teach legal courses and there always interested cases in the news. This is a good way to involve students in class discussions and get them to think and share their thoughts.
I usually pose the question topic. I have a few students that will not particapate so I let them pose the topic only pertaining to the information that was discussed in class and this seems to be a good solution to get the class to open up.
I ask the students to write down qustions they have about the information as they read it for homework. I also issue "Study Guides" for each lesson so the student can answer these questions at their own pace. I use these as review questons and ask students to expand on the more factual information using applications for different situations.
HI Linnie- Thanks for your posts to the forum! You are doing a great job at showing your students how what they are learning is relative to their future careers.
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career and happy New Year! Susan
Hi Debra- You are doing an amazing job st helping your students to learn to apply their learning to their future careers. Best wishes and Happy New Year! Susan
I like to ask open ended questions which require more than a “yes” or “no” answer, or ask any kind of thinking question.
I have my students’ complete weekly forums after we have gone over the material for the week and they have started on their homework.
Even in my math classes I have my students’ complete forums by asking them how they can use what they have learned in their field of study or in their current work situation.
Asking practice real - life questions that are open ended and of interest to the students. Also, encouraging participation by being positive when students do answer a question by participating in the class discussion. Sometimes I will also have some "canned" questions prepared to get the discussion rolling for the class if no one participates at the beginning.
I think one of the most important factors in getting students to participate in a questioning session is to make the classroom a "safe" place. This means as an instructor I try to build rapport with each of the students in my class. This is more difficult in larger classes, but there are techniques I use to help students get to know and trust each other--and don't limit these to the first week of class. These include ice breaker exercises and discussion questions where they have to work together. In this way, students feel safer and are more likely to participate in questioning sessions.
Teaching Criminal Justice, I usually open up the discussion with a current issue presented in the field or a case that has media coverage to open with. Then, we can go into the into the different processes or law questions, such as search and seizure, or miranda rights, which leads into the constitutional provisions etc. Instead of just questioning or judging how well they know the provision, it is important that they understand how to apply it in their arguments. Therefore, questioning their thoughts processes makes them really think and able to open the discussion with more questions. Plus this builds their motivation, reinforcement of information, and curousity to explore and find ouy more information. It creates great discussion where they are activly learning without really realizing it.
