Gregory,
This is great advice! You seem to have much experience in teaching and it sounds like the students are privileged to be in your class.
Judy Mohammed
I am a fairly new instructor and am learning the art to asking a question. I never ask a question that I cannot answer, but am learning how to ask a question. I generally ask a question leaving it open for any student to answer the question. I was told by a student that one should never directly ask a student a question by name because it puts them on the spot... thus causing a friction from not knowing the question. So I am pretty mindful before I ask a question to one student.
This is a good question as I'm sure we all made mistakes when starting out. My advice would be the following:
1. Pause after asking a question. A new instructor is often locked on the lesson material and going through the next point in their mind. By asking the question and pausing, you allow the class time to respond and generate effective dialogue. It "sets the stage" for the rest of the lesson, term, or course.
2. Let them answer. If the student answers partially or incorrect, probe deeper or redirect to the class. Its always better if the class comes to a concensus (with your guidance) than you just giving the answer. This is another part of setting the stage between the instructor and the class.
3. Be sure you have the answer. Nothing is worse than the instructor giving the wrong answer. If you make a mistake, admit it and move forward. A lot of new instructors ask a question and get a much deeper answer than they expected. This opens a rabbit hole of questions and can quickly overtake the discussion. You can switch to a closed question to close the loop on the discussion and get everyone back on track.
My thoughts anyway!
Regards,
Greg
As a mentor I would tell them to never ask a question that they themselves can't answer. Never ask a question that would one someone up to being made fun of by other students. Last I would teach the new instuctor that they need wait for the student to answer before they move on or give the answer. This is one that I had a hard time doing when I first started to teach. I would give the answer before the student could fully finish his/her thought.
Knowing the students names actually helps connect the question to the student. As an instructor you already know who your strong students or weaker ones. I try to have both strong or weaker students answer my questions in the anticipation that it helps initiate their critical thinking abilities.
Knowing your subject is a very important asset to have, because it gives you confidence when you lecture. Nothing is worse than when you arent sure about your subject. It makes it difficult to ask proper questions, because you infact have questions.
After beginning this questioning course it made me more conscious about my pause time to questions. I realized that I wasn't giving the students enough time to process the questions. Apply this new step in my question and answer session I had more of my weaker student answer more often.
Dianne, You elaborated on the point I made. People in a "real life" discussion blurt out and jump into discussions without waiting for others to stop. Of course, it is not the most POLITE way to do things, but sometimes it does get EVERYONE involved in the topic.
1. Explain the 3 types of questions and the need/importance of all 3.
2. Emphasize the use of open quesions--50% or more questions should be of this type
3.Explain the types of open questions.
Carol: Although I teach college undergrad and graduate courses, sometimes letting them yell the answer out allows for more discussions. They seem to start responding to each other which opens up more questions to discuss.
I let them go for a few seconds and then I say "excuse me, let's discuss what XXX said". It allows some of the quieter students to sometimes join in and not feel "in the spotlight".
Melissa: While I mostly agree with you, I think I must respectfully disagree with your statement that all answers should be accepted. Students need to know that as professors we appreciate their responses, but if it is an incorrect one, that their incorrect answers are corrected immediately. Sometimes it is just a sign that they were not paying attention and not necessarily that they didn't learn the material.
Ward: I teach law and do the exact same thing! I also try to ask them what they like about the course they will be taking, what interests them. Sometimes it helps me to set the course curriculm so that the students are interested.
Ms. Mohammed: I too like the socratic method and would tell the new instructor to tell the class during the first session, that the Professor will be asking questions of the students and that everyone is asked to participate. Secondly, I would tell them to ask questions that they know the answers to, and not to get thrown when a student asks a question that they do not know the answer to. To work through questions with the students. Thirdly, I would tell the instructor to make the questions fun. Incorporate stories about real life situations and then ask questions of the scenario so that the students have fun while learning.
It is true correct and incorrect answers are a simple gauge of students' information retention and understanding. The ball cannot stop rolling there. A standard must be established, adhered to, and used to identify success and failure in the class. By doing so, people can be more readily identified for remedial training/instruction so they can meet the standard. Effective questioning techniques can be utilized to sift through the differing levels of understanding classwide, which enables teachers to do their job despite the drive for numbers/results/profit.
Teachers must beware of subjects that ARE based in simple recall as a foundation. I teach Basic Electricity and Electronic Technology. It is quite frustrating to see students enter an "advanced" class without sound reinforcement of vocabulary, function, and basic description. Every learning event has its phases, so teachers must be careful that students are properly prepared for in-depth questioning prior to doing so.
I would recommend to them to think about and prepare questions ahead of time that can be used to evaluate if the students are learning the material as the class proceeds. Also, to make sure that it is not just one, or a few, students answering but to draw all students into the questioning.
1. learning the student's names so the can be addressed individually.
2. Make sure you know the information well before you ask open questions.
3.Use pausing to allow the students time to answer.
I would ask the instructor to prepare some questions on his lesson for the the class and allow me to review them with him to identify if he is able to make open ended questions and if they are with in the lesson or information that he is providing. I would then encourage him or her to consider writing open ended questions that will allow our students to learn more from their responds
As the mentor of a new instructor, I would encourage the use of more open questions, increased wait time, and the effective use of praise when responding to students. I think that new instructors tend to feel rushed to "get through" a lesson, and can be intimidated by the idea of allowing students to divert the direction of the lesson with incorrect responses to questions. Instead of engaging students, new instructors may stick to simply delivering information.
Good point. Are they really "blurting" or is this the start of a good discussion? In real life conversation and discussion, there are the people who will jump into a discussion immediately and others who have to consider opinions, as well as teachings, before making a response.
I want to say that I see benefits to having students raise their hands before answering (everyone is not talking at one time) and downfalls (when was the last time you had to raise your hand in a faculty meeting to discuss a topic??). If we develop a community of learners that respect each other and institute enough wait time, students "blurting" out may not be as big of an issue. First, "blurting" out would allow students who do not really know the answer to hear some possible answers and then try to decide which one would they believe is the answer. Second, children need to learn how to take turns in talking and respecting others without the raising of hands because that is what the real world expects.
If I was a mentor,I would tell the new teacher to use a variety of questions, both open and closed questions, be sure to leave enough wait time for all students to formulate an answer before responding to a student, and use positive reinforcement and praise to encourage future answering of questions. The teacher should also make it a community of learners. All answers should be accepted whether right or wrong as a sign of where that student is in their understanding and learning.
