Questioning Techniques
One major duty of the classroom teacher is to promote thought and inspire inquiry in students (Adedoyin 2010), and one effective way of achieving this outcome is through proper questioning in the classroom. Questioning is an important means of communication between students and teachers as it allows both feedback between the communicator and the receiver.
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" Pre-service teachers rush to get through the content only to discover students don't understand the concepts, being prepared by using good questioning techniques can help prevent this" .... Tim Cummins |
Questioning is an art that initiates initial discussion between peers and/ or to the teacher, as well as allowing students to review the material being discussed between students and the teacher. Putting the focus on students’ questions rather then on teacher’s questions, and valuing students’ questions rather then emphasizing their responses is imperative in supporting learners’ higher levels of thinking (Albergaria-Almeida 2010).
Cotton (2000) and Wilson (2013) summarized a variety of purposes of the teachers classroom questions that emerge from analysis of the literature that include the purpose;
Cotton (2000) and Wilson (2013) summarized a variety of purposes of the teachers classroom questions that emerge from analysis of the literature that include the purpose;
- To develop interest, and motivate students to become actively involved in lessons
- To evaluate students’ preparation and check on homework or seatwork completion
- To develop critical thinking skills and inquiring attitudes
- To review and summarize previous lessons
- To nurture insights by exposing new relationships
- To assess achievement of instructional goals and objectives
- To stimulate students to pursue knowledge on their own
- Reinforce and stimulate further questions.