p. 26 | Talk on Questioning

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 6, 1909

Talk on Questioning

ONE of the most important qualifications of a teacher is the ability to question well. Though this can not come without experience, attention to the following points will enable you to improve more rapidly:—

The prime requisite for intelligent questioning is a thorough, accurate, analytical knowledge of the subject-matter to be taught.

The trend that any discussion is to take must be clear in the mind of the teacher before he can by questions direct the discussion.

Good questions can not be formulated offhand by the unskilful and unpractised teacher; hence many of his questions should be carefully thought out and once formulated in advance.

Distinguish between test questions and thought questions. The former call to consciousness what has already been learned; the latter stimulate the mind to trace out new relations. Though the kind of questions used will depend in part upon the subject-matter treated, all good teaching uses the thought question.

Let your questions be clear and definite. Do not ask questions that are ambiguous, or so vague that it is difficult to tell what you mean. In formulating your questions scrutinize them carefully to see whether a listener, who may not have been following exactly your order of thought, will know what you mean.

Never ask foolish or unanswerable questions.

Do not ask leading questions; that is, questions which imply their own answers through the form in which they are asked, the inflection of the voice, etc.

Do not frequently ask questions that can be answered by yes or no. Such questions are legitimate occasionally, to get the assent of the pupil to some proposition that you wish to discuss further. In fact, it is an indication of bad teaching for many questions to be answered by single words. The most helpful schoolroom environment is not where the teacher is simply testing the children, but where teacher and pupils are absorbed in the solution of some problem. Under such conditions questions are asked because the information is desired, and this information will usually have to be expressed in full sentences. Many of the questions, moreover, will be asked by the children; the higher the proportion of questions thus asked, the greater the presumption in favor of efficient teaching.

Choose your words carefully, and state your questions in as few words as will make your meaning intelligible.

State your question once, and wait for reply. Do not become nervous if the children do not answer at once. Allow them time to think their answer and formulate it well. . . .

If the class, after reasonable time for reflection, can not answer the question, this is usually a sign that you need to ask another question in regard to some more familiar fact which will enable them to understand the first point. For example, the child who can not tell the number of square feet in a square yard will probably be able to give the number of linear feet in a linear yard, and on this basis would be able to construct a square yard and compute its area. The ability to change quickly one's plan of procedure to meet an unexpected situation presented by the inability of the child to answer the question asked, is one of the highest tests of efficient teaching. After the lesson is over, analyze the cases of this kind that have occurred, and determine whether you have dealt wisely with them or not. This examination will enable you to meet more successfully similar cases in the future. Remember, however, that there is a limit to what can be developed; many things have to be told outright. Don't encourage guessing by overquestioning. Don't waste time trying to develop something that needs to be told at once.

Let your questions form an organic whole. That is, the sequence should not be determined by haphazard, but should lead up in logical order to some important thought that you wish to develop.

Never repeat the answers of the children. This is a waste of time, and usually an uncalled-for implication that the child can not express his own thought. If he does not so express himself, confine your efforts to helping his expression rather than to relieving him of the responsibility for good expression.

Always state your questions to the entire class. Before you call upon an individual to answer, expect and require every member of the class to attempt to formulate the answer in his own mind. Do not follow any discoverable order in putting questions to individuals, such as the order in which they are seated. Each child should be led to expect that the question may be asked of him even if asked of some one else first.

Do not call merely upon the bright pupils and those who volunteer to answer. The teacher who accepts largely the volunteer recitations of his pupils has ceased to manage and direct the activities of his class. In effect, he allows them to choose upon what they will recite, as if his wish in the matter or his assignment were of no consequence.—Selected.