Effective Questioning in Classroom

In the digital age, where the access to unlimited information and resources has become so easy, it is rather illogical to reckon that teachers are responsible for knowledge transfer only. Today, teachers’ responsibility should be to ensure that their students are educated as active and creative individuals who are able to inquire, think critically, solve real world problems, and reflect what they have learned into their own lives. In this context, for the development of these skills in students, the teachers should benefit from effective in-class questioning techniques. Teachers use questioning techniques to engage students in the learning process, encourage them to think, provide them with the opportunity to share their ideas about a subject, and measure the level of learning (Jacques, Cian, Herro & Quigley, 2020; Walsh & Hodge, 2016; Wang, Chai & Hairon, 2017). This study aims to examine the level of benefit that the teachers get from in-class questioning techniques in terms of school type (public and private), gender, seniority, and branch.
The study was designed according to causal comparison research design (Büyüköztürk, Kılıç Çakmak, Akgün, Karadeniz & Demirel, 2009). "In-Class Question Asking Techniques Scale (ICQATS)" developed by Büyükalan Filiz, Çelik and Toraman (2018) was used to collect data. The scale consists of 20 items in total and has five factors (dimensions): (1) Motivation, (2) Technical Characteristics of Questions Asked, (3) The Frequency of Benefiting from Questions, (4) The relationship between Question & Feedback, and (5) Asking Questions as a Means of Evaluation. The data were obtained from teachers working in a public and a private secondary school (252 public school teachers and 201 private school teachers) in İzmir, where data can be easily collected. In addition, the most important criterion for participation has been the principle of volunteering. The sampling method used in the study is purposeful sampling. Data were collected online via Google Forms. Face-to-face applications were avoided because of the pandemic. Descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U Test and Kruskal Wallis Test, which are nonparametric comparison tests, were used in the analysis of the data. Nonparametric tests were preferred since the data did not show a normal distribution as a result of the normality test. The results revealed that, in terms of the in-class questioning techniques according to the type of school in which teachers work, there are significant differences in asking questions motivationally, in the frequency of benefiting from questions, and in asking questions as a means of evaluation (U = 677, p <.05; U = 704, p <.05. U = 187, p <.05). In this context, private school teachers use questions for motivational purposes more than public school teachers, they use questions more, and use these questions more as a means for evaluation. However, there is no significant difference between the technical characteristics of the questions asked by the teachers in terms of school type and the question-feedback relationship (p> .05). When the teachers' level of using in-class questioning techniques was analyzed in terms of gender, no significant difference was found in the dimensions of the in-class questioning techniques scale (p>.05). Similarly, when the level of benefit that the teachers get from in-class questioning techniques in terms of seniority and branch was analyzed, no significant difference was found (p> .05). In conclusion, it is essential for teachers to use questions that arouse curiosity in students, motivate them towards the lesson and learning, and make a connection between what they learn and what they already have, and questioning techniques, which is a core element of the learningteaching process. It is an important finding that private school teachers benefit from in-class questioning techniques more than public school teachers. In this context, reevaluation of the use of questioning techniques by public school teachers and creating appropriate learning environments where their students can benefit more from these techniques will increase students' motivation towards the lesson and contribute to the development of various thinking skills in students. Therefore, it can be suggested that public school teachers improve themselves by participating in in-service trainings on how to use different questioning techniques and learning from the research in the related field.

Keywords: question, questioning techniques, teacher.

Recently, developing students' thinking, especially critical thinking (CT), has become a hot issue. Critical thinking has been claimed to have an important impact on learners' reading comprehension because it can help them analyze, evaluate, construct their thinking, solving problems and reasoning (Ennis, 1989). However, the extent that teachers' classroom activities contribute to developing students' critical thinking has rarely been researched. The current case study was conducted with six EFL high school teachers and 10 reading lessons in Vietnam to explore the teachers' use of questions and to analyze if these questions could facilitate the students' critical thinking. Classroom observations and the cognitive domain of Bloom's taxonomy were adapted as the research instruments. The study results reveal common types of questions are often used by high school teachers in their reading lessons. Suggestions are made on types of questions that teachers should function more in their class in order to enhance students' critical thinking.

Questioning is a familiar, everyday practice which we use, often unreflectively, in order to gather information, communicate with each other, and advance our inquiries. Yet, not all questions are equally effective and not all questioners are equally adept. Being a good questioner requires a degree of proficiency and judgment, both in determining what to ask and in deciding who, where, when, and how to ask. Good questioning is an intellectual skill. Given its ubiquity and significance, it is an intellectual skill that, I believe, we should educate for. In this paper, I present a central line of argument in support of educating for good questioning, namely, that it plays an important role in the formation of an individual’s intellectual character and can thereby serve as a valuable pedagogical tool for intellectual character education. I argue that good questioning plays two important roles in the cultivation of intellectual character: good questioning (1) stimulates intellectually virtuous inquiry and (2) contributes to the development of several of the individual intellectual virtues. Insofar as the cultivation of intellectually virtuous character is a desirable educational objective, we should educate for good questioning.

Classroom questioning is the teacher’s key tool that is widely and extensively used to propose a problem to students in order to stimulate their thinking skills. Addressing questions in a classroom contributes to the creation of a positive learning environment with special emphasis on the social context that heavily impacts the extent of learning. According to Vygotsky’s theory of Zone of Proximal Development, social interaction with adults and more knowledgeable partners is seen to strongly influence the progress of learning on the part of the learners; teachers are thus found to contribute much to such interactions through their extensive use of a wide range of questions. This paper aims at analyzing as well as drawing an analogy between the different questioning strategies implemented by English literature and mathematics teachers in classroom settings.

Keywords— Bloom’s Taxonomy, English literature classes, Mathematics classes, Questioning techniques.

When teachers see students getting frustrated as they work a challenging math problem, it's tempting to break down the problem for them and guide them step by step—tempting, but ill-advised. Telling students what steps to take doesn't give them a chance to do "productive struggle," to understand mathematical ideas and the relationships between them more deeply. The authors instead recommend that teachers prepare purposeful questions they can pose to students who get stuck, questions that help students think about what they already know that applies to this math task, reflect on how various concepts and ideas might connect, and engage in mathematical reasoning. Using extended examples, they suggest the kinds of general questions teachers should keep handy to get students started (What do you know? What do you need to know?) and the kind of questions connected to the specific lesson that will make the underlying mathematics more visible (What do you know about finding the area of a square that might help here?).

What is the Socratic method? How can we bring the Socratic method into the middle school and high school classroom? How does one lead a Socratic discussion? How does one develop the discussion skills of students? Using passages from the works of Plato and Xenophon, Teach Like Socrates answers each of these questions, clearly explaining the most famous and the most misunderstood teaching method in the world. Unrivaled as a constructive method for guidance in critical thinking and problem solving, the Socratic method can be brought into the classroom every day for the inductive exploration of ideas and scaffolded problem solving as well as for cooperative discussion. The book includes templates, sample lesson plans, and discussion games. Socratic teaching leads students to critical thinking, problem solving, and independent learning. Every teacher should be familiar with the Socratic method.

The importance of teachers’ questioning strategy cannot be underestimated due to its widespread usage and pivotal role in teaching and learning regardless of grades and subjects. This qualitative case study de- sign was employed to investigate middle school mathematics teachers’ awareness of asking two types of questions, probing and guiding. The study further explores teachers’ habits or skills of questioning and their acquisition of this behavior through face-to-face interviews with four middle school mathematics te- achers. It was found that teachers were asking questions consciously and purposefully. Also, teachers’ answers revealed that why questions require more higher order thinking than how questions. For the second question, several themes emerged indicating how to acquire more effective questioning skills; student teac- hing or field experiences, watching and observing their colleagues, and workshops. It was also found that the colleges our participants attended did not provide good education for developing questioning skills. Video clips played important roles in reminding teachers what and why they taught. Importance of letting teachers’ watch their own teaching’s videotape and questioning strategies in teacher trainings was discus- sed.