Forty years ago, someone asked a profound question that fundamentally changed how we communicate with each other every day. At the time, I was nine years old living in South Africa. When our family visited my grandfather’s farm for the holidays, the telephone we used was a “party line”, where we would listen for the pattern of rings when the telephone rang to determine if the call was for us or for the next farm over. Hard to believe now–it does not seem that long ago.

At the same time, Marty, a young engineer at Motorola, was given a new assignment. He was asked to lead a team on a project that showed great promise—the next generation of a car radiotelephone. Marty accepted the challenge. However, instead of jumping in, he stepped back and paused, which led him to ask himself a very insightful question.

“Why is it that when we want to call and talk to a person, we have to call a place?” That nagging, insightful question changed the entire trajectory of his work, as he refocused his team’s attention on untethering a person from a place (including a car).

In 1973, Marty made the first cell phone call on a prototype of what would later become the DynaTAC 8000X, lovingly referred to as “the brick”. It cost $4000 and had a battery life of just 20 minutes. That first cell phone marked the beginning of a new era of personal communication.

Our interview with Marty had striking similarities to more than 250 interviews we conducted and 10,000 descriptions of award-winning work we analyzed as part of a comprehensive study on great work. When we traced the genesis of innovation and value creation back to its source, we were surprised to see how many times it began with asking the right question.

The right question can be a disruptive agent, cutting through years of complacency to redirect a team or a company’s focus. It serves as a pointer, aiming us in the direction of the answer. As Einstein put it: “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

From our research, the following three practical assists can inform and enhance the quality of the questions we ask, and lead to great work.

Pause. When a person opens their mind to the kind of ideas that come quietly they unveil the deeper, richer thoughts that are too easily chased away by the adrenaline of taking immediate action. Spend some time alone with your thoughts. Pause to let the purpose of your initiative marinate, percolate, and simmer. In the early stages of a difference-making quest, the simple act of paying attention to your thoughts can provide the few degrees of adjustment that brings about the greatest innovation. Everyone has hunches, impressions, and the fragile beginnings of new ideas still forming. Absorb them. Listen to them. Take counsel from them.

Think about the people. Who will the work or the product benefit? What are they trying to do? What do they value? What do they hope for? I love the question Clayton Christensen posed in The Innovator’s Solution, “what is the job this [product] is being hired to do?” What is hoped for, what outcome is desired, and what benefit will this solution provide to the beneficiary of your work?

What difference would people LOVE? What would the beneficiary of your work really love? Not just like. Not just feel better about. But what difference would they love? That question in particular seems to activate a deeply human power of creative energy inside us. It seems to open our minds beyond the ordinariness of what “is” in favor of what “could be”. In most of our interviews we were intrigued by how many unique versions of this root question appeared, and the prodigious effect it had on outcomes.

The affect of asking the right question is statistically profound. In our research we saw that asking the right question increased the odds of someone’s work having a positive affect on others by 4.1 times. It made the outcome 3.1 times more likely to be deemed important, 2.8 times more likely to create passion in the doer, and perhaps most significant to company leaders, 2.7 times more likely to make a positive impact on the organization’s bottom line.

Whether or not your own effort will generate the impact Marty’s question did, it will significantly influence your ability to produce the kind of products, services and outcomes that people will love.

David Sturt, with the O.C. Tanner Institute, is the author of the NYT Bestseller book  Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love, from McGraw Hill.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidsturt/2013/10/18/are-you-asking-the-right-question/

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The Art of Effective Questioning: Asking the right question for the desired result.

The Value of questions

“Asking good questions is productive, positive, creative, and can get us what we want”.¹Ã‚ Most people believe this to be true and yet people do not ask enough good questions. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that effective questioning requires it be combined with effective listening.

Effective Questions

Effective questions are questions that are powerful and thought provoking. Effective questions are open-ended and not leading questions. They are not “why” questions, but rather “what” or “how” questions. “Why” questions are good for soliciting information, but can make people defensive so be thoughtful in your use of them. When asking effective questions, it is important to wait for the answer and not provide the answer.

When working with people to solve a problem, it is not enough to tell them what the problem is. They need to find out or understand it for themselves. You help them do this by asking them thought provoking questions. Rather than make assumptions find out what the person you are talking to knows about the problem.

For example: “What do you think the problem is?”

Behind effective questioning is also the ability to listen to the answer and suspend judgment. This means being intent on understanding what the person who is talking is really saying. What is behind their words? Let go of your opinions so that they don’t block you from learning more information. Pay attention to your gut for additional information.

Powerful Questions

The following are examples of typical questions. These questions can help you improve your communication and understanding of the client or staff member.

1. Identification of issue:
   These questions can be used in client interviews and meetings, settlement negotiations and to work with others in solving problems.
   What seems to be the trouble?
   What do you make of _________?
   How do you feel about _____________?
   What concerns you the most about _____________?
   What seems to be the problem?
   What seems to be your main obstacle?
   What is holding you back from _________________?
   What do you think about doing X this way?

2. Further information:
   These questions can be used in depositions and to find out what someone has already done to resolve a work problem.
   What do you mean by __________?
   Tell me more about _______________
   What else?
   What other ways did you try so far?
   What will you have to do to get the job done?

3. Outcomes:
   These questions can be used in settlement negotiations or while working with staff to plan how to do something.
   How do you want ____________ to turn out?
   What do you want?
   What is your desired outcome?
   What benefits would you like to get out of X?
   What do you propose?
   What is your plan?
   If you do this, how will it affect ________ ?
   What else do you need to consider?

4. Taking Action:
   These questions can be used in working with staff.
   What will you do? When will you do it?
   How will I know you did it?
   What are your next steps?

Listening as Part of Effective Questioning

The client comes to you, not only for your ability to win a lawsuit, to negotiate a settlement, or draft a document, but also for your wisdom. You evidence your understanding or wisdom by listening to your client – not just asking questions or delivering the service.

When clients are listened to they feel understood and are more trusting of you. Effective listening is a skill that requires nurturing and needs development. Since lawyers are smart, the temptation is to get by with listening at a minimal level. To connect with your client and have them experience you as an effective lawyer requires you to maintain superior listening skills along with asking effective questions.

Factors that may work against effective listening include:

1. A desire to keep control of the conversation.
2. As highly trained professionals, lawyers want to demonstrate their intelligence and skills so they often want to give the answer before they have fully heard the question.
3. Listening may result in hearing the client express feelings and emotions and some lawyers are uncomfortable with emotions and feelings being expressed. They think it is not within a lawyer’s role or that it is unprofessional to do so.

When we really listen to a client, we begin to hear different levels of communication. Getting to a deeper level of understanding, rather than coming up with an immediate answer, is key to more effective problem solving. Listening in this manner allows the client to come up with their own solution or plan of action.

Consider the following different levels of listening:

Level 1 Listening:
When we are listening at level 1 our focus or attention is on how the words the other person is saying affect ourselves with minimal concern for the person talking. We listen for the words of the other person to see how they affect us. The attention is on me – what are my thoughts, judgments, issues, conclusions and feelings. There is no room to let in the feelings of the person being “listened” to. When listening at level 1 our opinions and judgments arise. Level 1 listening is appropriate when you are gathering information for yourself like getting directions or ordering in a restaurant or a store.

Level 2 Listening:
When we listen at level 2, there is a deeper focus on the person being listened to. This often means not even being aware of the context. Our awareness is totally on the other person. We notice what they say as well as how they say it and what they don’t say. We listen for what they value and what is important to them. We listen for what gives them energy or sadness or resignation. We let go of judgment. We are no longer planning what we are going to say next. We respond to what we actually hear.

Level 3 Listening:
When we listen more deeply than the two levels described above, in addition to the conversation we take in all information that surrounds the conversation. We are aware of the context and the impact of the context on all parties. We include all our senses, in particular our intuition. We consider what is not being said and we notice the energy in the room and in the person we are listening to. We use that information to ask more effective questions.

Listening Skills as part of Effective Questioning include:

Articulating
Attention and awareness result in articulation and succinctly describing what we have learned from our client. Sharing our observation clearly but without judgment does this. We can repeat back to our clients just what they said. We can expand on this by articulating back to them what we believe they mean. This helps a person feel heard. For example: “What I hear you saying is . . .”

Clarifying
Clarifying is a combination of asking and clearly articulating what we have heard. By asking questions our client knows we are listening and filling in the gaps. When our client is being vague, it is important for us to clarify the circumstances. We can assist them to see what they can’t see themselves by making a suggestion. For example: “Here’s what I hear you saying. Is that right? ”

Being Curious
Do not assume you know the answer or what your client is going to tell you. Wait and be curious about what brings them to see you. What motivates them? What is really behind the meeting? Use your curiosity so that your next question can go deeper.

Silence Giving the person we are listening to time to answer questions is an important aspect of listening. Waiting for the client to talk rather than talking for them is imperative for an effective listener.

¹Smart Questions

http://www.coachingforchange.com/pub10.html

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The art of questioning – Why asking the right questions can make all the difference!

Asking good questions is probably one of the most important and powerful workplace interpersonal skills.  It’s also one of the most powerful tools available to a manager. Yet it is not something we often stop and think about.

Many problem solving techniques or management tools and models really just provide structures to help us to ask good questions.  We rarely give the questions we ask a second thought. Yet given that these questions can be potentially very powerful, it’s worth gaining a better understanding of how questions can be used effectively.

 

What makes questions so powerful?

So what questions do we ask, and what drives them? Sometimes we ask straightforward questions, which are relatively easy to answer. At other times, we ask more searching questions which are challenging to answer.

The kind of questions we ask will lead us in a certain direction. If we limit the scope of our questions, then we will often be limited in the kind of answers we seek or find.

Researchers have long known that asking questions which only allow a yes or no answer are inhibiting. There is far more value in asking open-ended questions, which allow the respondent to expand, explain or add value to the questioning process. The same applies to the questions we ask in the workplace.

Why you should ask open questions?

Open questions lead to more than a one-word answer, they provide breadth and tend to start with, where, what, how, when, who or which. They are helpful for:

• Gaining more detailed and better quality information.

• Exploring ideas and opinions.

• Crystallising someone’s thoughts.

Closed questions give a narrow focus and usually provide one-word answers and, although useful in some circumstances, should be used sparingly. They usually begin with: Do you….? Should…? Have…? Could….?

Nonetheless, closed questions can be helpful when: checking facts, clarifying a point or providing some direction to the information being gathered.

Questioning tactics

Questioning skills are not just about being aware of the different kinds of questions it’s possible to ask. The real skill in questioning is knowing how to use the different kinds of questions.

You can begin to develop this skill by thinking about how you might combine different types of questions. This means being aware of how questions can complement each other, but this is not as simple as it sounds. It needs practice before the skills can really be developed.

So how do use questions effectively. One way to think about this is to focus on the purpose of the questions and be aware of the tactics you can apply when using them.  Here are some common tactics you can use in asking questions. They broadly fit three kinds of questioning based on whether they are preliminary, probing or possibility questions:

1. Preliminary – Initial information and clarification of facts and feeling – mainly descriptive.

2. Probing – Progressing to probing and analysis.

3. Possibilities – Future and possibility questions.

Questions to avoid

Developing your tactical awareness of which questions to use – and when, is of course an incomplete picture. You also need to be equally aware of which questions to avoid. Questions that are best avoided fall into three categories:

• Leading questions – where you suggest the answer in the question – “Do you think that…”Don’t you think that…”

• Multiple questions – asking several questions at once.

• “Why” questions – use the word “why” sparingly because it can often be associated with sounding critical or can be a very challenging word.  You can still get similar answers by choosing a different way of asking a question.  For example: “tell me about…”, “what do you think are the reason for…”

http://bookboon.com/blog/2013/02/the-art-of-questioning-why-asking-the-right-questions-can-make-all-the-difference/

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To Have the Most Impact, Ask the Right Questions

by Chris Musselwhite and Tammie Plouffe  |   11:00 AM November 12, 2012

• Comments (20)
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Influence is one of the most important competencies of leaders in the twenty-first century. How well a leader can influence is crucial to that leader’s effectiveness as well as his or her organization’s success.

Like all communication, we influence most effectively when we pay careful attention to how our influence is received. Many of you pointed this out in the comments on our blog post about the different influencing styles, noting that all styles of influence can be effective when we keep in mind what’s important to everyone involved. We agree. Paying attention to how your influence is received is important for several reasons.

For starters, the more attentive you are, the sooner you will realize the need to switch or tweak your influencing style to keep the other person open to your position. How quickly you do this is important as it increases your chances of gaining what you want, and as we discussed in our blog post on ineffective influence, it decreases the harm that ineffective influence can have on your relationships and the organization as a whole.

While both — getting what you want and doing no harm — are equally important, the latter may be harder to grasp. After all, if we get what we want, then we’ve influenced effectively, right? Not necessarily. When you repeatedly gain compliance when you really need commitment, over time you weaken your personal effectiveness and create a climate of distrust, which eventually diminishes the organization’s performance.

You are probably thinking, “I would never intentionally behave in a way that is damaging to my organization or myself.” The key word here is intention. Ineffective influence is usually a result of unintentional behavior. It’s human to become so focused on our desired outcome that we lose sight of what is happening in the moment.

Avoid this unintentional behavior by consciously practicing intentional influence. No matter what influencing style you use, a simple and effective way to influence intentionally is to ask questions.

Questions give you the chance to hear what the other person is thinking, giving you more opportunity to accurately determine his or her influencing style. By really listening to the person’s response, you will know whether you can move on to your next point, or if you need to back up and readdress something in a way that helps the other person see your perspective and brings him or her closer to your position. According to a study published in the Journal of Research in Personality, when people feel listened to by those trying to influence them, their liking of, commitment to, and trust in the influencer increases — all of which strengthen your influencing capability in the situation and overall.

It’s important to remember that there are different types of questions, and what kind will be most effective depends on the situation and what you are trying to elicit from the person.

1. Convergent questions: What, where, who, and when questions get a person to clarify the specifics of what he or she is thinking. Converging questions can be important when time is of the essence or you are dealing with someone who is theoretical.

2. Divergent or expansive questions: Why and what if questions ask a person to expand on what he or she is thinking. Divergent questions can be important when you need someone to see the larger context of a position.

3. Integrating questions: If…then what questions demonstrate an attempt to find common ground between opposing positions. This builds trust and encourages compromise, which is important in situations where the stakes are high for both sides.

Asking the right questions enables you to see whether you can continue to “push” your opinion to a receptive person or if you need to “pull” the person back into the conversation before you lose his or her attention. The different styles of influence can be grouped into push (rationalizing and asserting), pull (bridging and inspiring), and neutral (negotiating) styles, so asking questions helps you determine what style might be most effective at this point. Plus, asking questions keeps people engaged, which is paramount when you are trying to influence someone’s thinking or behavior.

Perhaps most importantly, asking questions frames the entire conversation as an inquiry in which both sides are coming together to uncover the best solution. Not only are you communicating that you haven’t come with an immovable agenda, you are demonstrating that you care about and are open to the other person’s perspective, creating trust. This is intentional influence at its most effective. Not just a positive by product of intentional influence, a culture of trust is a trademark of high performing teams and organizations, and the benchmark of great leadership.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/11/to-have-the-most-impact-ask-qu/

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When the Common Core State Standards were first released, our main concern—and panic—was about alignment. We always taught time in __ grade; now we have to teach it in __ grade. We used to teach book X, but now they’re telling us the Lexile rank is too low. These were certainly valid concerns. Alignment had to be done; crosswalks had to be constructed.

But now, a few years into implementation, it’s becoming clear that the heart and soul of the Common Core lies in the questions we ask our students, not the facts or skills we teach at particular grade levels. I would argue that if we could do only one thing in our classrooms to implement the Common Core, changing our questions would be vastly more effective and important than any other thing we could choose.

This shouldn’t be too surprising. Asking good questions is an educational art that goes all the way back to Socrates, one of the first Great Teachers on record.  In fact, Socrates was famous for asking particularly annoying and provocative questions—questions that challenged the very foundation of people’s thinking. In his honor, we have a whole theory of teaching—a “method” named after the man. It’s a method praised in theory but practiced all too rarely. Many teachers, even at the college level, find it difficult or assume that their students can’t rise to the challenge. But those who experiment with Socratic teaching come to learn that students don’t need as much lecture, as much information, as we thought. They are not empty vessels waiting to be filled. They can do more of the wrestling and grappling with ideas that define higher-level thinking than we give them credit for.

We spend a lot of time talking about question methodology—things like providing adequate wait-time before providing an answer—but we don’t spend nearly enough time talking about the kinds of questions we ask. Holding up a series of wooden blocks representing three-dimensional, geometric solids, and asking, “What’s this?  And what’s this? And this is a…..?” may be an effective way to assess student knowledge of terminology, but that’s about all it can accomplish. Is there an essential difference between asking those kinds of questions and saying something like, “Who can find an example of a cylinder in this classroom?” Do we talk enough, in teacher education classes or in our PLCs, about the value and use of these different kinds of questions—what each one tells us and when it might be useful to deploy one as opposed to another?

One of my favorite examples of Socratic teaching comes from Rick Garlikov, who wanted to see how little actual information he had to provide to third graders in order to teach the concept of binary arithmetic—the use of zeros and ones to form any number or word, which lies at the heart of computing. He found out that the answer was, “almost none.” He was able to move from, “How many fingers am I holding up?” to a very deep and sophisticated level of understanding, almost entirely through strategic and careful questioning. You can see an example of the results here.

I witnessed a fascinating example of the power of Saying Less a few months ago. In response to something I read or something I saw on a TED talk, I posed a question to my two sons, age 12 and 8. They wanted me to take them to buy a new video game, and I said they’d have to earn it by answering a question. The question was this: how much does it cost to take a shower in this house? That’s all I gave them. I didn’t tell them how to figure it out. I didn’t tell them what they would need. I did tell them that I would provide assistance or materials as needed, so they weren’t entirely on their own. But they had to figure out what the question meant, what it required, and how to get to the solution on their own.

They blinked at me a few times, confounded, and then started talking to each other and making plans. They grabbed a stopwatch, a bucket, some measuring cups, and off they went. Not everything they tried made sense, but the mistakes clarified their thinking. Occasionally they’d come back to me, asking for things like copies of water bills. After about an hour, they had an answer. They were pumped up—winded—excited. And they were incredibly proud of themselves. It had been fun. It wasn’t math, as far as they were concerned; it was just a puzzle. And kids love puzzles.

We need to think about questions at every level of our teaching—from essential questions that frame larger instructional units to daily questions that drive a particular lesson. “How do metaphors and similes compare things in different ways?” is almost certainly going to be more enticing and intriguing to students than, “Students will understand the difference between metaphors and similes.”  Students may meet a learning objective, but they have to answer a question. It makes a difference.

In a wonderful book entitled, Oh, Yeah?!: Putting Argument to Work Both in School and Out, authors Michael Smith, Jeffrey Wilhelm, and James Fredericksen discuss the importance of questions in pushing students to craft strong arguments in their writing. Some of the questions are fairly basic, things I used to ask in my own teaching. “What do you think?” helps students come up with a thesis statement or claim. “What makes you say that?” helps students identify important textual evidence. But then the authors throw in a third question that I rarely deployed: “So what?”

“So what?” It’s an amazing question. It forces students to connect the evidence back to the claim—to explain why the evidence matters and how it supports the claim. It’s where the real, hard work of argument has to happen—and it’s where student papers tend to fall apart.

“So what?” I can’t think of a better all-purpose, high-level, complex question. Think about what it takes to answer a question like that. Think about the content knowledge, the conceptual understanding, and the communication skills you need to explain—in any situation—why something matters.

I’ve said before that we can’t quickly or automatically do everything required for the transition to the Common Core. It’s going to be a process. But these are certainly some things we could do tomorrow, or start doing better: tell less; ask more; and ask why.

http://www.catapultlearning.com/the-common-core-and-the-importance-of-asking-the-right-questions/

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Are You Asking the Right Questions?

By Guest Writer: Karen Brinkley

The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers; he is one who asks the right questions. – Claude Levi-Strauss

Have you ever thought about how many questions you ask and answer in a day? A dozen? …Maybe fifty? Although most of us tend to take the functions and importance of questions for granted, they play a major role in our interactions with others and the ways in which we communicate, obtain, and share information. But what about the other roles that questions play with regard to teaching and learning? Take a moment and think back to a class that you were either enrolled in or taught. How were questions used in that setting? Did you do more asking or answering? What was really behind the questions being asked?

From a teaching perspectiveve, it is crucial that we are aware of these nuances, and it can be helpful to examine whether questions are actually serving the function intended. For example, consider the questions that you pose to your own students. What purpose do they have? Do you notice any differences in the ways students respond when the question being asked is deliberate and purposeful as opposed to general and off the cuff?

Planning and asking students the right questions are both important, although often understated, aspects of course, unit, and lesson design. For a moment, let’s put aside those broad nets we have all thrown out as students are packing  up at the end of class like, “Does anybody have any questions?” and, instead, consider two ways that the right questions can be used to maximize student learning. First, consider the role of questions duringclass and how they might be used most effectively. When we are in front of the class, asking questions are a great way to check student understanding of a concept or principle. Open ended questions used during class can assess how well students are following the material. For example, we may ask them “what would happen if…?” or “what is the problem with…?” Questions like these may also be useful forgenerating discussion among classmates and can help students develop critical thinking skills and practice extending and applying the facts they are learning into other situations. For some quick ideas on tying cues to questioning in your classroom, click the image below to check out a video inspired by Dr. Marzano’s teaching tips:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second, it is helpful to think about the use of questions beyond the classroom. Most instructors would agree that far too many test questions have been  designed with easy grading in mind, and that some questions do far too little to meaningfully assess student understanding and knowledge of a subject. Conversely, questions designed around Bloom’s Taxonomy or the Depth of Knowledgescale can assess larger and more critical points like those mentioned in the TennTLC’s recent how-to paper on Threshold Concepts. It is important to effectively evaluate student understanding that goes beyond the memorization of facts to a level of genuine learning; the effective use of questions is one tool that can help our students to reach that level.

Most instructors are familiar with the Socratic Method of questioning: using questions to help students solidify their arguments and knowledge, solve problems systematically, and reflect on their own knowledge and beliefs. While Socratic questioning is just one method of using questions to engage students and encourage them to think more deeply about the subject matter, there are nine types of Socratic questions that instructors can employ:

Type of Question	Purpose/Function	Sample Question Probes
Conceptual Clarification	To get students to think more clearly about what they are saying	Why are you saying that? Or How does this relate to…?  or Could you rephrase that?
Probing Assumptions	To make student think about the presuppositions and beliefs on which they base their argument	How did you choose those assumptions? How can you verify or disprove that idea? What else could we assume about that?
Probing Evidence	To help students further assess their rationales	How do you know this? Or How are x and y similar? Or How else can we look at this?
Probing Consequences	To help students understand logical implications of an argument	What are the consequences of this assumption? What would happen next?
Probing Purpose	Help students think about the importance of reasoning	What is the purpose of this? Why should we address this question now?
Probing Concepts	Guide students in understanding the underlying issues	What is the main idea here? What theories can help us to understand this?
Probing Inferences	To help students uncover multiple interpretations	How did you reach that conclusion? How can we interpret this data or information?
Questions a/b the Question	To use reflection to further understand the concept	Why do you think I asked that question? What else might I ask you about this?

 

“If you do not ask the right questions, you do not get the right answers. A question asked in the right way often points to its own answer. Asking questions is the A-B-C of diagnosis. Only the inquiring mind solves problems.”  – Edward Hodnett

But remember: it’s not just instructors asking the questions! What kind of questions have you been asked by your students? The most common, and probably the first that comes to mind are simply questions of clarification. These may come after you review your course syllabus, explain the latest assignment, or when a student just asks you to repeat a detail of what you just said. These do not require much thought, are easy to answer, and are generally not indicative of what or how deeply a student is thinking about the topic at hand. Sometimes, though, student questions aren’t always this easy. Can you remember a time when a student clearly had a question but did not convey it as such? Students may tell you they didn’t follow or understand the problem that you just solved on the board or that something is malfunctioning with their computer or software. More often than not, in cases like these, there are questions behind the statements like, “Could you show me  again why you did that in step  two?” or “I can’t get this program to open… Do you know what the problem might be?”

Sometimes, however, students ask questions that involve considerably more thought, and even more important than providing the answer to students can be how you approach the question to begin with. How do you address a question that you already addressed or was covered in the reading assignment for the class? What if the question is valuable or interesting in some way but does not relate directly to the course content or the topic being discussed at that time? For some instructors, their biggest fear may be what to do when a student asks a question that they genuinely don’t know the answer to. These situations present an excellent opportunity not only to answer the student’s question, but to engage the rest of the class as well. Try opening up the floor to other students to address or, for the tougher questions (that you may not be able to address at that moment), try offering a 2 to 5 point extra credit assignment to see if the student can answer the question on their own and then compare to the answer you find during the next class. Note: while extra credit assignments may not be your preferred method of motivation, it can be highly effective with the current generation of students. (For more on this crowd, check out Sarah’s recent blog on Millennials). The point is, the instructor does not have to be the individual in the room with all of the answers. In fact, in opening up the floor to others and engaging students in the process of learningwith you, the classroom can shift from a teacher-centered learning space to one that is much more collaborative.

If you are still thinking about how to most effectively use questions in your class, keep these suggestions in mind:

1. Be purposeful with your questions and have a goal; know what you’re trying to achieve with each probe you offer to students.
2. Give students adequate time to answer your question and take advantage of what may seem like an awkward silence. That is, the next time you put out a question that requires some thought, try counting to thirty in your head before you respond, which will give students time to think about what you’re asking.
3. Avoid questions that constrain discussion, such as those that only have a yes/no answer or strictly fact-based (think Jeopardy types of questions).
4. Don’t ask leading or intimidating questions (e.g. Don’t you think that…? Wouldn’t you agree that…?) Even if a student has a unique idea to contribute, they may hold back because they think it is wrong before they have a chance to share it.
5. Offer positive reinforcement, even the student provides the wrong answer. You can do this by co-creating value in your classroom and managing an environment where students feel comfortable speaking up. Make students feel that their ideas and contributions are interesting and valuable even if they are not exactly what you’re looking for.
6. Lastly, if you find yourself struggling with establishing rapport with your students or engaging them in a productive and meaningful way, be sure to take advantage of the resources available to you such as consultations, teaching tips, or our how to series!

 

http://tenntlc.utk.edu/2013/04/09/are-you-asking-the-right-questions/