Art of Questioning

THE ART OF QUESTIONING

USES OF QUESTION
1. To stimulate pupils to think
2. To motivate pupils
3. To diagnose pupils’ difficulties
4. To discover pupils’ interest
5. To help pupils organize and evaluate
6. to aid pupils to relate pertinent experiences to the lesson
7. To focus pupils’ attention on the key points of the lesson
8. To develop new appreciations and attitudes
9. To provide drill or practice
10. To show relationships, such as cause and effect
11. To encourage the application of concepts
12. To encourage pupil evaluation

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD QUESTION
1. A good question is simple and clear
- It is so constructed that students can easily understand what is asked, although they may not know the answer to it. The teacher must avoid ambiguity, confusing constructions, double questions, parenthetical remarks, and other verbiage which might cause the pupils to miss the point of the question.
2. A good question is Definite
- It is as to permit only one answer.
3. A good question is challenging and thought-provoking
- It must stimulate the student to compare, evaluate, draw conclusions, and appraise results. Unless the purpose of questioning is drill, a question which can be answered by merely repeating some facts from a book can never be as stimulating as a thought question.
4. A good question is adapted to the age, abilities, and interests of the students
- The general level of ability and interests of students at various grade levels differ. Or, within an age-grade itself, there may be variations due to different home environments among pupils.
5. A good question requires an extended response
- A question must not call for a single word or phrase answer. A single word or phrase answer tends to become the simple recall type and it could introduce the element of guessing in the classrooms.

TECHNIQUES OF QUESTIONING
1. Questions should be asked in a natural and well modulated voice.
2. A teacher should ask the question first and then wait for the class to think about it before calling on a student to answer the question.
3. A sufficient number of questions should be asked to stimulate students to activity.
4. A teacher should refrain from repeating questions.
5. Questions should be evenly distributed so that the majority of the pupils can take part in the discussion.
6. A teacher should avoid resorting to any mechanical system of fielding questions to the class, such as by alphabetical order or row by row.
7. A teacher should ask questions that are really interesting and thought-provoking.