Using effective questioning to develop thinking skills

When teachers use questions:

• to test recall of knowledge

• to revise learning

• to check present understanding

• to diagnose difficulties

they lead to students using lower order thinking skills.

When teachers use questions:

• to focus attention

• to arouse curiosity and interest

• to stimulate consideration of new concepts

• to elicit views and opinions

they can lead to students using higher order thinking skills.

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All too often most classroom questioning is closed and �narrow�.� Such questions require only a single �right� answer or a very limited �quick fix� response.

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The best questions

• open up the topic (rather than close it down)

• do not have easy answers

• lead to further questions

• require a considered response

• are a challenge

Teachers should seek to promote a classroom where it is more important to �have a go� than it is to �get the right answer�.� Hence, all responses should be welcomed � even if students are then informed that their answer lacks detail or needs clarification.� When challenging, open questions are being used, there is no shame in not getting things right first time.� (It is only closed questions that require a �right� answer.)

Teachers should allow �thinking time� before expecting answers.� Too many pupils raise their hands too quickly - and often say the first thing that comes into their head.� In-depth questions require a more considered response and teachers should utilise classroom strategies that allow students opportunity to reflect and consider.� I have found it useful for students to use �thumbs up� � where students make a thumbs-up sign against their chest � to indicate that they have a response to my more open questions; although I still use �hands up� for quick knowledge-based questions.� By using the two responses, it gives an indication to students whether I require a �quick� or a �considered� answer� - and serves as a reminder to me that I need to strike a balance between the kinds of questions I am asking.

Teachers should not be averse to giving clues and prompts where necessary, to elicit �broader� and �deeper� responses.� Asking supplementary questions is often more productive than giving answers.

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Teachers should encourage students to ask their own questions.� Not closed questions based on what the students already know � but open-ended enquiries that highlight what they would like to find out.� Students who are allowed to decide the direction of their research usually work with greater enthusiasm.� Teachers can model this approach by admitting that there is plenty that they do not know but would like to find out about.