Staff training summer term 2015 West Cheshire College Session 02 - Effective Questioning

1. What makes effective
questioning?
Source: ‘What makes effective questioning? David Drake 2011

2. AfL Reflection
• Following on from the previous session on Session Objectives, how
has your approach to assessment developed?
• Discuss in groups of two or three which method(s) of AfL you have
tried, how successful they were and which methods you still plan to
try.
• Articulate then answer
• Traffic lights
• Bouncing questions
• Peer marking
• Thumbs up/down
• 2 stars (positives) and a wish (area for development)

3. Question time
• Ask and answer the two questions you have been given in
groups of 2-3.
• Evaluate how effective the question was at gathering
information and generating discussion. Consider the quality of
the questions. Which questions were/weren’t effective and
why?

4. Objectives
• Understand the theory behind using questioning effectively.
• Know different strategies to question students.
1. Explain the impact that effective questioning has on quality of
learning, teaching and assessment.
2. Apply understanding of this to select appropriate questioning
strategies to use at different stages of learning.
By the end of the session you will be able to:

5. How important are questions?
To what extent do you agree with the following statement?
Discuss in small groups.
The quality, timing and methods of
asking and answering questions
plays a key role in delivering
outstanding learning, teaching and
assessment.

6. How do we learn?
Most
learning
happens here
- Lecture
- Reading
- Audiovisual
- Tutor-led demonstration
- Discussion
- Practice doing
- Teach others/ immediate use
Rate of learning
retention

7. Why question?
• Questioning is a key aspect of the teaching and learning process.
• There is evidence that teachers can improve their use of questions
by focusing on types of questions and strategies for using them.
• Questions should draw students into the learning process as well
as checking acquisition of knowledge.
Research shows that effective teachers use more
higher order questions and open questions than less
effective teachers do.

8. What do you do more often?
• Pose questions to the group as a whole or nominate individuals
directly?
• Allow students to discuss their answer with a partner or pounce
on them immediately to share their ideas?
Do you (all) understand?
Does that make sense?
Everybody okay with that?
Any questions?

9. Are we using questions
effectively?
• Most teachers’ questions are answered in less than a second,
often by the teacher themselves. Increasing wait time to 3
seconds for lower-order and 10 seconds for higher-order
questions improves the quality of answers.
• Students fear being made to look silly and this inhibits them in
answering. Strategies are needed to overcome this.
• The importance of students articulating ideas themselves means
that it is also important to try to get them to ask questions.
Improving questioning was one of the keys to raising attainment
identified by Black and Wiliam in Inside the Black Box.

10. Is my use of questioning
effective?
• Questioning techniques need to be varied. Over reliance on the
‘volunteer’ method is to be avoided.
• Questioning is a key tool in Assessment for Learning strategies:
• For allowing the teacher to assess learning
• For involving students in applying assessment criteria
• For developing listening skills
• Crucially, students need time to think.

11. What questions to ask?
Using information to move forward in a creative way
Ability to make judgements about the nature of
information
Ability to investigate elements of the information
Consideration of practical relevance of
information
Showing understanding of the information
remembered
Recall of factual information

12. • http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/articles/bloom0405-3/bloompix.html
• You will be given
twelve questions
relating to this
picture. Two are
posed at each level
of Bloom’s.
• Arrange the
questions in
Bloom’s order.
A picture is worth a thousand
thoughts

13. Types of questions
Why do you think...?
What happens when...?
What does this suggest?
What do you think will
happen?
What is the function of...?
State a point of view...
Propose an alternative...
How else would you...?
What conclusion…?
Which is more important...?
Why is this valid?
How can you defend...?
What is the name
for…?
Name this...
Lower order questions
Higher order questions

14. What questions to ask?
Create 3 questions for the
image to the left.
• 1 at knowledge level
• 1 at middle level of your
choice
• 1 at evaluation level
Write these down on your
whiteboards.

15. Objective recap
1. Explain the impact that effective questioning has on quality
of learning, teaching and assessment.
To check that we have achieved this objective, please summarise
the following (orally):
• the role that questioning plays in delivering outstanding
learning, teaching and assessment;
• how Bloom’s Taxonomy can be used to ensure effective
questioning.

16. Putting it into practice
2. Apply understanding of this to select appropriate questioning
strategies to use at different stages of learning.

17. Practical strategies

18. Increase ‘Wait Time’
• Most teachers’ questions are answered in less than a second,
often by the teacher themselves.
• Increasing wait time to 3 seconds for lower order questions and
10 seconds for higher order ones improves the quality of
answers.

19. No Hands up
• Students cannot shout out OR put theirs hands up to indicate
that they know the answer to the question.
• Teacher chooses the students to answer question.
• Keep them on their toes!
• Students can use a phone a friend if they are really struggling.

20. Phone a friend
• Empower a struggling student, who does not
have the answer to your question, by asking
them to choose three students, who have an
answer ready
• Students give their answers
• The struggling student chooses the ‘best’
answer and explains their reasons for their
choice.

21. Olympic challenge questioning
• Stage plenary questions in terms of
• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold
• Stage questions to increase the level
of challenge:
• What is this called?
• When would you use it?
• How does it work?

22. Think, Pair, Share (TPS)

23. Mini-Whiteboard
• Pose a question
• Give a ‘wait time’
• Students hold up answers

24. Hot Potato
• A question is posed by the teacher – ‘wait
time’ given
• Ball thrown to a student (carefully!)
• Student gives response
• Student poses question, waits 10 seconds
and tosses ball to another student
• This can then be repeated as much as
necessary

25. The ‘Annoying infant’
• Ask a question
• Leave ‘wait time’
• Ask a student for a response
• Then act like an ‘annoying infant’ and
repeat ‘so what?’ or ‘why?’ after each
response.

26. Socratic Questioning
• This creates a critical atmosphere which gets students
questioning in a structured way.
• 1. Clarify – Why do you say that?
• 2. Challenge – Is that always the case?
• 3. Evidence – What's the evidence?
• 4. Viewpoints – Can you see this another way?
• 5. Consequences – If that happened, what would…?
• 6. Question – Why is this question important?

27. Hinge Point Questions
• Planned questions at pivotal points in the session to formatively
assess. This enables you to see whether to proceed or whether
more work is needed before moving on to the next part of the
session.
• Use closed questions eg multiple choice
• E.g. when did World War 2 begin in England?
• A) 1919 B) 1938 C)1939 D) 1940
Remember the BAD question examples from
earlier? These would make poor hinge questions.

28. Four corners
• A good technique to wake students up!
• Students are asked a question. In each of the
four corners of the classroom, an opinion or
response is posted. Students move to the corner
of the room they would choose.
• They can then:
• discuss in the corner why they’ve chosen this
option;
• meet in the middle of the room to discuss and
try to convince an opposing side.

29. If this is the answer, what is the
question?
• Works well to recap key information.
• Used on Mock the Week and other game shows so is a familiar
format for students.
• Provide an answer. Students work together to construct the
question that goes with this.

30. Pose-pause-pounce-bounce
• Traditional questioning
uses pose and pounce.
• The pause allows time for
students to think and give
better answers.
• The bounce encourages
students to respond and
analyse the question in
more detail.

31. Session objective with question
• Pose a question in conjunction with a session objective.
For example:
Explain the impact that effective questioning has on quality
of learning, teaching and assessment.
(How) is it that better questions make
for better learning?

32. Teaching others – Practical
Strategies
• Snowballing
• Once students have thought of
the answer, they pair and share
ideas.
• They then join with another pair
and each take time sharing their
answers and asking questions
of each other.
• This can go on and on ...(if
appropriate) before feeding
back.

33. Teaching others – Practical
Strategies
• Envoying (market place)
• Group work where ideas recorded
• One envoy visits another group for
a minute, collecting information and
asking questions.
• The envoy returns to original group
and communicates findings for
inclusion.
• Teacher questions groups.

34. Objective recap
2. Apply understanding of this to select appropriate questioning
strategies to use at different stages of learning.
To check that we have achieved this objective, please identify
which strategies of those we have looked at would work well
with the students you work with and why.

35. Too much?
Homework:
• Don't try them all!
• Just choose one strategy
you don’t already use and
feedback how it went in the
next session.