Get Your Students Hired
A few key takeaways from this module that I found interesting and easily applicable were how to get students to listen to each other, how to ask effective questions and the importance of developing well-worded questions that students need to know.
When struggling with students who don't seem to listen to their peers when answering questions, as an instructor, you can ask other students to "paraphrase or respond to their classmates." by doing this, you are more likely to keep the student's attention and engagement.
To ensure instructors are asking "good questions," we should develop the questions for lectures ahead of time, and they should be planned and directed to individual students, followed by silence; answers should be repeated and reinforced, additional questions should follow, and questions should be above the recall level.
I already participate in these practices but plan to reevaluate my process.
It was very helpful to learn the qualities of good questioning. I am guilty of asking "does that make sense" and "any questions" at the end of class/lab and have been left with blank stares that do not tell me that they have all mastered the objectives or met the outcomes. I do now see that many that don't really understand may say they do to avoid being exposed. I will also start directing questions to specific students and not offering a blanket question to the entire class where the overachievers often dominate.
It is important to ask good questions directed at the class, rather than a general announcement asking if anyone has questions. These questions should be thought provoking, and inspire more questions after. As the instructor, I should come to class prepared with these questions for the end of my lecture.
The quality of questions is important for student understanding and helps to eliminate any misunderstanding of the content.
During a questioning activity ask the struggling student question that will help the student answer the question correctly.
Instructors need to utilize ways to engage students and keep their attention during lectures. It is best to give students time to process a question and formulate their answer.
Open-ended questions that allow students to think critically are often better than those that require a simple declarative response.
I learned to prep better by adding questions into my lessons to keep students engaged and interactive.
Allowing time after asking a question is something that I personally have to work on. I like to use a raise of hands and like it says repeat the correct answer loudly to the class so everyone can hear. The follow up questions is something I need to personally work on as well as a new teacher. Statements like "any questions?" Or "does that make sense?" Makes it seem like you as an instructor are unsure of yourself.
Comment on SETH SORONNADI's post: This can take several semesters to anticipate the questions however.
I like asking questions. I want to have students who don't always answer questions allow them the opportunity to answer so that they can be more engaged.
Effective teachers need well thought out questions for students. I have always liked using student response and ask addition questions that build on to their response for others to chime in.
It's good to sometimes directly question a student by name. General class discussion questions leave an opportunity for some students to over-participate and other students to never participate.
Planned questions are the best way to see if the students are engaging with the course.
I've learned not to ask questions in class as a whole because I always just get those few students who sit in front answering all the questions. I began going by rows and individually and giving them time to respond. That way I can see who is understanding the material and who isn't.
Planning questions in preparation for the class and giving individual students more time to respond are key elements. Try to control the responses but do not shut down vocal students' enthusiasm.
I had not realized that asking “Any questions? Or Do you understand?” Is not a question as students may not know what to ask or if at end of class they are not going to answer for fear of class going late. They also may feel intimidated thinking other students understand when they do not. This section has allowed me the knowledge to further develop my questioning techniques in order to enhance student learning.
I always have a debriefing after class with questions but i hadn't considered how i work through the questions to get the students to answer them. i will be more deliberate in how i conduct the last part of class.