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 Effective Use of Questioning
Effective Use of Questioning
Questioning can.....
- arouse curiosity
- stimulate interest in the topic
- clarify concepts
- emphasize key points
- enhance problem-solving ability
- encourage students to think at higher cognitive levels
- motivate student to search for new information
- ascertain students’ knowledge level to aid in modifying
instruction
Bloom's Taxonomy
Derived from Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). (1956).Taxonomy of
educational objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: McKay.
The types of questions and the manner in which questions
are asked have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the questioning.
Bloom's Taxonomy of Thinking Skills |
| Knowledge |
Students are required to recall
the information learned and repeat it to the teacher.
Example: What are the major causes
of fistula? |
| Comprehension |
Students must explain topics,
review items, and discuss issues; this includes translation, interpretation,
extrapolation, and focuses on the meaning and intent of the material. Example: What study
would you order to confirm the diagnosis of myocardial infarction in a patient with a left
bundle branch block? |
| Application |
Students must use an abstraction
(principle, theory, etc.) brought from other experiences. It requires that students apply
previously learned knowledge and skills to new situations and necessitates the use of
abstractions in specific situations. Example:
A 35-year-old woman presents to your office with a 1-month
history of polyarthritis, rash, pleuritic pain, and low grade fever. What is the most
likely diagnosis? |
| Analysis |
Students must break down material
into its component parts and then use a systematic process to reach a logical conclusion. Example: How would
you distinguish between polymyositis and viral myositis in a 42-year-old man with weakness
and a rash? |
| Synthesis |
Students must hypothesize,
predict, and use the available information to arrive at a generalization---putting
together elements or parts from many sources to constitute a new pattern or structure. Example: If the blood culture were negative of
the patient with echocardiographic valvular vegetations, how would you proceed with the
antibiotic treatment? |
| Evaluation |
Students must use specific
criteria to assess situations or to justify previous responses. Example: Explain your rationale for using
combination drug therapy instead of mono therapy to treat a patient with pulmonary
tuberculosis. |
Techniques of Effective Questioning:
- Establish an appropriate environment. Only
certain questions should be posed in front of the patient; bedside questions should focus
principally on knowledge and recall and to a lesser extent on comprehension.
- Create a climate conducive to learning. A
happy facial expression, nod, or verbal acknowledgement of a correct response encourages
other students to participate in the discussion. Pose questions in a non-threatening way
and receive answers in a supportive fashion. A harsh tone, especially when used to
interrupt a response from the student, can be devastating for both the student and his or
her peers.
- Prepare the students for the questioning session and
discussion. Explain to students the format, expectations, and how this knowledge
will help them.
- Use both pre-planned and emerging questions.
Pre-planned questions are those incorporated into the educational plan prospectively that
are asked during the teaching session to introduce new concepts, focus the discussion on
certain items, steer the discussion in specific directions, or identify student knowledge
level on the topic. Emerging questions derive from the discussion itself and the specific
answers given to previous questions. Think quickly and act decisively to phrase these
questions accurately and pose them at appropriate times in the discussion.
- Use an appropriate variety and mix of questions.
One good strategy is to start with convergent questions and then continue with divergent
questions, perhaps asking questions in hierarchical sequence and building from the recall
of facts to higher levels of thinking and problem-solving. If a question requiring a
higher level thinking skill stymies the student, go down to a question requiring a
lower-level thinking skills and then work up the hierarchy.
- Avoid trick questions and those that require only a
YES or NO response. Trick questions should be avoided, as they frustrate students
and tend to encourage frivolous responses. YES or NO questions encourage students to
respond without fully understanding or thinking through the issue. When used, such
questions should be followed by other questions to determine the thinking process of the
student.
- Phrase the questions carefully, concisely, and
clearly. Improper phrasing and the use of multiple questions related to the same
topic may result in unintentional cueing and inability to accurately assess student
understanding.
- Address questions to the group, versus the individual. Pose the
question to the entire group and wait before identifying a student to respond. The wait
time encourages all students to think about the response, as they do not know who is going
to be called upon to answer the question. Select students at random to answer questions,
as it tends to keep everyone attentive and involved.
- Select both volunteers and non-volunteers to answer
questions.
- Adapt questions to the needs of the learners.
Assess the students’ needs and tailor questions to maximize the number of correct
answers while moving toward more and more difficult questions. Remember, no two groups of
students will be alike or at the same level.
- Use sufficient wait time. The teacher can
significantly enhance the analytic and problem-solving skills of students by allowing
sufficient wait times before responding, both after posing a question and after the answer
is given. This allows everyone to think about not only the question but also the response
provided by the student. Three to five seconds in most cases; longer in some, maybe up to
10 seconds for higher-order questions.
- Respond to answers given by students.
Listen carefully to the answers given by students; do not interrupt students while they
are responding to questions unless they are straying far off course, are totally
unfocused, or are being disruptive. Acknowledge correct answers and provide positive
reinforcement. Do not use sarcasm, reprimands, accusations, and personal attacks. Repeat
answers only when the other students have not heard the answers; other repeats waste time.
Keep questioning until the learning objectives for the session have been achieved; this
may be the best opportunity to teach a particular concept. Handle incomplete answers by
reinforcing what is correct and then asking probing questions.
| Types of
probing questions: |
| Extension |
Require students to elaborate on
the response given to an earlier question. Such questions indicate to the learner that the
original response was in the right direction but was not adequate. |
| Clarification |
Useful when the student’s
response is unclear or incomplete. |
| Justification |
Require the learner to provide
rationale for the previously-given response. Useful in providing insights into thinking
and reasoning processes of students and revealing errors in these processes. |
| Prompting |
Useful when students do not
respond to the original question |
| Redirection |
Used to elicit a variety of
opinions during problem-solving sessions or discussions. |
- Use questions to identify learning objectives for
follow-up self-study. Pose questions towards the end of the teaching session to
identify specific areas for additional learning opportunities that students can pursue on
their own time.
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