Questioning Techniques/Document

Alternatives to direct questions

Sometimes teachers use questioning when other teaching strategies, such as explanation, would be more appropriate. Below are some alternatives to questioning which could be used as additional tools to develop pupils’ learning.

Explore a statement: Rather than asking pupils a direct question, give them a statement and invite them to discuss, perhaps first in pairs and then in fours, what it means. The statement could be correct or false or ambiguous, for example

‘There is no gravity in space’, ‘Erosion is a process that is happening all the time’,

‘To be able to design hats you do not need a good understanding of materials.’

Paint the picture: This is particularly useful for exploring abstract ideas. Ask pupils to draw how they picture an idea they have in their minds. You might say, for example, ‘So the energy in the battery is transferred around the circuit to the bulb and then to the air by light and heating. What is in your head? How do you picture this? Draw it.’

Invite pupils to elaborate: Phrases such as ‘Would you say a little more about that?’ or ‘I’m not sure what you mean’ are useful in getting pupils to expand and develop a comment.

Speculate about the subject under discussion: Saying things like ‘I wonder what would happen if …’ can help pupils to think around an issue.

Make a suggestion: You could offer alternative ways of carrying out a task. This may be more practical during small-group work than with a whole class.

Offer extra information: Providing extra information during a problem-solving activity can be useful in stimulating pupils’ thinking.

Reinforce suggestions from pupils: Try developing a comment made by a pupil by saying something like ‘I really liked … because …’.

Clarify ideas: Saying something like ‘We can tell that this is the case because …’ helps to reinforce learning by focusing sharply on the main issues under consideration.

Repeat comments and summarise: When you want to reinforce important points that have been made, it helps to restate or summarise them in a slightly different form.

Classroom tactics for effective questioning Creating a climate where pupils feel safe to make mistakes: This is very important if pupils are going to build the confidence to speculate and take risks. Some teachers use small whiteboards for pupils’ answers to simple questions. All pupils write the answer at the same time and hold it up so that the teacher can see. This avoids making pupils feel vulnerable. It is important that pupils’ contributions are listened to and taken seriously by both the teacher and the class. You should model this by ensuring that you make appropriate responses to contributions and are not critical. It is also important that you do not allow the class to ridicule wrong answers. Boys in particular do not like to be shown to be wrong. You could also model making mistakes yourself to show that being wrong is acceptable.

Using a ‘no-hands’ rule: This tactic can contribute to creating a supportive classroom climate. It ensures that all pupils are likely to be asked for a response

and makes the questioning process more inclusive. If you only ever ask people with their hands up, it limits who is included and can leave some pupils disengaged from the process. The ‘no-hands’ tactic also lets you direct questions where you want and to pitch a question at the appropriate level to extend the pupil you are asking. If you are asking conscripts rather than volunteers, you need to have a range of back-up strategies if the pupil is unable to answer. Such strategies could include allowing them to say ‘pass’ or to seek help from a friend.

Probing: When pupils respond to a question, probes are useful follow-ups and can be used to seek more information, to clarify responses or to get pupils to extend their answers. Questions such as ‘Can you tell me more about that?’ or ‘What do you think the next step would be?’ are probes that can move pupils’ thinking on.

Telling pupils the big question in advance: This helps to reinforce the main ideas and concepts and gives pupils time to prepare for the question as they work through the lesson. You could also provide signals to help pupils recognise the range of possible responses to the question being asked and to help them to select the most appropriate one.

Building in wait time: Research suggests that if the teacher waits about 3 seconds, both before a pupil answers a question and also before speaking after the answer, there are substantial benefits in the classroom. It is likely to

• encourage longer answers;
• encourage a greater number and variety of responses;
• encourage more confidence and ‘risk taking’;
• encourage pupils to ask questions in return.

Allowing time for collaboration before answering: Asking pairs of pupils to consider the question for a set period of time before seeking answers leads to more thoughtful and considered answers. It can also promote engagement by giving pupils a very immediate context for their work.

Placing a minimum requirement on the answer: Saying something like ‘Do not answer this in less than 15 words’ will begin to produce longer responses.

Classroom assignment: putting it into practice 30 minutes

Choose two or three tactics from the above. Try them out in a lesson and assess the response of the pupils. You may feel self-conscious until you become familiar with doing them. Pupils, too, may find the approaches unusual and will take time to get used to them.

Try to complete a lesson record as you try out each tactic. You can adapt the example below to meet your needs. It is useful to make an audio recording of your lesson or have another teacher observe you so you can reflect on it later.

Tactic	Pupils’ response: first try	Pupils’ response: second try	Pupils’ response: third try	Pupils’ response: fourth try	Pupils’ response: fifth try
Using a ‘no-hands’ rule
Building in wait time
Giving the big question in advance
Allowing pupils time for collaboration
Placing a minimum requirement on the length of an answer
Allowing all pupils to write an answer at the same time and show you together
Using probes and prompts