Questioning for learning...prac session 2.

Today I read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, discussing the way in which students are questioned, and suggesting that  students raising their hands to respond to a question is outdated. ( See below for link ) Instead, the author interestingly proposed that all the students names should be placed into a container, and then randomly selecting a student out of this collection when a question required answering. While not dedicating this post to an entire critique of this technique, this method of inquiry got me thinking about the questioning strategies ( or lack thereof ) within my own classroom.

Freseman ( 1990 ) identifies that it is essential  for students to have skills in questioning, so that they will not become addicted to being told what to think and do. Furthermore, questioning can be seen as a vital factor in allowing for students to progress through the varying domains of Bloom's taxonomy. The nature of my classroom, and the 'open learning' environment, means that learning through transmission is ruled out, and group work is the flavour of the day. This means however, that much of the work that the students are involved in relies on students being able to ask their own questions and seek out their own answers. This approach lends many benefits to the students, but I have realised it has resulted a lack of engaging questions being posed by the teacher, and highlights the  need for teachers to be able to scaffold  learning through the posing of questions in any teaching strategy.

The development of intellectual quality, the first domain of the DET's Quality Teaching Model, places deep-understanding, higher-order thinking and in-depth communication at the forefront of emphasis, and the model states that it is this intellectual quality that is conducive to the significance of learning and a quality learning environment.(DET, 2003) As questioning is a vital tool in developing this intellectual quality, it is an element of teaching that I believe is so essential, but so readily overlooked. As identified by Marsh, (2010, p. 190)  it is useful to incorporate questioning into your lesson plan, which should consist of:

1. Preparing a number of key questions in advance which are directly related to the purpose of your lesson.

2. The inclusion of questions that involve higher and lower levels

3.Ensuring  that the sequence of the key questions is logical to the students.

4.Making  sure that the wording of the questions is clear and suited to the level of students. ( Marsh, p. 190)

Examining the way in which my classroom operates, I have learnt that:

• Even when students are participating in group work, it is essential that the teacher poses engaging and thought-provoking questions to the students to faciliate the intellectual quality leaning, as opposed to students being required to constantly create their own questions. In this way the teacher can act as a scaffold in ensuring deeper learning.
• As a transmission based approach to teaching can allow for a teacher to easily question, probe and direct students knowledge, this level of questioning still needs to be apparent within the group work context.
• Often, to ensure quality questioning and attaining intellectual quality, it is necessary to plan questions you will pose to students. Particularly for beginning teachers, it is not enough to assume that you will know what questions to ask.

For a comprehensive list of verbs that can be used to promote questioning in each category of Bloom's taxonomy, refer to:
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm

References


Freseman, R.D., ( 1990 ) Improving Higher Order Thinking of Middle School Geography Students by Teaching Skills Directly. Florida: Nova University.
 
Marsh, C ( 2010 )  Communicating effectively. In Becoming a teacher. ( p. 181-195) Sydney: Pearson

NSW Department of Education and Training ( 2003 )Quality teaching in NSW public schools. Sydney: NSW DET.

'Show of hands outdated' Sydney Morning Herald 4/10/11, Brendan Sullivan.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/show-of-hands-outdated-20110904-1js8d.html