THE ART OF

QUESTIONING
 Introduction
One of the teaching tools
conveniently placed in the hands of a teacher
is the questions. And yet many teachers either
use it carelessly or fail to see its possibilities
for promoting effective learning.
 Uses
1. To stimulate students to think
2. To motivate students
– Questions can be used effectively to arouse and hold the interest of pupils
3. To diagnose pupil difficulties
4. To discover pupil interest
5. To develop the ability to evaluate and organize materials or experiences.
– Will students to see relationships among data and to formulate conclusions
6. To aid students relate pertinent experiences to the lesson.
7. To focus pupil attention on the points of the lesson.
– It helps students organize their thinking about a lesson in a logical way.
8. To develop new appreciations and attitudes
– Questions can be used to help pupils modify, clarify or expand ideas relating
to appreciations and attitudes.
9. To provide drill or practice.
10. To encourage the application of concepts.
 Characteristics of a Good Question
1. It is simple and clear
2. It is definite
– Permits one answer
3. It is challenging & thought – provoking
– It stimulates students to compare, evaluate, draw
conclusions & appraise results.
4. It is adopted to the age, abilities and interests
of the students.
5. It requires on extends response
 Techniques of Questioning –
questioning requires skills
1. Questions should be asked in a natural and well – modulated voice.
2. A teacher should ask the question first & then wait for the class to
think about it before calling on a student to answer the question.
3. A sufficient number of questions should be asked to stimulate
students to activity.
4. A teacher should prevent from repeating questions. (to challenge
attention)
5. Questions should be equally distributed so that the majority of the
pupils can take part in the discussion.
6. A teacher should avoid starting to any mechanical system of
fielding question to the class, such as alphabetical order, row by
row etc.
7. A teacher should ask questions that are really interesting and
thought – provoking.
 Techniques in Handling Students
Response
1. A teacher should make every effort to show on appreciative attitude
towards students’ answers.
– The teacher should refrain from giving sarcastic comments to
wrong answer.
2. A teacher should never allow wrong answers slip by.
3. Correct answers of students should be followed with encouraging
remarks by the teacher.
4. Clearness in every point expressed by the students should be insisted
upon by the teacher.
5. Answering in concert should be discouraged.
6. A teacher should be encouraged to answer in a loud and clear voice.
7. Students should be encouraged to answer in complete thought units
and grammatically correct statements.
8. A teacher should refrain from making the students in his record book
during the class recitation.
 Techniques in Handling Student’s
Questions
1. Student’s questions should be encouraged by a
teacher.
2. A teacher should not answer a student question
right away.
3. Indiscriminate student questions should not be
allowed.
4. A teacher should require students to form
grammatically correct questions.
5. If a teacher is asked questions he cannot answer he
should promptly admit his
 Types of Questions
• Close Ended Question
Which require yes or No in answer/
Which can also require to be selected in few
options.
• Open Ended Question
These question require longer answers in detail.
 Major Types of Questions
• So far, we have looked at 2 types of questions:
open and closed. Other more advanced types
of questions include the following:
• • Probing/clarifying Questions
• • Reflective Questions
• • Direct Questions
• • Hypothetical Questions
• Probing/Clarifying Questions:
In reality, these are open or closed questions that
serve to build on the person’s previous
answers, comments and responses. They use
information already established in order that
we can explore further. These questions also
demonstrate to the person that they are being
actively listened to.
• Reflective Questions.
• Reflective questions or statements are really
comments made before another type of
question, which serve to soften the questioning
as well as demonstrate to the speaker that they
are being well and truly listened to. They
typically constitute a short summary of what the
other person has said, and may also be
considered as a type of paraphrasing.
• Hypothetical questions
• Hypothetical can be an excellent way to
encourage your student to reflect on issues
through thinking through previously
unconsidered options. They are also often used
in interview situations to test the creativity and
mental agility of prospective students or
employees.
 Direct questions
• Direct questions can be either open or closed
questions. However, they tend to have the
following characteristics:
• 1. When posing a direct question, you always
use the name of the other person
• 2. You pose the question as an instruction.
Tell me Asia, .......
Explain to me Azam ..... etc