Questioning as a Teaching Strategy

Questioning is an invaluable tool for educators.  First and foremost, it is an amazing evaluative technique.  It allows a teacher to gauge if their lessons are having their intended effect, namely comprehension of the source material.  Through questioning a teacher can determine if a student is merely parroting back information or if they understand the lesson on a deeper lesson.  For instance, a child may be able to properly carry over numbers when doing math calculations, but it isn’t until you question them as to why they carried the one that you know whether or not they understand that one indicates a group of ten, and whether or not they are developing good number sense.  It allows an educator to find those weak points in a student’s knowledge and work on them.  It can also help a student to clarify their own thoughts on the subject matter, something they may not have attempted themselves.

Secondly, it challenges the student.  It causes them to examine the concept and draw connections to previous knowledge.  It sends them off on an exploration of information and allows true learning to occur, rather than a rote memorization of facts.  It pushes kids to think inductively.  To examine the information presented to them in order to find answers.  The questioning of the teacher prompts them to in turn question their teacher as well as their peers.  It can be used to foster collaboration as well as independent reflection.  Questioning teaches kids how to think for themselves, which I feel is the hallmark of effective education.

Lastly, I think the mere act of questioning helps students to understand the importance of questioning in and of itself.  All of the great discoveries and learning arose from people trying to answer questions.  It shows students the importance of searching the world around them for themselves and to not be content with a passive role in education, but to take an active curiosity-driven one.