The Art

of
Questioning
Importance of Questions
 Good questioning is at the
very core of good teaching.
(Dewey)
 The heart of any effective
teaching strategy lies in the
questions a teacher asks.
(Fraenkel)
 The type and sequence of the
questions and how students
respond to them influence the
quality of classroom discussion
and the effectiveness of
instruction. (Ornstein)
 The effectiveness of the teacher
can be gauged by his ability
to ask good questions.
(Lardizabal)
 ART OF QUESTIONING
 involves the ability to ask the right
questions to the right persons, at
the right time, with enough energy
and enthusiasm to be able to elicit
well thought-out answers
 a gift which can be further
enhanced through conscious efforts
to improve oneself
CRITICAL/WELL-THOUGHT OUT RESPONSES
1. ASKING FEWER QUESTIONS

 Most teachers today ask too

many questions. One way to
improve teaching effectiveness
becomes painfully obvious: ask
fewer questions.
 2. ASKING BETTER QUESTIONS

 Teachers who know both their

students and their content area
can create effective questions that
motivate and fascinate students.

 Formulate questions that connect

not only to student interests but
also to their personal experiences.
 3. QUESTIONING FOR DEPTH

 Questions should go beyond

simple recall and deepen a
student’s understanding of a
topic.

 Go beyond the student’s first

response and dig deeper. We call
these follow-up questions delving
and probing.
4. QUESTIONING FOR BREADTH

 All questions and answers fall into

one of two categories:
Convergent
-closed question
-generates a single answer that
is clearly right or wrong
Divergent
-open question
-always have more than one
correct answer and are
usually higher order
Asking varying type of questions

Ask convergent, divergent and evaluating questions.

Convergent questions are closed questions that have only one

correct answer.

Convergent questions are mostly closed questions that can be

classified as:
a. Yes/no questions
b. Answerable by a single word or short phrase

(What is the process of food manufacture that takes in plant

called?)
Divergent Questions
-open questions and may have more than one acceptable
answer.
- They ask the student to think and reflect.

- They will give you opinions and feelings.

- They have control of the conversation to the respondent.
-useful in getting another person to speak.
( The one who asks the questions are likely to receive a
long answer, that’s why they can provide a good deal of
I information)
-Sometimes they are statements : “ tell me about” ,
“ give me an example of”
 5. USING WAIT TIME
 Increasing the wait time to 3 to
4 seconds has several beneficial
effects on student responses:
1. length of the response
increases
2. unsolicited but appropriate
responses increase
3. failure to respond decreases
 4. speculative responses increase

 5. confidence (as reflected in an

alternative, rather than a questioning,
tone of voice) increases,

 6.student questions increase

 7. student to student questions increase

 Techniques of asking a question:

1. The Default: 2. The Volunteer:

Ask a question Ask a question

Pause Pause
Call on a student Wait for a raised hand

Use for
Master this
conceptually
technique and
challenging
use it as your
questions.
standard
 3. Jump Ball: 4. The Choir:

Ask a question Ask a question

Pause Pause

“ Any body ” “ Every body “

Use for conceptually Use for simple but

challenging questions important points that
and when you need a everyone should know
fast answer
Wait-Time
After posing a questions, wait AT LEAT 3 second before
asking for a response. Here are two paradigms:

 Traditional Questioning  Cooperative Questioning

Paradigm
 Teacher questions (pause)
 Call on student (pause)
 Student responds or teacher
intervenes (pause)
 Go back to “Teacher
Questions”
 Go Back to “Teacher
Paradigm
 Teacher questions (pause)
 ALL individuals think
(pause)
 ALL individuals respond
(team members and
teacher intervene)(pause)
 Responses are shared with
the class
Questions”
 6. SELECTING STUDENTS

 When teachers allow their

classroom dialogue to be
dominated by a few animated
students, they are abandoning
one of their key educational
responsibilities: the responsibility
to include all their students in
active learning.
7. GIVING USEFUL FEEDBACK

Teachers should give

encouraging positive feedbacks
to students’ answers. These
feedbacks are varied and are
given sincerely.
Proceed to Divergent and
Convergent Questions
 Exercise
Directions: Formulate divergent questions from the
following statements.

1. Jose Rizal wrote “Noli Me Tangere”.

2. Jesus died on the cross.
3. People Power I took place to overthrow a dictator.
4. Good questions develop critical thinking.
5. The sun is the main source of energy.
 Level 1 – Knowledge
Words often found in knowledge
questions:
define when
what recognize
name recite
remember recall
list where
reproduce identify
Level 2 – Comprehension

Words often found in comprehension

questions:

describe rephrase
compare put into your own words
contrast explain the main idea
Level 3 – Application
Words often found in application questions
apply illustrate
compute write an example
classify teach
show solve
use demonstrate
translate how many
choose diagram/map
make which
employ record/chart
Level 4 – Analysis
Words often found in analysis questions:

identify motives or causes support

order/sequence deduce
draw conclusions analyze
summarize investigate
determine evidence justify
categorize/dissect why
compare/contrast
Level 5 – Synthesis
Words often found in synthesis questions:

predict hypothesize
can you devise synthesize
produce combine
write estimate
create invent
design develop
imagine construct
how can we solve
what would happen if…
how can we improve…
Level 6 – Evaluation
Words often found in evaluation questions
judge select
verify evaluate
argue recommend
rate decide
assess conclude
give your opinion do you agree
would it be better
which is the better picture solution, etc
Examples of the Levels of
Questions Topic: Leadership

1. Knowledge
a. What is the definition of leadership?
b. What are the five characteristics of a
good leader?
2. Comprehension
a. How do you describe leadership in your
own words?
b. Describe the importance of each of the
characteristics of a good leader.
Examples of the Levels of Questions
3. Application
a. If you are chosen as the president of an
organization, how do you provide
leadership to your members?
b. Considering the characteristics of good
leaders, who are the present leaders
who possess these qualities? Name 3.
4. Analysis
a. How do you differentiate between
leadership and teamwork?
b. What conclusions can you draw about the
relationship between leadership and motivation?
Examples of the Levels of Questions
5. Synthesis
a. How would you select the best leader
whose goal is to improve Ozamiz City?
b. Write the job description that would attract the
best candidates for a leader in the tourism
industry in Ozamiz City.
6.Evaluation
a. What is the most important quality of a
good leader and why?
b. What additional qualities would you use to
assess good leadership?
 BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY

Creating
Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things
Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.

Evaluating
Justifying a decision or course of action
Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging

Analysing
Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships
Comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding

Applying
Using information in another familiar situation
Implementing, carrying out, using, executing

Understanding
Explaining ideas or concepts
Interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining

Remembering
Recalling information
Recognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding
 Levels of questioning
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY – COGNITIVE DOMAIN

SYNTHESIS/CREATING

EVALUATION

ANALYSIS

APPLICATION

COMPREHENSION

KNOWLEDGE
6.SYNTHESIS: requires the student to find a solution to a problem
through the use of original, creative thinking.

Examples:
* Design a sand table so that you can study different kinds of
erosion
* Offer two proposals to solving the crowding on our
school’s halls at lunch.
* Propose a plan for getting others in class to be quiet when
someone else is talking.

5. EVALUTION: requires the students to make an assessment of good

or not so good according to some standards.

Examples:
* Indicate in what ways this is a beautiful poem.
* Appraise the speech’s effective based upon the class
criteria.
4. ANALYSIS: requires the student to solve a problem through the
systematic examination of facts or information.
Examples: Study pictures
* what features of the land allow cultivation.
* which vehicles would most likely be used to travel?
* do the above answers tell you what kind of occupation most people
living here would you have? Why?

3. APPLICATION: requires the student to solve or explain a problem

by applying what he or she has learned to other
situations and learning tasks.
Examples:
* looking at the map, state the possible locations for the cultivation
of wheat.
* Choose from the array of watercolors and paint a picture of a rock.
* How would you get in contact with the person who was supposed
to meet you?
2. COMPREHENSION: requires the student to think on low level
such that the knowledge can be reproduced or communicated
without a verbatim repetition.
Examples:
* what does “singing the blues” imply?
* which term does not belong in this sentence?
* A lion is to pride as ______ is to flock.
* Explain why paul is a developing character in
the story.

1.KNOWLEDGE: requires that the student recognize or recall

information.
Examples:
* what is the main idea in_________?
* what are the characteristics of________?
* how is _________ related to __________?
Purposes of Teacher’s
Questions
Topic: Water Conservation and Water Pollution
1. Clarification
What do you mean by water conservation?

2. Explanation
Why do fishes in a polluted river die?

3. Focus
How does garbage relate to pollution?

4. Prediction
What could happen to our rivers if people continue to
dispose of their garbage and other wastes into them?

5. Expansion
What are the other consequences of river pollution?
6. Challenge
Are you certain that an imposition of a
stiff penalty will minimize river pollution?
7. Contradict
Is it not true that water constitutes 75% of
the earth’s surface and therefore
conserving water is unnecessary?
8. Compare
Which could be more dangerous to fresh
water organisms, solid wastes or
chemicals?
9. Specify
Which among the river pollutants mentioned is
most dangerous?
10. Generalize
Given the many causes of river pollution, what
would be the most effective measures to adopt
to prevent or minimize river pollution?

11. Deduce
What conclusion might you draw from the
situation mentioned?

12. Evaluate
What would be the ill-effects of continuous river
pollution on our fresh water animals?
Questioning Skills
 1. Rephrasing/Simplifying

 2. Sequencing logically

 3. Requiring abstract thinking

 4. Asking open-ended questions

 5. Varying types of questions

 6. Asking non-directed questions

 7. Calling on non-volunteers

 8. Allowing for wait time

 9. Redirecting

 10. Probing

 11. Giving of feedbacks

 12. calling students in a friendly, non-
threatening manner

 13. avoiding interrupting students during

questions and responses

 14. handling incorrect or off-focus responses

 15. demonstrating active learning skills

(eye contact, head nodding)

16. Using positive nonverbal cues

(smiling,friendly voice) when students are
responding
Teachers’ Realizations
 1. Employing the strategies of
questioning makes teaching less
exhausting. We need to redirect
questions and ask thought-provoking
questions to elicit more students’
participation. The students should do
most of the talking.
Teachers’ Realizations
 2. I am now able to deepen my
discussion. I observed that students are
more participative. They pay more
attention.
 3. I realized that we really have to plan
our questions so that we are sure that
they are of varied categories. I feel
more confident.
Teachers’ Realizations
 4. By asking better questions, I am able
to know about my students more.
Through my questions, I got to know
their experiences, beliefs and opinions.
My questions are not taken from the
books verbatim so my students’
answers are not also taken from the
books verbatim.
Teachers’ Realizations
 5. Students’ ability to think and
communicate is developed since my
questions do not require one-word
answers.
 It’s not what you say but how you
Non-Verbal
80% say it.
gestures Not what you wear but how you
pauses Verbal 20% wear it.
posture language
Keyword is: PROJECTION
movement voice
clothing examples If you have it, PROJECT.
facial If you don’t have it, REJECT.
expression If you want to have it, INJECT.
eye contact Always communicate in two ways:
a. Verbal and
b. Non-Verbal
TEACHING AS
A
MINISTRY
 Divine Master, the Greatest
Teacher

Teacher, Minister
Living
Intellectually Qualities Witness
gifted Love
Pedagogically Caring In the Work
competent
Compassionate

Healing Empowering Liberating Reconciling

Equipping
Building Teaching
with skills
character to care

LOVE, JUSTICE, PEACE

 Prayer for the Dialogue on Teaching
as Ministry
 LORD JESUS CHRIST, expression of your
Father’s great love for us, He sent you to be
our Teacher, to be our Way, our Truth and our
Life.
 In the fulfillment of your mission, You called
those whom you desired and sent them to
preach the kingdom of God and to heal. You
called me to this ministry of teaching that I too
may teach as you taught and heal as you
healed
 I thank you for this calling and for the
peace you give me despite the difficulties
and hardships this ministry entails.

 May the Spirit fill me with light and

warmth to sharpen my vision as a teacher
and make my personal mission the source
of meaning for my everyday life and
activity
 Dear Lord, let your Spirit awaken in
me a renewed commitment to this
ministry of teaching. May You give a
fullness of life that will become a
wellspring of inspiration,
encouragement and guidance for all
those entrusted to me.
 Divine Master and Teacher, hear
my prayer so that the Father may
be glorified in and through my
ministry of teaching. Amen.

 (Jose Maria Fuentes, SJ,)

 Prayer of St. Francis
I. Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me bring
your love
Where there is injury your pardon
Lord
And when there is doubt true faith
in you
II.
Make me a channel of your peace
Where there’s despair in life
Let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there’s sadness, ever joy
 III.
Oh Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul
IV.
Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we’re born to eternal
life
You want to know what I
make?
 I make kids work harder than they ever
thought they could.
 I make kids sit through 40 minutes of
study hall in absolute silence.
 I make parents tremble in fear when I
call home.
 I make parents see their children for
who they are and what they can be.
You want to know what I
make?
 I make kids wonder,
 I make them question,
 I make them criticize.
 I make them apologize and mean it.
 I make them write, write, write.
 And then I make them read.
 I make them spell definitely beautiful,
definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful over
and over and over again until they will never
misspell either one of those words again
You want to know what I
make?
 Let me break it down for you, so you
know what I say is true:

I make a difference! What about

you?
(Taylor Mall)