4th - What are the purposes of teacher’s classroom questions?

Many students think that teachers tend to ask question just to provoke the, or to make the feel embarrassed. To make them feel they do not know a thing!! Bun in fact, it is not so… Questioning has many purposes, may be not purposes, we better call them aids. Questioning helps in a variety of ways, and we can number a few of them:

• It helps the teacher to achieve his/her goals.

• Questioning is a means of developing and extending student dialogue.

• It helps to involve students in the classes more actively.

• It develops critical thinking skills and inquiring attitudes

• It can be utilized as a review tool.

• Finally, it could be a tool to make students to look for their own learning.

Some tips to make your questions worthy:

• Ask clear question

• Ask questions of primarily academic nature

• Wait for the students answer, do not push them to rush

• Encourage students to ask and answer

• Use not only volunteering but also non volunteering students

• Demonstrate the students there is not such thing as stupid answers.

To sum up, I like this quote:

"A teacher's questions impact student achievement, retention and participation. They fulfill numerous instructional purposes including: assessing understanding, reviewing and summarizing, developing critical and creative thinking skills and inspiring interest and motivation."

 - Cotton, 1989