Questions and Answers

IMPROVING ATTENTION

• Trying to answer questions, or formulating and asking questions, provides a break for students from passive attention to the lecturer speaking.
• It raises their level of attention and performance and this lasts for a while afterwards.

Encouraging active learning

• If students are to understand new material they need to actively engage with it in some way – just listening is unlikely to succeed.
• Asking and answering questions, and getting into a dialog with the teacher, is a very effective way to make sense of material

Let them ask questions

CHECKING ON LEARNING
It is difficult to tell if what you are saying has been understood. Asking questions can clarify whether you need to spend more time on certain topics. Student questions also reveal misunderstandings.

Fostering reflection

It is not just the student who answers or asks a question who is thinking – most of the students in the room will be empathizing and thinking at the same time. When questioning is going on students will be having some of their own private questions answered. They will also be asking their own questions in their mind, and reflecting.

Expanding explanations

When students ask you a question it is an opportunity to provide a more elaborate explanation than might have been possible when you were lecturing. You can go back to basics or pursue more advanced issues, as appropriate.

Building rapport

Teachers who have rapport with their students, and who interact with them, are the ones who produce the best student learning performance. Engaging in question-and-answer routines builds rapport.