Every day, we use questions to gain different forms of information. Essentially, we are living and teaching with questioning in every aspect of our lives. Questioning is a natural part of our conversations and teaching. Yet in order for students to learn how to use questioning, they need to learn about questioning. This chapter explores questioning to assist in your own development and then the students’ understanding of questions. Finally, we will look at ways of teaching for questioning, covering how students can develop their questioning skills for research and investigation.
Many researchers and educators identify the different types of questions that will be covered in this chapter. The skill of questioning is paramount in teaching and learning, and this chapter aims to help you understand the impact it has on learning, as well as how you can use the strategy to its best advantage.
Activity 5.1 Asking Questions
Think through why and when a teacher would use questions in the classroom.
Now reflect on why students ask questions.
Are there any similarities in the reasons why teachers and students may ask questions? If so, what are they?
What is a question?
A question is a collection of words structured in such a way that they will elicit information from someone (a person) or something (for example, a database). Therefore, it is important to consider the language used and the structure of the question.
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