According to Albert Einstein, most teachers waste their time in asking questions which are intended to discover what a pupil does not know. The truth is questioning has for its purpose to discover what the pupil knows or is capable of knowing.
Art of questioning comes naturally to children. They ask questions all the time but notice, most of the time they don’t even wait for the answer before going on to their next question. Questioning is the heart and soul of training-the most widely used instructional strategy to facilitate learning. Questioning is the essence of effective teaching because of the numerous purposes it serves, such as motivating learners intrinsically, assessing knowledge and skills and reviewing content
Keeping creative teaching in ideas in mind-when asking questions, children may not be asking for information so much as they are asking for you to pay attention to the world through their eyes, to get down and be curious with them. The art of questioning fans this flame of inquisitiveness that burns in the heart and mind of everyone.
A body of evidence demonstrates that appropriate questions, asked skilfully, contribute to significant improvements in learning.
Questions have a lot of advantages: Stimulate pupils to think, motivate the pupils to become enthusiastic about the lesson, serve as a means to diagnose pupils difficulties and weaknesses in grasping the concept of what was previously taught to him, help in discovering the pupil`s interest as he raises questions, help develop pupils ability to evaluate and organize materials or materials, aid the pupils to relate experiences pertinent to the lesson, focus pupil`s attention on the key points of the lesson and help develop new appreciation and attitudes. Provide drill and practice when the children get used to raising questions.
A good question should be simple, definite, challenging and thought provoking, adaptive to the age, abilities and interest of the children and require an extended response.
Questions should be asked in a well modulated voice. After questioning, one should first wait for the class to process the questions in their minds. There should not be too many questions so the pupils could focus on the answer. Avoid repeating questions because this will result in boredom. Questions should not be thrown at a selected person. Teachers should avoid calling students alphabetically.
By: Elvie R.Mendoza | Teacher III | Saysain Elementary School | Bagac, Bataan
