If you ask any instructor, in any industry, ‘Do you want your students engaged?’ their answer will always be: “YES - of course!”. The question then becomes how? How do excellent instructors gain and maintain their student’s interest, attention, and involvement? Now you’ve discovered a hidden secret of the craft of teaching, the ‘Question of Engagement’.
A questions-based approach is a time-honored tradition in teaching. This approach uses questions to gain and maintain student engagement. The questioning approach has been used since the time of Socrates and the namesake, The Socratic Method. Historically, instructors seeking to master their craft develop skill in the ‘art of the question’. An effective questions-based approach produces an engaged student increasing their opportunity to learn.
Using a question-based approach is a skill and like any skill, dedicated practice improves performance. There are many tools to develop a solid question-based approach in the classroom. For the purpose of this article, we will examine three skills to develop your inner-Socrates: planning questions while developing your lesson plan; asking questions with intent; and using ‘wait-time’ effectively once you have asked a question.
Planning Questions
Whether developing a new lesson-plan, or teaching your current favorite, look at the material from a question-based mindset. Seek opportunities within the lesson plan to ask questions. As you review the lesson-plan and supporting documents, identify areas where questions about the material pop into your mind. Consider the teaching process and the learning objectives. If you, as the instructor have questions, it’s likely your students will have a similar reaction. These questions often occur during a transition within a lesson-plan. Develop questions to address these opportunities and write them into your lesson plan.
Other areas that are ripe for questions include the last of a short series of instructional slides all covering a single course objective. Plan a question that will require your students to synthesize the material covered in the last couple of slides, apply it to the overall theme of the course, and maybe even predict how it will influence the next section of the lesson plan. Develop questions you will use before and after showing a video segment. Design questions that tie into the learning objectives building mental models that move course objectives into long-term memory.
Asking Questions with Intent
Every question should have a purpose. Is your question designed to build rapport and make students feel at ease in your classroom? Are you asking a question that requires students to apply a theory from the lesson to their work life? Is your question intended to challenge preconceived ideas or contradict common thinking? Are you asking a question that’s predictive of lesson-plan material to come? Each of these approaches supports the practice of an expert questioner: Know why you are asking a question and ask each question with intent!
Using ‘Wait-Time’ Effectively
What is wait-time, and why is it important? Perform a simple experiment in the next couple of training sessions you attend as a student. Pay careful attention and track how much “wait-time” the instructor provides after each question they ask. The average ‘wait-time’ will likely be less than one second. The instructor will probably answer their own question! This is a practice that you want to avoid in your efforts to answer the ‘Question of Engagement’.
Students must go through a multi-step process before they can answer a question. It’s similar to a ‘communications process’ involving a sender-receiver-message-feedback type loop. Once you have asked your question, the student must hear and internalize the question to be confident they understand what you are asking. The student then examines the question against the information from the lesson-plan and personal knowledge. They formulate an answer and perform a self-check so they are confident it’s right. They then evaluate their comfort level in sharing the answer publicly. Only THEN will a student raise their hand. Sounds like a long chain of events doesn’t it? Well, each of these steps take time, which the instructor must provide. This is called ‘wait-time’. When you ask a question, provide at least three seconds of ‘wait-time’ counting silently to yourself if you must. Your students will appreciate your effort.
Summary
For your next class, consider the ‘Question of Engagement’ approach. Prepare using a question-based mindset. While reviewing the lesson-plan develop questions that will challenge your students to engage with the material. Ask questions that prompt them to synthesize material recently covered into their work environment. Design questions that blend the learning objectives already covered with what’s coming next. Ask each question with intent and know why you are asking the question and how the question advances understanding of the learning objectives. Finally, each question should be followed by ‘wait-time’. Allow your students the time necessary to prepare their answers and raise their hand. Develop your inner Socrates and use the ‘Question of Engagement’ more effectively each time you step to the front of the classroom.