SECTIONS AND LABS Teaching Labs Asking Effective Questions

When you visit the students while they work during lab, ask well-structured questions that will elicit thought from the students. Why are good questions important?

• Questioning is essential for two-way communication between a teacher and student, or between students themselves. It...
  • Helps students build their understanding.
  • Promotes high level thinking.
  • Draws out what students are thinking.


• Good questions promote student-centered teaching. Asking students thought-provoking questions makes them more aware of their learning process. They are given an opportunity to provide feedback about what they don't understand, what they do, and what they need in order to enhance their understanding.

Broad versus Focused Questions

Broad questions require:

• Open-ended answers: How are these two concepts connected?
• Evaluation: How would you interpret these results?
• Prediction: What will happen if you increase the amount of this substance? What do you think the outcome of the next part of the lab will be?
• Forming opinions: Do you think we tested this theory the best way? What is another way we could have done it?

Ask broad questions when you want to initiate discussion. Don't ask broad questions if you are looking for specific answers

Focused questions require:

• Recalling facts: What is the function of this structure?
• Defining terms: What is an [acid, mollusk, quasar, lever, vertex]?
• Categorizing: What characteristics do all these elements share?
• Confirming: Do you remember seeing this before?

Ask focused questions to verify students' knowledge of specific facts or concepts. A common problem is trying to start a general discussion by asking focused questions. If you want to enhance discussion, be sure to follow up focused questions with broad ones.