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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.
Managing Lab Partners and Groups
Managing lab partners and groups requires:
- Knowing what to do when the group gets stuck and asks, "What do we do next?"
- Organizing effective groups that accomplish their goals
- Managing questions from different groups to avoid your having to repeat yourself
Possible strategies for addressing these issues include asking questions that encourage reasoning, such as:
- What did you find when you did …(earlier part)?
- What does this mean …(a term, a figure)?
- How does this relate to …(earlier information)?
- How do we measure …?
- What is your goal for …(next part)?
To help students work better in groups, you might determine which students are the strongest, then promote teamwork by asking them to explain their ideas to their groups. Follow up by asking, "Does this make sense to the rest of you?" Similarly, you can identify a group which is doing well then ask them to explain their ideas to other groups. These kinds of interactions help students refine their ideas.
If groups are not working well, you might assign groups randomly each week so that students get to interact with all their classmates. If some students work quickly and finish before others, ask them to help in other groups, or to begin their data analysis. If students are not working on what they should be, or seem distracted, ask specific questions about the process to get them back on track.
Equity Issues of Group Work
Students sometimes react negatively towards group work. This is often due to some members feeling that they do an uneven share of the work, and that grades will not reflect individual effort. Of course, there are also personality conflicts that can arise.
As mentioned earlier, one approach is to randomize groups to avoid repeated personality conflicts or other difficulties. It also helps to assign specific tasks to each group member. Asking teammates to evaluate each other's work can clarify who has been responsible for the group's progress, and assigning grades individually as well as for the group will help alleviate fears of unfairness.
How to Teach Lab Sections Links:
- The Pre-Lab
Teaching Resources Links:
- Creating Ground Rules for Discussion Sections
- Using Group Work in Discussion Sections
- Strategies for Variety in the Classroom
- Developing Critical Reading Skills
- How to Teach Lab Sections
- Award-winning Teaching Ideas (Teaching Effectiveness Award Essays)
- Theories of Learning
- Dealing with and Preventing Academic Dishonesty
- Grading Students' Written Work
- Understanding & Using Instructional Technology
- Five Ways to Improve Your Teaching
- How to Write a Letter of Recommendation
- Campus Resources
- FAQs
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