Amina Javed BR564750

Educational Psychology &

The Management of
Learning
5664

Amina Javed
BR564750
Mrs Parveen Akhter

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INTRODUCTION
Classroom questioning plays a key role in teaching process, an effective
questioning can help students join in classroom activities quickly. An
effective class should contain the interaction between teachers and students,
students and students. The core of this interaction is teachers’ classroom
questioning, that’s to say classroom questioning plays a significant role in
teaching. Questioning can enhance the communication between teachers
and students and activate classroom atmosphere. Questioning can draw the
attention of students’ and motivate their interests in class. Questioning is
able to widen students’ thoughts. Questioning can help teachers achieve
feedbacks in time which will help them enhance the quality of teaching.
That is the reason why classroom questioning is important in teaching. At
present, however, teachers’ questioning in the classroom teaching doesn’t
play its proper role. In daily teaching, there still exist some problems, such
as: asking with no answers, asking questions is just for asking questions.
These will affect the quality of classroom teaching. So we must solve the
problems existing in the process of classroom questioning and put forward
effective strategies for classroom teaching. This research aims to answer
the questions as follows:

(1) What are the problems in classroom questioning?

(2) What are the strategies to solve the problems in questioning?

OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH:

The objectives of the study is to observe the teacher’s questioning
techniques and then give some recommendation in light of this study.

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LITERATURE REVIEW:

Definition
A question is any sentence which has an interrogative form or function. In
classroom settings, teacher questions are defined as instructional cues or
stimuli that convey to students the content elements to be learned and
directions for what they are to do and how they are to do it.

Cognitive Level of Questions

Should we be asking questions which require literal recall of text content
and only very basic reasoning? Or ought we to be posing questions which
call for speculative, inferential and evaluative thinking?

Lower cognitive questions are those which ask the student merely to recall
verbatim or in his/her own words material previously read or taught by the
teacher. Lower cognitive questions are also referred to in the literature as
fact, closed, direct, recall and knowledge questions.

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Higher cognitive questions are defined as those which ask the student to
mentally manipulate bits of information previously learned to create an
answer or to support an answer with logically reasoned evidence. Higher
cognitive questions are also called open ended, interpretive, evaluative,
inquiry, inferential and synthesis questions.

Wait-Time
Wait-time refers to the amount of time the teacher allows to elapse after
he/she has posed a question and before a student begins to speak.
According to Nunan, it is of great importance for students’ learning if
teachers extend waiting time properly. During waiting time, students’ not
only can comprehend the question, but also organize the target language to
answer questions. So we can see, wait-time plays an important role in
classroom questioning. In our country, some teachers pay attention to this
factor in classroom questioning. However, few teachers cannot control the
time interval among questions. They ask a question, and then pose another
without enough time for students’ to think about the answers. Some
teachers also do not have enough patience to wait for students’ answers
after their questioning. Moreover, some teachers often choose a certain
student to answer before they give the questions so that the student must
answer questions without time to think about. This lacking in wait time
will put students in a state of high tension. Students cannot think about
teachers’ questions effectively and give related answers properly, which
will make them feel nervous and reduce their learning interests in learning.

Distribution of Questions
Distribution of questions is considered as one of the most important
questioning strategies, which means that teachers should offer equal
chances of thinking and answering questions to each student. Teachers’
distribution of questions affects students’ learning interests and learning
participation. In our classrooms, many teachers have the same higher stress
with students so they are reluctant to spend time in questioning in a 45-

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minute class, they just ask few top or active students to answer questions
rather than give equal chances to every student.

Feedbacks
According to Littlewood: teachers’ feedback is an important act in teaching
because it “provide learners with knowledge of how successful their performance
has been and has a great influence on students’ interests in learning English”. That
is, after students’ answering, teachers should give students corresponding
evaluations. Students can be affected by teachers’ different feedbacks;
teachers’ positive feedback will increase students’ learning interests while
negative feedback will make it inversely. Most of teachers give
encouragement and judgment to students’ answering, the language,
however, are lacking in pertinence. Mostly teachers always reuse the
simple sentences: “Good!” or “Well done!” It’s ambiguous and can’t
increase students’ learning motivation and enthusiasm.

Research Methodology
The main objective of this research was to observe the teacher’s questioning
technique keeping in view the six points mention in the observation sheet.

Class Level
What’s the question? (Purpose of the question)
Type of questions asked by the teacher:
why, what or how
Did the teacher nominate the students
to answer or chose those who raised
hands?
How long did the teacher wait for the
answer?
How did the teacher respond to
student’s answer?
Was there a class discussion? (What role did the teacher play in that
discussion?)

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Population & Sample

The population of this study was the 4th grade students of Leeds Public
School Jhelum. There were 20 students in the classroom.
Procedures of the Research
First of all I asked the teacher of 4th grade to allow me to sit in her classroom
to observe her questioning techniques. She agreed and let me sit in her class,
she was teaching the lesson “The Railroad Cat”. I observed her
questioning technique and recorded it in my observation sheet.
Data Analysis
The classroom was a traditional classroom where the teacher desk and
chair was in the front of the class and and so is the whiteboard, there
were five rows all facing the front. Students face the teacher with their
backs to one another. The aisles have enough space between them for the
teacher to walk up to each student. This setup allows all the students to
see the teacher and the whiteboard.

The teacher mostly asked lower cognitive question like:

1. What was special about Tom?

2. What did Tom do when the men were loading the train?

But in the end she asked few higher cognitive questions like:

1. The author used the word “hero” in two different ways. Which meaning is
the right one?

2. What’s the difference between being a hero and being famous?

The teacher asked only those students to answer who raised their hands.
The wait time for answering the question was mostly 2 to 3 seconds. She
praised the students who answered the question by saying (e.g. “Well

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done!”, “Perfect”, “You are excellent!” and so on), but she did not encourage
the students who did not gave right answers. At the end there was a
classroom discussion in which students discussed with one another that
“What was the point of the story and what did the author want you to learn from
Tom?” the teacher acted as a facilitator during the discussion and helped
students in their discussion.
Positive & Negative points
There were few positive points in the teacher’s questioning technique like
she asked both higher and lower cognitive questions from students and in
the end she only helped students in their discussion and did not try to
impose her view point on them.
The negative points which I observed in her questioning techniques were
the lack of wait- time, only asking answers from those who raises hands
and not encouraging students.

Recommendation
Good teachers use a variety of questioning techniques to engage their
students and improve student learning. Questioning students is one of the
most important teaching methods in a teacher’s toolbox. The challenge is
to find ways to encourage all students to answer the question either in
their heads or with others in the classroom. The traditional and widely
used method of asking a question and picking a student with his or her
hand in the air is useful, but it should be combined with other techniques
to maximize student learning for all students, even those who do not get
picked or who do not raise their hands. There are different strategies that
effective teachers can use to engage students.

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No Hands
No Hands refers to picking students who do not raise their hand.
Effective teachers use this strategy regularly, either announced or
unannounced to the class. This ensures that every student knows that he
or she could be picked to answer a question at any time. They can’t avoid
disengaging from the lesson by not raising their hand. When used
regularly, this strategy is highly effective for improving student
engagement and listening.

Higher Order Thinking Questions

Teachers can engage students with different levels of thinking by asking
the right kind of questions. Bloom’s Taxonomy recognizes six levels of
thinking. Here is a list of question types based on Benjamin Bloom’s six
cognitive levels:

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Knowledge

(Identification and recall of information):

 “Who, what, when, where, how …?”
 “Describe …”
Comprehension
(Organization and selection of facts and ideas):
 “Retell …”
 "Summarize …"
Application
(Use of facts, rules and principles):
 “How is … an example of …?”
 “How is … related to …?”
 “Why is … significant?
Analysis
(Separation of a whole into component parts):
 “What are the parts or features of …?”
 “Classify … according to …”
 “Outline/diagram …”
 “How does … compare/contrast with …?”
 “What evidence can you list for …?”
Synthesis
(Combination of ideas to form a new whole):
 “What would you predict/infer from …?”
 “What ideas can you add to …?”
 “How would you create/design a new …?”

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 “What might happen if you combined …?”

 “What solutions would you suggest for …?”
Evaluation
(Development of opinions, judgments, or decisions):
 “Do you agree …?”
 “What do you think about …?”
 “What is the most important …?”
 “Place the following in order of priority …”
 “How would you decide about …?”
 “What criteria would you use to assess …?”

Increasing Wait-Time
When asking questions, it is often a good idea to give students enough
time – typically 5 to 7 seconds - to think about an answer before a teacher
provides help. Often teachers feel rushed or move too quickly to another
student to break the silence and don’t give students enough time to
formulate an answer.

Feedback
A teacher’s response to students’ answers is just as important as the
question asked. A response may redirect students when an incorrect answer
is given or students misinterpret the question. Teachers may probe for
further explanation when a partial answer is given. Finally, teachers may
validate a correct response. Acknowledging correct responses is necessary
and effective. Praise that is used sparingly, is directly related to the
response, and is sincere and credible is also positively related to student
achievement.

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Conclusion
Classroom questioning plays a core role in teaching, which is one of the
most important ways to initiative the communication between teachers
and students. Through observing the questioning techniques of teacher,
we can see that there are many problems in questioning which needs to be
solved so that teachers can use this method correctly to promote students’
learning. According to my observation, many teachers have problems in
questioning, such as: lack of waiting time, lack of proper feedback,
unequal distribution of questions and so on. I have put forward a series of
different strategies for classroom questioning, including increassing
wait-time, no hands, higher order of thinking questions and giving
feedback after questioning which will help teachers in real classroom
teaching.

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References
Nunan, D. The Questions teachers ask [J]. AJLT Journal, 1990, 187-202.

Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). Engelhart, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H., Krathwohl, D.R. (1956). Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.

Appendix:
The Railroad Cat

om was more than just a black cat. He had never seen a kitchen nor climbed a back yard

T fence. He had never stayed in a barn nor stuck his head in an empty food can. He was, in
fact, a railroad cat and lived in Junction City.
All day and all night Tom listened to the roar and noise of trains. He loved the loud blasts of
engine whistles and the sounds of bells and horns. He even enjoyed the ringing of bells at night.
The sounds and smells of trains were what Tom lived for.
Many times Tom sat in the freight house and made believe he was sleeping. Secretly he was
watching the men as they placed large boxes of fish on the moving conveyor belt. Other times he
saw milk cans or maybe boxes of apples placed on the conveyor belt.
These different things moved down the conveyor belt from the old freight house into the
freight cars. The conveyor belt was something like the moving stairs in a large city store. Tom
never tired of watching the freight moving to and from the freight house and the cars.
One afternoon, just for fun, Tom jumped on the conveyor belt and rode it into a car. This was
his first conveyor belt ride. He liked it and he did it again and again.
The men enjoyed Tom’s trick so much that one fellow took a picture for the Junction City
newspaper. The men cut the picture out of the paper and tacked it up. Tom became a hero.
From that day on, Tom had the run of the Junction City freight house. Whatever he did was
all right with the men. In fact, sometimes they threw him a fish from a broken box. Tom enjoyed
being a hero.
One hot June afternoon Tom grew sleepy as he watched freight moving on the conveyor belt.
Just then a chipmunk jumped from the top of the freight house. He landed right in the middle
of the conveyor belt and rode into the freight car.
Tom forgot about being a hero. His half-closed eyes flew open and, like a shot, he took off.
Things happened so fast the men didn’t see either Tom or the chipmunk. The freight car door was
looked, and Tom and the chipmunk were both trapped inside together.

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behind.
n a second, Tom saw that he was locked in. He yowled and yowled. But it was too late;
the freight was moving. The men couldn’t hear Tom. Soon Junction City was left far

For two days and nights Tom and the chipmunk were trapped in the car. Tom and the
chipmunk raced all around the car, first one way and then another. Once Tom almost cornered
him, but the chipmunk always got away. It was a wild contest.
At last the freight train stopped in a yard. At once, Tom yowled and yowled. He was still
yowling when the door was unlocked.

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Before Tom could get away, one of the men picked him up. Tom liked being petted, but he
was very hungry and wanted food more.
“So your name’s Tom,” said the man, as he read the tag on Tom’s neck—” “Tom,
Pennsylvania Railroad is a big company, but some day before long we’ll learn where you’re
from.”
By now Tom no longer thought about the chipmunk. All he wanted was food and to go back
to Junction City. Tom wished he had one of the fish the Junction City men used to give him.

T he engineer—for that’s who the man was—carried Tom into the station. “You need
some food,” he said to Tom. “I’ll have the cook get you some milk and fish.”
“Oh, boy!” thought Tom. “Fish at last!” Tom ate until his sides were round and hard. He
nosed along the engineer’s leg to say “thank you,” and pushed the door open to go out.
“Better stay inside,” the engineer called after Tom. “A real storm is coming.”
The next day it was still raining. The railroad yard was covered with water. When the engineer
returned, he climbed up into his engine and found Tom waiting for him.
“So you want to ride with me, Tom,” said the engineer. “We’ll be out all night, but I’ll be glad
to have you for company.”
As the freight moved out on the main line, the storm grew worse. The rain beat down and the
wind whistled and blew. The smoke from the engine was all around them.
“This is a blinding storm,” the engineer said to Tom. “I can hardly see twenty yards ahead.”
So much rain had come down that the water rose quickly in the rivers. The countryside was
covered with water.
The large engine bounced along, pulling its many freight cars. The smoke blowing back seemed
almost to hide the engine.
Suddenly, Tom let out a loud yowl.
“Hungry again?” shouted the engineer.
In reply, Tom yowled again. Then he jumped up on the seat with the engineer and yowled
again, louder than ever.

“S omething’s wrong,” the engineer shouted to the fireman. “Tom isn’t hungry. See his
hair standing up. He’s warning us about something.”
“Maybe it’s the river up ahead,” replied the fireman. “Tom may be yowling to warn us.”
“I’m stopping,” shouted the engineer.
Fire flew from the wheels as the train ground to a stop. Clouds of smoke covered the engine
like a heavy fog. The engineer jumped down and ran to the front of the train. Then he let out a
cry.
He was standing on the edge of the big river. “There is no bridge!” he shouted. “The high
water has washed it away!”
The other men crowded around.
“Fellows, that cat saved our lives!” the engineer shouted over the roar of the water.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he replied, in a hollow voice, “that Tom started yowling just before we got here. If
he hadn’t acted so excited—well, I never would have stopped in time. The rain and smoke were
all around and I couldn’t see.
“How could Tom tell the bridge was down?” asked the fireman.
“I don’t know,” replied the engineer. “But I’ve been told that cats can hear very well. Perhaps
the wheels made a different sound on the rails.”
“Why a different sound?” asked one man.

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“The rails were broken at the edge of the river,” the engineer said. “This might have caused
the engine to make a strange noise in Tom’s ears.

P apers all over the country carried the story. Once more Tom was a hero.
The railroad men at the Junction City yard saw Tom’s picture and read the story. And
soon the great hero was on his way home to Junction City.
Everything was ready for Tom’s big welcome home. The conveyor belt was clean and bright.
The freight house was covered with flags. The Junction City band headed a large parade. Nothing
was too good for the cat who had saved a train. Tom, the hero, had the biggest “Welcome Home”
party any cat had ever had.
As for the chipmunk, he was never seen again.

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