Contributed by Steven Markoff, Instructional Specialist, Department of Accounting, Law, and Taxation<\/p>\n
I always have a goal to become a 5% better teacher every semester.\u00a0 The time in between semesters is a great time to set some teaching goals for the upcoming session.\u00a0 So I\u2019d like to suggest one which will have the power to make your teaching more effective and more enjoyable.<\/p>\n
More and more, we are being asked to develop critical thinking skills in our students, and that means switching from the old role of conveying information. To this end, almost all classes could do with a lot less professor talking, and a lot more professor listening.\u00a0 Of course, in order to listen, there must be something to listen TO, hence, the need to ask questions. Are you asking enough questions?\u00a0 If not, that\u2019s a real good goal for the new semester. As James Thurber, the celebrated journalist once said, \u201cit is better to ask some questions than to know all the answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, if you want to set a goal to ask more questions, and become a better questioner, here are some things that, over the years, have worked for me and others:<\/p>\n
1. Ask tons of questions \u2013 the more the merrier.\u00a0 Remember, unless you ask questions, you have nothing to listen to \u2013 and then all you can do is talk!<\/p>\n
2. Use questions that teach, and not merely assess \u2013 Albert Einstein once said \u201cmost teachers waste their time by asking questions that are intended to discover what a pupil does not know, whereas the true art of questioning is to discover what the pupil does know or is capable of knowing.\u201d\u00a0 Questions should be teaching tools, not merely assessment tools.<\/p>\n
3. Ask students what they think of others\u2019 answers \u2013 I am always going around the room doing this. \u201cMs. Wayne, what did you think of what Ms. Lazzara said?\u201d or \u201cMs. Lazzara just said such and such.\u00a0 What was she assuming when she said that?\u201d\u00a0 This helps develop their ability to listen, and also to think critically about what others are saying.\u00a0 An added bonus \u2013 it keeps them awake in class, as they always know that you might spin around to them next and ask them to comment in this fashion.<\/p>\n
4. Embrace wrong answers \u2013 that\u2019s part learning. If you are constantly getting correct answers, then you are probably not asking good probing, challenging questions.\u00a0 Try not to focus on whether or not an answer is correct or incorrect, otherwise, only people who know they have the \u2018right\u2019 answer will want to contribute.\u00a0 Let the students know that incorrect answers are okay as well.\u00a0 I often will call on a student that I know will give an incorrect answer, not to humiliate them, but rather, to promote further discussion of the question and to step through the thinking process from the ground up.<\/p>\n
5. Ask tough questions \u2013 I\u2019ll be frank \u2013 I love asking questions, but asking questions when you know that the students know, is a complete waste of time.\u00a0 If all you do is ask questions that they know, then quite honestly – they don\u2019t need you.\u00a0 Your job is to expand their abilities and challenge them.\u00a0 To do that, you must ask tough questions, and help them to get from where they are now, to the answer.<\/p>\n
6. Test the way you teach \u2013 students learn according to how they are tested, and they figure that out pretty quick.\u00a0 You can ask them to stretch and think critically all day long in class, but if you do not test that way, they simply will not learn it.\u00a0 If all you are going to do on your exam is ask them to memorize and regurgitate, then forget #\u2019s 1 – 5 above as none of it will matter.<\/p>\n
Make a New Year\u2019s resolution to ask more and better questions in class and you will see your students learning more right in front of your eyes, and you will learn and grow as a teacher as well.\u00a0 Plus, it makes teaching a heck of a lot more fun, interesting and challenging.<\/p>\n
How to use the Socratic method in the classroom. Retrieved from http:\/\/serc.carleton.edu\/introgeo\/socratic\/fourth.html<\/em><\/p>\n Lam, F. (2011).\u00a0 The Socratic method as an approach to learning and its benefits. Dietrich College Honors Theses. Paper 134. http:\/\/repository.cmu.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1126&context=hsshonors<\/em><\/p>\n Lemov, D. (2010). Teach Like a Champion. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Contributed by Steven Markoff, Instructional Specialist, Department of Accounting, Law, and Taxation A Teaching Resolution I always have a goal to become a 5% better teacher every semester.\u00a0 The time in between semesters is a great time to set some teaching goals for the upcoming session.\u00a0 So I\u2019d like to suggest one which will have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}