ERIC Number: ED461411
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1988
Pages: 10
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Reformulating Useless Questions for Classroom Instructions.
Sponder, Barry
Especially when engaging students in activities on Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives, teachers frequently ask questions that, from an educational standpoint, are useless. The most useless of these questions is, "Do you understand?" because comprehension is not a binary process. Understanding has many phases and levels, and a "yes" or "no" response does little to identify areas of possible confusion. Teachers sometimes ask useless questions because they have only a cursory understanding of the subjects they are teaching. It is important for teachers to ascertain student comprehension. Appropriate ways to do this are to have students: (1) summarize key points of the lesson; (2) give their own examples of the important concepts taught; (3) write down questions during instruction and periodically stop to answer them; and (4) follow an outline of the lesson. Other useless questions include: (1) "Is everyone paying attention?" (2) "Can everyone be quiet?" (3) "Is everyone finished?" and (4) "Can we all pay attention now?" Teachers should find alternative ways to maintain classroom order and to ascertain whether students have completed assignments. (JW)
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: In: "Teaching and Learning" (Singapore) v13 n2 pp41-49.