Effective Questioning: Definition and Key Features

Definition: A question, statement, or gesture that elicits participation and engagement from multiple students at once.

Key Features for Supporting All Students:

Key Feature 1: Considering each student’s strengths and needs when planning your questions.  

Key Feature 2: Using a variety of effective questions to promote engagement in learning among all students.   

Key Feature 3: Modeling for students how to effectively question each other. 

Purpose: To enhance student engagement and belonging by providing multiple and varied opportunities to respond.

Examples:

• Asking questions to all students: Who can tell me…?
• Asking students to respond in unison (e.g., choral response): Class, what is the capital of…?
• Asking students to do a think-pair-share activity or using peer-to-peer learning: Ask three classmates before me.
• Using white boards or pre-printed responses cards (e.g., yes / no)
• Using hand gestures: Hold up one finger if you understand.

Tips:

• Effective questioning is also referred to as an opportunity to respond (OTR). 
• To ensure all students are called upon, use randomized ways to engage with students (i.e., spin a wheel of student names, pull sticks from a cup to identify a student to respond). 
• Consider adjusting questions for different types of learners. For example, for students who may have anxiety about being called upon to respond, allow students to write their answer rather than verbally respond, or allow students to share answers in small groups. For English language learners and students who are slower processors, give all students 1 minute to think of the answer before allowing any student to raise their hand to answer). 
• Use effective questioning in a variety of classroom settings (e.g., at the desk, on the carpet, when reviewing expectations before an activity).
• Demonstrate active listening when students respond. This shows that all contributions are valued and encourages others to share their thoughts.