Asking strategic questions can be a useful tool to gauge
student understanding, stimulate critical thinking, and more fully engage
students in the lesson. But not any question accomplishes those purposes. Cornell University’s Center for Teaching Excellence elucidates methods for teaching and
using effective questions.
But what if students don't want to answer the questions at all? A publication from University of Florida advises using a few techniques to encourage participation. One techniques is to randomly select students to respond. I volunteered as a teacher's assistant for a horticulture teacher and he had written all of the student's names on plant labels and put them in a flower pot. He would ask a question first and then pull a label out and ask the student to respond. For this technique to be most effective, you should ask the question before drawing a name so that students don't "zone out" if their name is not called.
But perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves is not what to do if students don't want to answer our questions, but why they don't want to answer questions. In her TEDx talk, Kate Simonds, speaks of her personal experiences of being a student without a voice. At 17 years old, she stands in front of an audience to expound her frustrations with the education system and the fact that students have very little opportunity to voice what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. She states that there are many reasons why students don't want to answer questions or even engage in learning in general, but that perhaps it is because they see very relevance and value to the education that they are receiving as passive learners.
The world is changing and is changing fast. The industrial model of education is no longer appropriate for preparing students to face the inevitable challenges that lay ahead. Empowering students by giving them a voice in their own education and autonomy over the decisions that affect them are essential for preparing the youth to be engaged citizens, creative thinkers, and powerful agents of change.
But what if students don't want to answer the questions at all? A publication from University of Florida advises using a few techniques to encourage participation. One techniques is to randomly select students to respond. I volunteered as a teacher's assistant for a horticulture teacher and he had written all of the student's names on plant labels and put them in a flower pot. He would ask a question first and then pull a label out and ask the student to respond. For this technique to be most effective, you should ask the question before drawing a name so that students don't "zone out" if their name is not called.
But perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves is not what to do if students don't want to answer our questions, but why they don't want to answer questions. In her TEDx talk, Kate Simonds, speaks of her personal experiences of being a student without a voice. At 17 years old, she stands in front of an audience to expound her frustrations with the education system and the fact that students have very little opportunity to voice what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. She states that there are many reasons why students don't want to answer questions or even engage in learning in general, but that perhaps it is because they see very relevance and value to the education that they are receiving as passive learners.
The world is changing and is changing fast. The industrial model of education is no longer appropriate for preparing students to face the inevitable challenges that lay ahead. Empowering students by giving them a voice in their own education and autonomy over the decisions that affect them are essential for preparing the youth to be engaged citizens, creative thinkers, and powerful agents of change.
Nice connection between the what and why of students answering questions. I agree that giving students a voice in their own education is key to the future. How do you suggest we do that when we write the units and lessons?
ReplyDeleteThat is the thing, if you decide to let the students have a voice in what and how they will learn it is pretty difficult to plan out the unit.
DeleteA thought could be that following the introduction of a unit, you could ask students what they want to learn about that specific unit and perhaps brainstorm some activities that could lead to effective learning. For example, I am teaching an animal science unit on poultry and so I introduce the unit goals and provide the students an opportunity to discuss what they feel is important to know and what they want to learn. From there they could plan a field trip to a local poultry operation etc.
It requires a lot of adaptability and flexibility that we will develop as we gain more experience
Nice connection between the what and why of students answering questions. I agree that giving students a voice in their own education is key to the future. How do you suggest we do that when we write the units and lessons?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nate, I didn't even make a connection between the articles and the TED talks... I thought of them separately. We have to believe that our students have a voice if we want them to be confident in our classrooms. Us soon-to-be teachers will have to facilitate some pretty powerful stuff.
ReplyDeleteEVERY TIME. You challenge me every time! I didn't even think about asking "what if they don't want to answer". I am excited to see how we start using these quesitons because I know that you are really passionate about creating that curiosity and letting students wonder and even push back, and I want to try that too!
ReplyDeleteKey is to avoid those closed questions!
ReplyDeleteNice connections Michael. I agree, we always need to be mindful of students thoughts and not hesitate to listen to them. Sometimes they have a much more creative take on subjects. You never fail to challenge us, as Kayla said. You always seem to bring another point of view to the group. Well Done!
ReplyDelete