The Art of Effective Questioning:

Asking the right question for the

desired result
The Value of Questions

"Asking good questions is productive, positive,

creative, and can get us what we want". Most
people believe this to be true and yet people do
not ask enough good questions. Perhaps one
of the reasons for this is that effective
questioning requires it be combined with
effective listening.
Effective Questions
Effective questions are questions that are powerful
and thought provoking. Effective questions are open-
ended and not leading questions. They are not "why"
questions, but rather "what" or "how" questions.
"Why" questions are good for soliciting information,
but can make people defensive so be thoughtful in
your use of them. When asking effective questions, it
is important to wait for the answer and not provide
the answer.
When working with people to solve a problem, it is
not enough to tell them what the problem is. They
need to find out or understand it for themselves.
You help them do this by asking them thought
provoking questions. Rather than make
assumptions find out what the person you are
talking to knows about the problem.
For example: "What do you think the
problem is?"
Behind effective questioning is also the ability to
listen to the answer and suspend judgment. This
means being intent on understanding what the
person who is talking is really saying. What is
behind their words? Let go of your opinions so
that they don't block you from learning more
information. Pay attention to your gut for
additional information.
Powerful Questions
The following are examples of typical
questions. These questions can help you
improve your communication and
understanding of your students.
Identification of issue:
Solving Problems

What seems to be the trouble?

What do you make of _________?
How do you feel about _____________?
What concerns you the most about _____________?
What seems to be the problem?
What seems to be your main obstacle?
What is holding you back from _________________?
What do you think about doing X this way?
Further information:
These questions can be used in depositions
and to find out what someone has already
done to resolve a problem.
What do you mean by __________?
Tell me more about _______________
What else?
What other ways did you try so far?
What will you have to do to get the job done?
Outcomes:
These questions can be used in settlement
negotiations or while working with staff to plan
how to do something.
How do you want ____________ to turn out?
What do you want?
What is your desired outcome?
What benefits would you like to get out of X?
What do you propose?
What is your plan?
If you do this, how will it affect ________ ?
What else do you need to consider?
Questions serve as a teaching tool by which
teachers manage and direct learning, test student
understanding, and diagnose problem areas. The
skillful use of the following question strategies
have been found to enhance the effectiveness of
teacher- initiated questions.
1) USING A SKILL HIERARCHY: Asking questions
that move from requiring simple recall of
information to more difficult levels of cognitive
reasoning, helps students develop cognitive
abilities and critical thinking skills. (see chart
below.)
LEVEL STUDENT SKILLS
KNOWLEDGE recalling facts or observations;
supplying definitions
COMPREHENSION describing; stating main ideas;
comparing & contrasting
APPLICATION applying techniques & rules to
solve problems that have a
single correct answer
ANALYSIS identifying motives or making
inferences; finding evidence to
support generalizations

SYNTHESIS developing solutions problems and/or

making predictions

EVALUATION making value judgments about

a controversial issue; judging
truth, validity, beauty,
worth etc.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS

l. Who?, What?, Where?, When?,

2. How would you define the term...?
l. Describe (what will happen when...)
2. What is the main idea (of article)?
3. How are the theories alike/ different?
1. If..., then...
2. How does this rule apply to...
3. How would you interpret this graph/chart?
1. What can we conclude about...?
2. What does this tell us about...?
3. What evidence can you find to support...?
l. How can this dilemma be solved?
2. How can we improve this?
3. What might happen if...?
l. What is your opinion (on this matter)?
2. Would it be better done another way?
3. Why do you agree with...?
2) EMPLOYING WAIT-TIME: Wait-time is the amount
of time a teacher waits for students to respond before
giving the answer or posing another question. At least
5 to l0 seconds are needed for students to think about
and respond to the questions. Of course, questions at
higher cognitive levels tend to require longer wait-time
than questions at the lower cognitive levels.
3) REDIRECTING QUESTIONS: Question
redirection occurs when an instructor turns a
student-initiated question or comment back to the
student or to the class. This provides students with
further opportunities to develop thinking and
communication skills. It also helps to promote
classroom discussion by taking the focus off the
teacher and encouraging student to student
interaction.
4) USING PROBING QUESTIONS: Probing
questions are initiated by the teacher and
requires the student to think beyond the initial
response. It directs, develops, or refocuses the
student's response.
BLOCKS TO EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING:
PHRASING PROBLEMS
Phrasing problems can mislead or confuse your
students. The four most common problems in
phrasing questions are:
"YES" OR "NO" QUESTIONS: Yes/No questions
demand only a yes or no response and do not
stimulate discussion. These questions usually
begin with auxiliary verbs are, is, could, would,
does, do, can and was.
Unfortunately, studies show this
form is used often in classroom
settings.
Example: Is social reform an issue
here? Change to: What specific
social reforms are at issue here?
AMBIGUOUS QUESTIONS: Ambiguous
questions are unclear and unfair. It
often turns into a guess what's on the
teacher's mind.
Example: Phrasing is a problem in
questioning? Change to: Why could
poor phrasing of a question be
considered a problem?
Spoon-feeding QUESTIONS: Spoon-feeding
questions give too much guidance and does
not require students to develop analytic skills.
Examples: Leading questions: "So we can say
that, no matter where we live, people need
food and shelter. Isn't that right?"
Questions that include the answer or offer a
choice: "Are the things necessary or only
desirable?" Inverted questions: "The kind of
things that we can discover from observing
animals are what?" (These types of questions
tend to force a predetermined answer).
COMPOUND QUESTIONS: Compound
questions tend to include too many factors
and or pose several questions for students
to consider at once.
For example: "How did the revolution begin,
and what did the nobles have to do with it? Did
tax reform have anything to do with it?" The
solution to avoiding this type of question is to
make sure your questions contain only one
main idea.
Reference:
"Condensed Version of the Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives." In Bloom, Hastings,
and Madaus (eds). Handbook on Formative
and Summative Evaluation of Student Learning
. 1971