Asking Questions

A good teacher is not one who can ask lots of questions (admittedly this is important), but one who can elicit their students to ask lots of questions. The main purpose of a question is to elicit a verbal response - from both the teacher and the student. It is therefore in the teacher’s best interests, to teach how to ask relevant questions and to differentiate between the types of questions available.

Asking and answering questions are important parts of effective learning and teaching. The types of questions you ask should capture the students’ attention, arouse their curiosity, reinforce key points, and encourage active learning. Here is a list of question types based on Benjamin Bloom’s six cognitive levels:

Knowledge (identification and recall of information):
• “Who, what, when, where, how…?”
• “Describe…”

Comprehension (organization and selection of facts and ideas):
• “Retell…”
• "Summarize..."

Application (use of facts, rules and principles):
• “How is…an example of…?”
• “How is…related to…?”
• “Why is…significant?

Analysis (separation of a whole into component parts):
• “What are the parts or features of…?”
• “Classify …according to…”
• “Outline / diagram…”
• “How does…compare / contrast with…?”
• “What evidence can you list for…?”

Synthesis (combination of ideas to form a new whole):
• “What would you predict / infer from…?”
• “What ideas can you add to…?”
• “How would you create / design a new…?”
• “What might happen if you combined…?”
• “What solutions would you suggest for…?”

Evaluation (development of opinions, judgments, or decisions):
• “Do you agree…?”
• “What do you think about…?”
• “What is the most important…?”
• “Place the following in order of priority…”
• “How would you decide about…?”
• “What criteria would you use to assess…?”