A Beginning Question

1. A Beginning Question Have you Ever: • Wanted to get your students to talk in class? • Wanted to know what your students think? • Wanted to do something other than lecturing? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, click HERE to learn more.

2. An Introduction to LeadingDiscussions Through Questioning By the end of this module, you will: • Know reasons to use questions in class • Be able to set learning goals • Be able to set learning objectives • Understand and use Bloom’s Taxonomy

3. Why Ask Questions in Class? Write down at least 5 goals that you can accomplish by asking questions in class? 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: Ready to see some goals? Click here: ?

4. Goals for Asking Questions in Class Here are some goals for asking questions: 1: Promotes active listening and thinking. 2: Helps with better recall of class material. 3: Gets the group’s shared perspectives on issues.

5. More Goals for Asking Questions 4: Provides different views of “old topics.” 5: Aids in problem-solving 6: Gets students involved in their learning process. 7: Gives profs feedback on understanding.

6. Preparation: The Key to Effective Questioning Once you have goals for questions, you’ll want to prepare carefully. Did you know that when leading a discussion, you make content decisions every two minutes? This means that planning is crucial.

7. Plan Your Questioning Strategy Most faculty plan for the content BUT Both content and questioning strategy should be planned. How?Click here.

8. Planning: Goals are Key The basis of planning is setting objectives, not just having general goals. Find out more about objectives.

9. Goals and Objectives are Crucial ! Most people set general goals: Students should know about civil war. What exactly will you teach based on this goal? It is too general. How can you make it more specific?

10. Example of a Specific Objective General Goal: Students should know about civil war. Specific Learning Objective: Students should explain the reason each cause of the Civil War was important.

11. How Can You Write Specific Learning Objectives? First—think about different levels of learning. Objectives can be set at different levels of students’ thinking. One way to understand these levels is with Bloom’s Taxonomy. (Note, when you click to the document, be sure to close it to come back to this slide.)

12. Teaching with Discussion Focuses on Higher Levels of Learning Note that the taxonomy is hierarchical. Knowledge is the lowest level of learning; evaluation the highest. Unlike the lecture method of teaching, the discussion method focuses on higher levels of learning. It provides the students the opportunity to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate ideas and course material.

13. Set Objectives for Class Discussions Based on Testing It is best to set objectives for each discussion at the appropriate level of Bloom’s Taxonomy based on how you will test the students. For example, if you want students to be able to derive hypotheses about the Civil War, ask questions in class that are at the synthesis level.

14. Higher Level Objectives Take Time In a typical 50-minute class discussion, there can be 2-3 higher level learning objectives accomplished. Objectives at the higher levels will take longer to reach than those at lower levels. You could accomplish 3 lower- level objectives and only 1 higher-level objective.

15. Discussion Preparation Form One effective way to lead a discussion is to use a form to plan your questions and guide your use of questions during class. The two slides that follow show a form for this kind of planning.

16. Discussion Preparation Form Part 1 Here is a sample format for preparing a discussion: Date: Topic: Readings: Main Goal #1: Objective 1A: Questions: Objective 1B: Questions: Discussion Preparation Form Continued

17. Discussion Preparation Form Part 2 Questions to ask in class (Bloom’s level): 1) 2) 3) Anticipated student questions: Summary statement: Assignments/Announcements:

18. Characteristics of Effective Questions Strive to make your questions: • Purposeful • Clear • Brief—avoid two-part questions • Natural—in conversational English • Thought-provoking • Adapted to students’ competence level

19. Pitfalls in Questioning When asking students questions, avoid: • Asking yes/no questions • Vague Questions • Tugging (“Come on, you know the answer”) • Encouraging students to guess • Leading—”So, don’t you think that…”

20. Motivating and Engaging Students Your students will be most involved in discussions if you: • Tell them the topic ahead of time • Avoid answering your own questions • Involve (call on) all students • Use the board, overheads, slides

21. Motivating and Engaging Students 2 Here are other things you can do to keep your students engaged: • Probe incorrect answers • Maintain an open atmosphere • Know students’ names • Give positive feedback • Summarize main points at the end

22. Meeting Your Objectives—How WillYou Know? There are many ways to find out whether students have met your learning objectives: • Give an informal quiz • Ask students to write down questions they still have after the discussion • Look at students’ notes • Ask groups to provide summaries

23. Summary There are many good reasons to use questions in class. If you set both learning goals and learning objectives using Bloom’s Taxonomy, you will be able to lead effective discussions and test your students’ learning outcomes. To test yourself, click Here

24. The difference between learning goals and objectives is that: • Learning goals are something the students make up themselves and objectives are what the teacher does. • Learning goals are more general; learning objectives are specific. • Learning goals are used on tests. • Learning objectives are good for essay exams but goals are not. Check your answer.

25. The difference between learning goals and objectives is that: • Learning goals are something the students make up themselves and objectives are what the teacher does. • Learning goals are more general; learning objectives are specific. • Learning goals are used on tests. • Learning objectives are good for essay exams but goals are not.

26. Which of the following is TRUE about Bloom’s Taxonomy and questions? (Choose all that apply.) • The taxonomy allows you to target your questions to match your learning goals/objectives. • Discussion is good for students at the knowledge level. • Discussion allows you to reach students at the higher levels of the taxonomy. • Using a discussion preparation form is good for Bloom’s lower levels only. Check your answer.

27. Which of the following is TRUE about Bloom’s Taxonomy and questions? (Choose all that apply.) • The taxonomy allows you to target your questions to match your learning goals/objectives. • Discussion is good for students at the knowledge level. • Discussion allows you to reach students at the higher levels of the taxonomy. • Using a discussion preparation form is good for Bloom’s lower levels only. Now that you have completed this module, please press <Esc> to exit.