Asking and Answering Questions

This was explained using three ways. "The first way was repeat the question and paraphrase it. By doing this it makes sure the entire class hears the question and by paraphrasing it you show the person asking the question that you understand what he/she is asking. The second way was to redirect the question. By doing this it encourages student participation and shows that peers can be useful for finding out information aswell. The third way is to ask probing questions. When answering the question of the student direct their attention to a particular aspect of their issue, by doing this it draws their attention to things implied in their answer therefore helping them to answer their own questions" (Hyman, 1974).
             The second part of the paper is concerned with answering questions, what teachers/lecturers should and shouldn't do when doing this. There are four things that are recommended. To not directly answer the question, to not postpone answering the question, to discourage inappropriate questions and to admit when you don't know an answer.
             The third and final part of the paper was to do with teachers/lecturers asking questions of the class/lecture. There is two parts to this. Asking open questions rather than closed ones and asking divergent as well as convergent questions. Closed questions are the questions where they only answer can be yes or no. By asking open questions it encourages more information and more thinking from the students compared to if they had to just answer just a simple yes or no. "Convergent questions expect the student to repeat conventional wisdom whereas divergent questions often require new creative insights" (Hyman, 1974). This is why divergent questions should be used as well as it requires the student to think.
             After going through this paper I decided to check out some of the other internet sites to see their perspective on the idea of answering and asking questions as well.