Questioning in Geography

Nick and John

 Contents

• Questioning types
• History of questioning
• Effective/ineffective questioning
• Questions in a lesson structure
• What style of questioning is used in
Geography?
• Conclusion – Attributes to good questioning
 Introduction
• Questioning is a vital teaching skill. They
can be used to develop a class dialogue to
incorporate the whole class.
• By asking questions and building on pupils’
responses, teachers can shape pupils thinking
and learning (Cognitive development).
 Open and closed questioning

• CLOSED – usually only have one answer

• OPEN – a range of answers are possible

Two Dimensions of Questioning
 Questioning types
DATA RECALL questions pupils remember facts,
information without putting information to use

A NAMING question ask pupils simply to name an

event, process phenomena without sharing insight into
how it is linked to other factors

An OBSERVATION question ask pupils to describe

what they see without attempting to explain

A CONTROL question involves questions to modify

pupils’ behaviour rather than their learning
 Questioning types
A PSEUDO question constructed to appear that the teacher will
accept more than one response but in fact has clearly made up their
mind that this is not so
A SPECULATIVE question ask pupils to speculate about
outcome of an hypothetical action.

A REASONING question ask pupils to give reasons why

certain things do not happen

An EVALUATION question is one that makes a pupil weigh

up pros/cons of a situation or argument

A PROBLEM SOLVING question ask pupils to construct

ways of finding out answers to questions.
 Socrates
• Socrates lived between 470–399 BC.

• He was born and lived in Athens

• An ancient Greek philosopher who is widely credited for laying

the foundation for Western philosophy.

• Due to his controversial questions, opinions about him were

widely polarized, drawing very high praise or very severe
ridicule.

• Perhaps his most important contribution to western thought is his

dialectic (answering a question with a question) method of
inquiry, known as the SOCRATIC METHOD. Described by
Plato in the Socratic Dialogues.
 Socrates
• In this method, a series of questions are posed to extend knowledge. The Socratic
method is a negative method of hypothesis elimination, Socrates once said, "I
know you won't believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to
question oneself and others.“

• A Socratic Dialogue can happen at any time between two people when they seek
to answer a question about something answerable by their own effort of
reflection and thinking starting from the concrete asking all sorts of questions
until the details of the example are fleshed out as a kind of platform for reaching
more general judgments.

• The term Socratic Questioning is used to describe this kind of questioning, with
which an original question was responded to as though it were an answer. This in
turn forces the first questioner to reformulate a new question in the light of the
progress of the discourse.
 Socratic instruction
Open-ended and closed questions are useful. Open-
ended questions promote critical thinking, while closed
questions can focus attention.

Include clarifying questions, demands and statements.

They are as valid as questions are. Students may need
guidance as they sift through possible answers.

Use questions from all levels of thinking. Help

students to develop higher levels of critical thinking as
well as the typical knowledge and comprehension
levels.
 Blooms taxonomy
• Questioning techniques can explore the full range of blooms orders of thinking.
 Effective questioning
Includes a range of types of question which encourage
pupils to extend their thinking
Encourage creativity and speculation

Require extended responses, for example, open

ended, higher order, probing questions

Encourages individuals or groups of pupils to formulate

their own questions.
The use of questioning may be related to hypothesis
testing or setting, or to develop a line of
investigation/enquiry.
 Ineffective Questioning
Questions which only have answering potential of
Yes and No. These do not enhance understanding
or use students knowledge.

However they can be used to focus on certain

pupils who are avoiding the question to be able to
use the varying methods to try and engage the
pupil.
 Starters
• Often teachers will use SIMPLE
QUESTIONING to focus pupils and
quickly check on understanding in order to
gauge what level to pitch the lesson from
their lesson plan. This lower order
questioning strategy require the recall and
reporting of information and have answers
which are clearly right or wrong.
 Within the lesson
• More complex and intellectually
challenging questions can encourage
speculation and deeper thinking.

• Such higher order questions require pupils

to think about, evaluate or apply
information.
 Plenary
• At the end of the lesson a teacher will use
questioning to assess whether the objectives
they set at the beginning of the lesson were
met.

Questioning is a critical aspect

of teaching as it holds together
the beginning middle and end
of your lesson.
 Recap or move on
• Questioning is one of the most powerful
tools in gauging when to move onto a new
topic to see if pupils have understood and
acquire the essential knowledge on a
particular topic. It can also allow the
teacher to see if they need to adjust seating
positions to group learners together to
enhance the learning potential of the group.
 What style is used in Geography?
• To begin with most questions are closed. The
teachers purpose is to construct and control how
geographical knowledge and understanding is
developed along a particular line of reasoning.
Geography is full of technical terms.
• The pupils are being asked to tell the teacher
what is already known.
 What style is used in Geography?
More open questions can encourage pupils to explore concepts and
thinking. Answers are often tentative and the pupils’ responses
can move away from the known and expected answer.

Teachers need to be flexible (provide just enough rope for the

pupil to stay afloat) and so be responsive to get the pupil back on
track. But it is important for the teacher to listen and make sense
of what the pupils are thinking, before contributing to consolidate
the learning outcome desired.

It is important the pupil uses his/her mind rather than

guessing what is in the teachers mind. It is an important
tool to gauge understanding or misunderstanding so the
teacher can assess whether to move on do extra planning
for that element causing concern.
 Question and Answer waiting time
A critical aspect of questioning
People are frightened of silence but for many
people this time is related to thinking time.
The use of judgement is essential at this time, e.g
for example look at john’s face when I ask him the
following question.
Remedy? Probing by the teacher or
involving other pupils with the various
questioning techniques is needed.
•Or in John’s case a teaching assistant on
hand at all times
 Socratic instruction
Socratic questioning fosters critical thinking, evaluation, and
knowledge application in students and should be used as frequently
as possible in assignments and class discussions.

Allow 'wait time' for thinking. Give students time to

consider the question and their response before
requesting them to answer.

Avoid yes-no questions. They lead nowhere and do not

promote thinking nor discussion.
Be sure students have the needed background and
resources to respond to the questions posed. It is unfair
and detrimental to their progress to not accept their levels
of knowledge and experience.
 Attributes to good questioning
Asking questions fluently and precisely
Gauging questions to the students state of preparation / readiness
Involving a wide range of students in the question – answer process

Focussing questions on a wide range of intellectual skills and not just

on recall
Asking probing questions that require thought
Not accepting each answer with equal validity (be sensitive)
Redirect questions to allow the student to come up with accurate answers

Using both open-ended and closed questions so creativity and valued

judgements are accepted
Data recall questions pupils remember facts, information without putting
information to use
A naming question ask pupils simply to name an event, process phenomena
without sharing insight into how it is linked to other factors
An observation question ask pupils to describe what they see without attempting to
explain
A control question involves questions to modify pupils' behaviour rather than their
learning
A pseudo question constructed to appear that the teacher will accept more than one
response but in fact teacher has clearly made up her mind that this is not so
A speculative question ask pupils to speculate about outcome of an hypothetical
action.
A reasoning question ask pupils to give reasons why certain things do not happen
•An evaluation question is one that makes a pupil weigh up pros/cons of a situation
or argument
•A problem solving question ask pupils to construct ways of finding out answers to
questions.
• 'What happened when the soil was dried?'
• 'Imagine a world without trees, how would this
affect our lives?'
• 'What motivates some people to live so near to a
volcano?'
• 'Will you sit down John!'
• 'Is this an integrated railway network then?'
• ‘What do we call the process of coastal
deposition?'
• 'How strong is the case for a bypass around the
village?'
• 'How can we measure the speed of the river here
and compare it with lower down'.
• ‘What are the main crops in this country?’