Lowering the Threshold

One of the ideas I shared in my first post about questioning was the idea of students asking questions at important junctures in the lesson and that not asking questions tacitly implied understanding:

If we are explaining/discussing something that is long / complicated / challenging, we can follow up with:

Opportunities for students to ask questions

and if these are not forthcoming, we should make the assumption that students understand to the point of being able to explain the concept.

at this point can cold-call students with a challenge to explain all or some of what is being learnt.

This requirement on students that they either ask questions or be willing and ready to explain what has been discussed can increase engagement but the expectation might need to be made explicit.

One of the ways that I am experimenting with is speaking to students about my expectations regarding their questions. I have asked them to lower their threshold from “finding the concepts so painful they need to ask a question or leave the room” to “feeling like they wouldn’t be confident enough to explain the concept at the front of the room”.

This shift in thinking about when asking a question is appropriate hasn’t prompted an immediate flood of questions but there have certainly been a small number of students who have come forward with questions in each of the lessons I have used this.

I plan to keep at this and will continue following up points of difficulty with an expectation that students ask questions or be ready to explain.