Overall, we feel that our host teacher
did not implement effective questioning
techniques to increase class participation; he
mainly relied on rhetorical questions and
convergent questions which did not result in
high levels of participation or strong
responses. It is imperative to include a
variety of questions to ensure that each
student’s learning style is addressed rather
than only implementing one or two
techniques continuously. In addition to
appealing to differing learning styles, the
teacher should encourage students to share
their opinions freely through the use of
divergent questions; this gives students a
sense of importance and confidence which
will lead to increased participation in the
future. After students have given their
opinions or responded to a question, it is
necessary to provide them with feedback in
order to get them in the habit of explaining
the reasoning behind their thought process.
Feedback is also significant because it builds
the level of comfort between the student and
teacher in addition to providing the class
with valuable discussion. Lastly, and most
essentially, teachers should prepare their
questions prior to each lesson to ensure that
they properly asses the main ideas of the
material and are not confusing for students.
Developing and executing appropriate
questioning techniques in a classroom is the
most valuable way to guarantee strong
student participation and increase the ability
to which students learn.