Teachers' and students' roles in formative assessment

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How can we make questioning more effective?

All the teachers in the study recognised the importance of questioning as a way to engage students more effectively with the subject matter. Some of the teachers found it helpful to increase the 'wait time' between the teacher asking a question and the students responding. Earlier research (Rowe, 1974) (click to Where can I find out more?) had shown that the short wait time many teachers allowed tended to demand memorised facts as answers rather than reasoned responses. Such short wait times also engaged only a handful of students. By presenting students with much longer wait times, they became used to the idea that they had to think about the problem before answering. One teacher commented on the difficulties and success of this approach:

'Increasing waiting time after asking questions proved difficult to start...The pause after asking the question was sometimes 'painful'...Given more thinking time students seemed to realise that a more thoughtful answer was required...rather than adding a prompting question (as I would have done in the past), a pause is an effective way of indicating that more information is required...'

Teachers also developed a 'no hands up' approach as part of a policy of encouraging all students to prepare verbal answers to questions. As one teacher said:

'...I have also started to move away from hands up. The class know that they will all contribute at some point, and most responses are requested by me rather than volunteered.'

While encouraging all students to be prepared to provide answers, the teachers appreciated that it was necessary to create a non-judgemental environment in the classroom so that weaker students wouldn't feel intimidated:

'...Wrong answers slowly stopped being a problem as the students got used to the idea that I was very unlikely to express an opinion during these sessions.'

Teachers also understood the importance of open-ended questions, particularly when seeking to build on what students know already, as this comment illustrates:

'...when we start a new unit, we start by looking at what we already know. This might be...with open-ended, challenging questions - such as, "If plants need sunlight to make food how come the biggest plants don't grow in the desert where it's sunny all the time?" A far better lead-in...than "What is the equation for photosynthesis?"'

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction Who was involved and what did they do? What gains did the students make and how were they measured? What did teachers and students report? How can we make questioning more effective? What sort of marking and grading really helps students' learning? How did teachers involve students in peer- and self-assessment? How did teachers make formative use of summative testing? How did teachers' practice change and what challenges remain? What are the implications of this research for practitioners? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Teachers' and students' roles in formative assessment This digest found in Assessment for Learning Send to a friend Word doc 80KB Printer friendly Collate for later How can we make questioning more effective? All the teachers in the study recognised the importance of questioning as a way to engage students more effectively with the subject matter. Some of the teachers found it helpful to increase the 'wait time' between the teacher asking a question and the students responding. Earlier research (Rowe, 1974) (click to Where can I find out more?) had shown that the short wait time many teachers allowed tended to demand memorised facts as answers rather than reasoned responses. Such short wait times also engaged only a handful of students. By presenting students with much longer wait times, they became used to the idea that they had to think about the problem before answering. One teacher commented on the difficulties and success of this approach: 'Increasing waiting time after asking questions proved difficult to start...The pause after asking the question was sometimes 'painful'...Given more thinking time students seemed to realise that a more thoughtful answer was required...rather than adding a prompting question (as I would have done in the past), a pause is an effective way of indicating that more information is required...' Teachers also developed a 'no hands up' approach as part of a policy of encouraging all students to prepare verbal answers to questions. As one teacher said: '...I have also started to move away from hands up. The class know that they will all contribute at some point, and most responses are requested by me rather than volunteered.' While encouraging all students to be prepared to provide answers, the teachers appreciated that it was necessary to create a non-judgemental environment in the classroom so that weaker students wouldn't feel intimidated: '...Wrong answers slowly stopped being a problem as the students got used to the idea that I was very unlikely to express an opinion during these sessions.' Teachers also understood the importance of open-ended questions, particularly when seeking to build on what students know already, as this comment illustrates: '...when we start a new unit, we start by looking at what we already know. This might be...with open-ended, challenging questions - such as, "If plants need sunlight to make food how come the biggest plants don't grow in the desert where it's sunny all the time?" A far better lead-in...than "What is the equation for photosynthesis?"'