- at all ages, a combination of lower-order (information recall) and higher order (thinking and processing) questions are most effective in facilitating learning
- at upper primary and secondary levels, the emphasis should move towards more higher-order questions
- increasing the wait time (from the current average of 1 second to 3 seconds for knowledge recall and up to 10 seconds for thought and processing) improves the number and quality of responses
- pausing between pupil response and resuming teacher talk or moving on to next pupil encourages greater contributions, either from the same pupil or from others
- creating an environment in which 'having a go' is valued more than being right or in which answering questions is seen as a group collaboration, teasing out partial answers to collectively reach a conclusion (needs the right facilitation), can facilitate the kind of thinking that questioning alone cannot create. This also involves more students in learning.
- getting the children asking questions to drive their learning helps embed the value of questioning in the learning process
- model the art of wondering and inquiring
- make time for questions - even if this means diverting from the set plan - to make them something valued
- ask questions in a way that all children can understand and which guides their thinking process
- think about when you ask the questions: lower ability and younger children respond more effectively to questions presented after they have been given the opportunity to look at material. With higher ability children it's the other way round - asking questions before they have seen the material allows them to examine it with particular inquiries in mind, and elicits better responses
On this theme, Alex Quigley (Hunting English - a great blog on teaching and learning strategies among other things) lists his top ten strategies for incorporating questions into students' learning.