Questioning Strategies to Improve Understanding of Conic...

Introduction I chose to focus on how the use of questioning strategies in a whole class setting improves student understanding of conic sections because I struggle with using open-ended questioning. I see how â€Å"yes† and â€Å"no† questions do not usually cause students to think, since the answer to the question is often in the question. However, from my own experience as a teacher, simply asking an open-ended question about a new topic can cause frustration. If the students do not have any idea of how to answer the question, they simply stare and look confused. Even so, I do believe that open-ended questions can be very beneficial as an aid to learning if they are asked properly. Research Question How does the use of questioning strategies†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The question content determines the type of information that a teacher obtains about students’ thinking† (Manouchehri Lapp, 2003, p.564), and, of course, the purpose of the question must align with the learning goals. It is important to note that â€Å"Small modifications in the questions asked of students can furnish insights into students’ conceptual understanding of the computations and processes . . .† (Chappell Thompson, 1999, p.470). For instance, asking why an answer is correct gives more information about the student’s understanding than merely asking what the correct answer is. Using effective questioning is a skill developed over time and with experience. The more the teacher practices strategic questioning, the better the teacher will become at this skill. Before asking a question the educator should consider whether it actually needs to be answered, whether it will open up discussion, and whether it leads to the learning goals (Inspire, 2011). If it does none of these, the question does not need to be asked. Research Method This class was composed of 20 male and 8 female students. The ethnicities included Anglo, Latino, Black, and Asian. Figure 1 shows the distribution of ethnicity in this classroom, while Figure 2 shows the distribution for this school. By comparison of the class demographics to the school demographics, it is clear that a larger percentage