What Questions do you Have?

I had the luxurious experience of being at a conference in person last week. You know, with people. You know, with people not on a screen​. It was exhilarating. One of the presenters had everybody standing up and doing some icebreakers. After explaining the instructions he asked, “What questions do you have?”

Note that he didn’t ask, “Are there any questions?“

This reminded me of other times when I’ve been inspired by the reframing of the overused, vaguely directed solicitation. And while the distinction between the two questions might superficially be minimal, the intentionality​has profound implications.

In the book Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It, author James Lang says:

I’ve spent much of my career working with faculty to advocate for small changes that can make a positive difference to our teaching, and one of the best changes I’ve ever heard recommended was the simplest one you could possibly imagine. So many of us finish or pause in our presentation of material and say, “Any questions?”—a prompt that is usually met either with silence or with a question or two from your most vocal students, and that might be viewed by some as a quick opportunity to check their phones or hop online. This is unfortunate, because the formulation of questions has multiple learning benefits for students [page 126].

He goes on to justify the couching of the question by examining the intent. I suspect his inner-monologue says, “Hey folks – I know we just talked about some really complex stuff so of course you have questions. Let’s talk about it. I really want to know what you’re thinking.” But it’s not just the language (to be clear – language matters. A lot.), it’s the design of the moment. Wait for ten or fifteen seconds. Or thirty. Or whatever it takes. Signal that it is important for you to invest the time and energy in making sure that your students feel secure.

Lang also suggests two other strategies to help students feel comfortable asking questions.

1. Distribute index cards at the beginning of classes that examine key content. ​Instruct every student to write down one question that they have about the lesson. Near the end of the class, collect them and go through each card reading aloud the question and hosting conversation around it. Not only does every student get an answer to their question, but two other things happen. Question-asking becomes normalized and students gain collateral knowledge. Said one student in a course evaluation, “I obtained crucial information I hadn’t thought about based on the answers to other students’ questions.”
   
2. Use “The Minute Paper” exercise. Have the students submit responses to the three questions, “What was the most important thing you learned today?”, “What are you still confused or uncertain about?”, and “When it comes to this course material, what are you curious about?”. Use these responses to inform the next class (as well as improving the current lesson for future semesters).

I love Lang’s suggestions (actually, I find this book and Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning essential reads for educators) because they send implicit signals to the students that you have genuine concern for their learning. There is a humanity to the experience, and you’re invested in your students just as your students should be invested in their own learning.

Jennifer Gonzalez (creator of the Cult of Pedagogy blog, podcast, and videos) also suggests using “What questions do you have?” In her blog post “Let’s Give our Teaching Language a Makeover” Gonzalez suggests this rephrasing boosts academic safety:

In many classrooms, students feel hesitant to ask questions or take risks for fear of looking stupid. Choosing the right words when we invite student questions and respond to student ideas sends the message that learning is a messy process and that the classroom is a place where we can safely engage in that.

She suggests that asking “Are there any questions?” is a yes or no question. Students are not specifically invited to ask questions and might feel that it is safer to not ask. In her post “When You Get Nothing But Crickets”, Gonzalez posits that students might not answer “Are there any questions?” because they think you are asking a vague question to a vague target. They think everyone else gets it. There might be someone in the room (even you!) that is intimidating. Instead of asking the question and waiting for an answer, you might ask everyone to write down a response first. Or explain what type of response you want.

The biggest takeaway is, “What questions do you have?” is an easy and free way to potentiate student engagement. Try it today!