Classroom+Questioning

Articles on the subject of classroom questioning often begin by invoking Socrates. Researchers and other writers concerned with questioning techniques seem to want to remind us that questioning has a long and venerable history as an educational strategy. And indeed, the Socratic method of using questions and answers to challenge assumptions, expose contradictions, and lead to new knowledge and wisdom is an undeniably powerful teaching approach. In addition to its long history and demonstrated effectiveness, questioning is also of interest to researchers and practitioners because of its widespread use as a contemporary teaching technique. Research indicates that questioning is second only to lecturing in popularity as a teaching method and that classroom teachers spend anywhere from thirty-five to fifty percent of their instructional time conducting questioning sessions.
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