5 activities to inspire learners to enhance their learning by asking any and all of the questions they have

Intelligence shows itself not so much in having the right answers but in being able to ask the right questions.

The ability to ask questions is a sign of a curious mind and the mark of a good learner. Getting your learners to ask questions ceaselessly will have a positive impact on their learning and their subsequent job performance.

To make learners into non-stop questioners means that you have to help them overcome years of conditioning. Many of us (including our learners) have been unconsciously conditioned to believe that asking too many questions is a sign of stupidity. It’s sometimes embarrassing to admit that we just don’t know. So, we hesitate to ask too many questions in a classroom setting, assuming that others already know, and fearing that by asking too many questions we’ll label ourselves as an ignoramus in the eyes of our peers.

Sharing here 5 of my favourite activities from the AL Course Builder (credits to Center for Accelerated Learning) to inspire learners to enhance their learning by asking any and all of the questions they have. Check the ones that seem most usable to you for a specific learning program. Then go ahead and use them.

QUESTION PARTY

Ask people to stand up and greet everyone in the room as they might at a cocktail party or reception. As two people greet each other, have them ask each other a question about the learning material. It could be a question they know the answer to, or a question they don’t know the answer to. If it’s a question they don’t know the answer to and their partner doesn’t either, both of them ask a third or a fourth person until they get an answer. After an exchange of questions and answers, each partner finds another person to greet with a question. After this exercise, the facilitator can field any questions that were not answered.

PUT ALL YOUR (QUESTION) CARDS ON THE TABLE

Distribute blank index cards to learners seated four to six to a table. Ask each learner to write the questions they have about the learning material on the cards, one question per card. Then ask all the people at the table to combine their cards in one deck. Have each table select a dealer. The dealer then shuffles the deck and deals the ca ds face down to everyone at the table. Each learner in turn reads one of his or her question cards to the group, which is then given 30-60 seconds to answer it. Questions that cannot be answered by the group are placed in the middle of the table and are asked to the whole at the end of the activity.

QUESTION FACE OFF

Divide the class into two teams. Have each team create 10 or 20 questions about the learning material for their opposing team. Then have teams stand and fire questions at each other one at a time. If a team can answer the question in an allotted amount of time, they get a point.

STUMP YOUR BUDDY

In the middle or end of a presentation, put people in pairs. Have partners ask each other five questions about the subject matte -both questions they know the answer to and those they don’t. If neither partner can answer a question posed, the partners ask this question to the whole group at the end of the activity

HOT POTATO QUESTION CIRCLE

Ask people to stand and form a circle. Have one of the learners start the play by asking a question and throwing a Koosh ball or other soft ball to anyone in the circle. The person catching the ball has to answer the question. If the person cannot answer the question immediately, they quickly throw the ball like a hot potato to someone else in the circle. The ball keeps circulating until someone can answer the question posed. The person answering the question gets to ask a new question and the process starts all over again. Instead of a Koosh ball, you could use an actual potato if desired.

Remember, the learning is in the ASKING.