Empower 35: The Art of Questioning: Getting Response from Group

Why learners do not respond when asked questions?

How can questions be framed to elicit response?

How can questions be used for inducing motivation and expanding thought process?

I will answer the above questions through my experiences with groups at various places and points of time.

Let us take the first question. Why learners do not respond when asked questions? In a class room or in a training room, teachers and trainers often face the dilemma of the learners choosing to keep mum when asked questions. This does happen for the following reasons.

1.??? They do not wish to answer

2.??? They are not prepared

3.??? They feel afraid to be jeered if the response is proven wrong

4.??? They do not want to think

5.??? They are not taken to task for not doing so

6.??? They do not own any responsibility for their silence or for not being prepared

There are institutions which ensure response from learners. Without proposing “a one hat fits all” solution, I?? can share some ways by which a modicum of response can be elicited.

The learning for the day may be ‘story’, an event, a phenomena, a concept, a method and so on. Depending on what the session is about, the following approaches are possible

a.??? In the process of teaching or training, points can be outlined which are easy to recall.

b.??? Attention can be drawn to the learners, by directing something to specific learner and developing a concept through short leading questions. However for this, there has to be such preparation

c.??? Another way is to ask questions immediately after a short deliberation. This will have better response. But it should not hinder the coverage of the topic.

d.??? At the outset the discussion can be made more participative

e.??? Examples are good ways to develop the topic. Examples themselves can be anticipatively developed by the participants

Suppose one is discussing a topic ‘what is business?’. So one can ask a question ‘what is business?’ and get no answer. Instead one can ask, ‘why do you think someone does a business? ( one may get a response, for profit) . Then a leading question—under what situations does one earn a profit--- and give three or four conditions----Buy at 10 and sell at 12 or Buy at 10 and sell at 8. In this statement what are the two operations involved? What does the business man buy and sell? And so on…

Thus one can develop through #easily answerable questions and go on to more complex situations, once the interest develops and the atmosphere is charged.

Another example is to ‘read a small passage’ and then ask questions from the passage. Or make the learners ask questions and other learners to answer.

Suppose one is wanting to discuss how a drain should be built with a group of youngsters. The leading questions can be , ‘Would you like to keep the drain open or closed? Would you like to keep it wide or narrow? Where should the drain water flow? Suppose something gets stuck inside how can one clean the drain? There questions will allow the learner to get into the various aspects of drain and broaden the understanding and also allow to raise more related question subsequently.

Let us come to a more abstract subject. Suppose a leader wants to discuss ‘#goal-setting’ with the team. The leader must work out the various aspects of goal setting and for what fields can goals be set. Having known that goals can be set for “family, society, career, personal interest”, the leader can set the tone by suggesting through a question, “what would you want to buy for the family, a car, a house, a music system, an A/C, …?” When would you want to do so, ‘next one year, next five years, …?” Gradually this could be connected to Career goals. In this way a Goal setting exercise can be done though questions. Even the team can be motivated to pursue the goal by outlining for themselves what steps to take. All these can be done by putting forth leading questions.

Thus we saw in the above how #questioning can help generate the necessary interest in any group. What are the benefits of questioning?

1.??? Do they keep the mind alert?

2.??? Do the generate interest?

3.??? How participative do the participants become?

4.??? Does it help the tutor/trainer to speak less?

5.??? Does it make the atmosphere less tense?

6.??? Does it create the sense of curiosity?

Now you can feel how questioning can help one grow the mind and achieve greater learning.

Dr. Srk

CEO, ‘vcaninsipire’

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