How do you encourage students to ask more questions?

  1. Make it a safe environment. Students need to feel comfortable asking questions during the class. Use humor and interact with students to help everyone feel comfortable in the class. Having students come in closer during discussion time can also allow students to feel more comfortable.
  2. Use wait time. Students need time to reflect on their understanding and formulate questions. When you ask students if they have any questions, you need to wait at least five seconds before moving on to a new concept. If you have never heard of wait time, watch the video below.
  3. Put students in groups. People often feel more comfortable to ask questions in a smaller group. Consider dividing up the whole class into smaller groups for questions and discussion. The ideas and questions generated in the smaller group can be shared with the whole group at the end.
  4. Ask questions to the class. The more you interact with the class, the more likely students will feel comfortable with you and safe to ask their own questions. Asking questions to the class increases understanding, gives you an assessment of learning, encourages active learning, and will generate more discussion from students.
  5. Prompt the class. Give the students prompts to help them think what to ask. For example, you might ask students what part of the movement was least smooth or simply “what did not work.”
  6. Rotate in the circle. Shy students may feel much more comfortable asking you questions as you rotate in the circle rather than asking questions during class. This is a great way to make students feel safe and meet everyone’s needs.