Questions : Types

Here are the important types of questions that he can use during the process of teaching and in normal course of life :

1. Introductory Questions : As is evident from the nomenclature, such questions are used at the introductory stage, that is, when a lesson is introduced to students. It serves the purpose of ascertaining learners’ previous knowledge as well as to put them on the path of thinking what may be coming next.

2. Developing Questions : This type of questions are used when the lesson is developed from one point or unit to another; the basic purpose of these questions is to make students adopt a logical approach towards the development of a lesson as well as stimulate their mental processes.

3. Thought-provoking Questions : These are such questions in which a teacher compels his students to think, imagine and apply logic to a given situation, thus making them active in the process of learning. Generally, such questions begin with ‘why’ and ‘how’. These questions are also used to keep learners focussed on the topic.

4. Problem Questions : Some topics need to be put before students as a problem in the beginning and then resolved through discussions. In it, a problem is put before students, and then an effort is made to find its solution; for example, a teacher can ask: “What if we want to express the future in the present tense?”

5. Comparison Questions : In this type of questions, a teacher asks students to compare between two objects, scenes, scenario, conditions or events and exhorts them to compare on the basis of their size, characteristics, features, problems, merits, demerits, effect and the like. Such questions can be used at any stage of teaching.

6. Comprehension Questions : Such questions are asked to determine if students have understood the basic idea behind the chapter or teaching. The questions falling under the ‘What do you understand by…?’ fall under this type.

7. Recapitulatory Questions : A teacher uses these questions to determine if students are able to summarise what they have learnt in a bid to organize their knowledge properly and in proper sequence. It also judges if they have understood the concepts correctly. Thus, these questions are much like comprehension questions, with the only difference that comprehension questions can be asked at any stage of teaching while recapitulatory questions are asked at the end of a lesson, unit or teaching point.