Danielson 3b: Using Questions and Discussion Techniques

This week’s blog focuses on component 3b: Using Questions and Discussion techniques.

Overview

Questioning and discussion are used as techniques to deepen student understanding.  Good teachers use divergent as well as convergent questions, framed in such a way that they invite students to formulate hypotheses, make connections, or challenge previously held views. High-quality questions encourage students to make connections among concepts or events previously believed to be unrelated and arrive at new understandings of complex material. Effective teachers also pose questions to which they do not know the answers. Effective questioning and discussion techniques lead to animated class discussions that engage all students in considering important issues and in using their own language to deepen and extend their understanding. Discussions may be based around questions formulated by the students themselves.

When exploring a topic, a teacher might begin with a series of questions of low cognitive challenge to provide a review or to ensure that everyone in the class is on board. As the complexity of the questions increases, the teacher ensures that all students are still engaged in the discussion. In lessons involving small-group work, the quality of the students’ questions and discussion in their small groups are considered as part of this component.

In order for students to formulate high-level questions, they must have learned how to do so. Therefore, high-level questions from students, either in the full class, or in small group discussions, provide evidence that these skills have been taught.

The elements of 3b are:

Quality of Questions/Prompts

Questions of high quality cause students to think and reflect, to deepen their understanding and to test their ideas against those of their classmates.  When teachers ask questions of high quality, they ask only a few of them, and they provide students with sufficient time to think about their responses, to reflect on the comments of their classmates, and to deepen their understanding.

Discussion Techniques

Some teachers confuse discussion with explanation of content; as important as explanation is, it isn’t discussion.  In a true discussion, a teachers poses a question and invites all students’ view to be heard, and also enables students to engage in discussion directly with one another, and enlist the assistance of students to ensure this outcome.

Student Participation

In a few classrooms, some students tend to dominate the discussion; other students, recognizing this pattern, hold back their contributions.  Experienced teachers use a range of techniques to ensure that all students contribute to the discussion, and enlist the assistance of students to ensure this outcome.

In a proficient classroom an observer would see:

While the teacher may use some low-level questions, he or she poses questions to students designed to promote student thinking and understanding. The teacher creates a genuine discussion among students, providing adequate time for students to respond and and stepping aside when appropriate. The teacher successfully engages most students in the discussion, employing a range of strategies to ensure that most students are heard.

Indicators:

-The teachers uses open-ended questions, inviting students to think and/or offer multiple possible answers.

-The teacher makes effective use of wait time.

-The teacher builds on and uses student responses to question effectively.

- Discussions enable students to talk to one another, without ongoing mediation by the teacher.

-The teacher calls on most students, even those who don’t initially volunteer.

-Many students actively engage in the discussion.

In a distinguished classroom an observer would see:

The teacher uses a variety or series of questions or prompts to challenge students cognitively, advance high-level thinking and discourse, and promote met-cognition.  Students formulate many questions, initiate topics and make unsolicited contributions. Students themselves make sure that all voices are heard in the discussion.

Indicators:

In addition to the characteristics of a proficient level of performance:

-Students initiate high-order questions.

-Students extend the discussion, enriching it.

-Students invite comments from their classmates during a discussion.

*The majority of the content for the  this blog is taken directly from Danielson’s Framework for Teaching.

This will be the last blog outlining the Danielson framework for a few weeks.  Be sure to familiarize yourself with Domains 1 and 4 as well.  In the weeks ahead, we will continue to connect teachers to resources to support effective instruction.

This weeks question:

What strategy do you use to engage students in a discussion?  As students start to disengage, what do you do to bring them back into the discussion?

Additional Resources:

Edutopia Article: 5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students

Edutopia Article: Four Strategies to Spark Curiosity Via Student Questioning