Fundamental Principles of Good Questioning

It is not likely that the teacher will find it advisable to require reports at every recitation nor that the reports and their discussion will consume, at the most, longer than ten or fifteen minutes of any class period. There must always be time for direct oral questioning on the facts of the lesson; questioning that will test the student’s memory, ability to analyze, and powers of expression. Certain principles are fundamental to good questioning in any recitation.

1. The questions should be brief.
2. They should be prepared by the teacher before coming to recitation. This will insure rapidity. A vast deal of time is lost by the unfortunate habit possessed by many teachers of never having the next question ready to use.
3. They should precede the name of the pupil required to answer it.
4. They should not be leading questions to which the pupil can guess the answers.
5. They should be grammatically stated with but one possible interpretation.
6. Except for purposes of rapid review they should not be answerable with yes or no.
7. They should be asked in a voice loud enough to be heard by all the class, and only once.
8. They should be asked in no regular order, but nevertheless in such a way that every member of the class will have a chance to recite.

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