I need suggestions on encouraging students to tell me when they don’t understand something. I ask my classes if they need any help, but no one seems to have any questions. The next day, it’s as if they never heard of the topic before! —A. from Nevada

Questions are good, but sometimes people don’t have questions or concerns until later, after they’ve “digested” the material and try to recall, use, or apply it. I did a workshop with another instructor on a technology tool for teachers and administrators. The workshop was hands-on and based on the needs of the participants. The workshop seemed to go well, and the participants gave it high ratings. But there were very few questions.

My co-instructor called me a few days later. The help desk was now getting questions from the participants. She was very upset because she thought she had done an ineffective job. I reassured her that we had done a good job during the workshop, but once the participants were on their own, they realized their knowledge was a little shaky. Or their confidence disappeared without support standing right next to them. Or they ran into unforeseen glitches. My colleague had been very supportive and so the participants felt comfortable contacting the helpdesk. I suggested that if the participants did not see the value of the tool, they would have given up.

The same is true in our classrooms. Teachers often say “Any questions? Good.” When there are no questions, the teacher assumes that everyone understands. You could rephrase your questions to provide a context or focus, such as, “Any questions about the difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells?” Give the class a few seconds of wait time to think about their learning and formulate their questions. Model the type of questions the students could ask or how they could check their understanding: “When I was first learning this, I didn’t understand that…” “Tell me one thing you learned and one thing you’re still confused about.”

Is your classroom a “safe” place for them to ask questions? Do students know how to ask for assistance? Is asking considered a sign of weakness? Are students embarrassed to ask questions? No matter how trivial the question or comment, never belittle it, reply with sarcasm, or allow other students to laugh at it. I had a student who thought she would hurt my feelings if she didn’t understand something right away! (I told her that I liked questions —they helped me become a better teacher.) Having a way to submit questions anonymously may help (a slip of paper, a tweet, or an e-mail note).

Don’t wait until the end of the lesson or test time to discover what students are struggling with. Frequent formative assessments—bellringers, tickets out the door, brief quizzes, responses via clickers or white boards, and thumbs up—may also help students reflect on what they know or don’t know and give you some concrete feedback on their understanding during each lesson.

Several articles have addressed the topic with implications for teachers:

• Students’ Help-Seeking Strategies Offer Clues for Educators
• Middle-Class Children Learn to Be Squeaky Wheels
• Working-Class Kids Ask Fewer Questions In Class, And Here’s Why

Photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rongyos/2686415336/