Classroom questioning as an invaluable teaching strategy in Social Studies

Questioning is a teaching technique that indispensably pervades all teaching methods and the other techniques. Questions are sentences used in getting information; the information given indicates the respondent’s knowledge of something or lack of it. Teachers may pose questions to students or vice versa. This work explores questioning techniques, types of questions, the importance of questioning, teachers’ questions and wait-times, and how a teacher can field students’ questions. Questioning, the paper observes, can be a rewarding technique in teaching provided the teacher understands its purposes and warns that questioning should not be used for filling up time such as when the teacher has completed work and there is nothing left to be done. Questions asked at such a time are usually illprepared, as are answers given. It is recommended, inter alias, that teachers need to possess the mastery of knowledge and skills in asking good questions in class. Such mastery will stimulate inquiry and reflective thinking among pupils.