Train-the-Trainer by DataHomeLab

3.10 Answering Student Questions

Earlier in the chapter, it was established that at various stages in the lesson, students should be given opportunities to ask questions. Again, the instructor must be careful in dealing with student questions. Students may ask questions which are irrelevant to the subject. To answer such questions during the lesson wastes time and may side-track the instructor. Some students, especially bright ones, may ask questions pertaining to material to be covered, either later in the lesson or in future lessons. To answer such questions disrupts the logical flow of the lesson and, again, may distract the instructor. The occasion sometimes arises when a student asks a question and the instructor does not know the answer. If the instructor attempts to bluff by giving any answer, problems may arise. For example, it is not unknown for students to ask questions when they already know the answer. Alternatively, the instructor may be corrected by another student who knows the answer to the original student's question. If the student who posed the question is not satisfied with the instructor's answer, that student may find the answer from alternative sources. Whichever happens, the result will be loss of credibility in the eyes of the students. If the instructor is asked a question which cannot be answered immediately, admission should be made immediately and the student assured that the instructor will provide the correct answer as soon as possible.

3.10.1 Spontaneous Questions

Cross-pollination from Appendix 1: turn the question back

The Flight Safety Foundation / NASA treatment adds a fifth question pattern that applies directly to the in-lesson case where a student asks a question that the rest of the class would also benefit from working on:

Turn crew questions and comments back to them. If a crew member makes a comment or asks a question, avoid using this as a springboard for presenting your own perspectives. Instead, turn the topic back to the crew for discussion. Continue to redirect their questions and comments to encourage the crew to work out answers for themselves. Your questions are a powerful tool for blending your observations into the discussion without dominating. After the crew members have addressed everything they can, you can add teaching points they have not yet discovered.

The classroom analogue: when a student asks a question whose answer is within reach of the class through reasoning, redirect ("That's a good question. What do the rest of you think?") rather than answer directly. The Spontaneous Questions rule against answering pre-emptive questions has the same structural shape: don't preempt the class's own work. The full FSF / NASA treatment is reproduced in A1.4 Facilitation Techniques.

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