“For the most part, college students enrolled in beginning chemistry courses do not, during laboratory-based experiences, learn to follow directions. Instead they learn to depend excessively upon oral directions presented by the instructor in response to their queries.” (p. 103) When I happened on this quote (referenced in another article) it reminded me of my chemistry lab experience—I took a chemistry course with 20 beginning students as part of a first-year seminar program. The teacher, also our lab instructor, refused to answer questions in lab, and we hated him for it. Ask him a question and rather than answer he’d ask you a question back. It was infuriating—you had to figure everything out for yourself or with your lab partners.
Posts Tagged ‘questioning’
More on Questions and Participation
Posted Thursday, June 25th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerI’m still thinking about participation … even more convinced of the point in the previous blog … we need to be asking questions that do a better job of engaging students’ interests. I’ve also been thinking about how I don’t often prepare questions.
The Power of a Good Question
Posted Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerWe need to spend more time thinking about the questions we ask students and how they can do more than just test what students know (or don’t know). They can also hook students and pull them into our fascinating content domains.
