What does an effective science classroom look like?

            Over the last few weeks, I’ve been researching what an effective science classroom looks like. My last blog looked at learning theories and why it’s important to incorporate them into the classroom. I looked at four crucial learning theories and how each theory contains components that help create an effective learning environment.

            For this blog, I wanted to take a closer look at questioning in the classroom. What types of questions are effective? What types of questions are ineffective? When should you be asking thought-provoking questions? I think these are really important questions and teachers need to have a better idea about how to use effective questioning in the classroom.

            When researching this concept, I came across an article called Classroom Questioning. The article looked at differences between lower-level questions and higher level, thought-provoking questions. It also looked at appropriate wait-times. A direct quote from the article stated that:

“Increasing wait-time and the incidence of higher cognitive questions, in particular, has considerable promise for improving the effectiveness of classroom instruction.”

            This statement indicates that asking higher level, thought-provoking questions with appropriate wait time will create a more effective classroom environment. The article also stated some information that I didn’t agree with as well. They talked a lot about differentiating questions and wait-time for lower level students. I don’t think this should always be the case. I think, once again, the most important thing you can do as a teacher is getting to know your students. The teacher is the most effective component in a classroom.

            If you would like to read more about this article, here is the link.