Do you ask questions in class?
There seem to be at least three possible reasons why you don't
ask questions in class:
-
You understand everything so completely that questions
aren't necessary.
-
You are so utterly lost that you don't even know where
to start asking questions.
-
You don't want to embarrass yourself or keep the class
back with your questions.
In the first case you probably shouldn't be taking the
class. Perhaps you can challenge it, or skip it, or just
take the exams.
In the second case things look grim. It's virtually
impossible to catch up with a class once you are lost.
You need to rearrange your studies in a major way.
The third reason is probably the most wide spread. It's the
one I'd like to focus on. Teachers differ in the extent to
which they encourage questions, and in the ways they respond
to questions. Most welcome questions. Indeed, questions
from students are the most useful indicator of how the class
is going. A good teacher should be prepared to respond
constructively to questions, and be able to adjust the
lecture in response to questions. Otherwise you might as
well watch a video, or, better still, read a book.
First let me list some of the advantages of frequent
questions from the class as a whole:
-
The teacher will understand a lot better how her
presentations are received. She can (and should) adjust
her lectures to the particular audience.
-
The questioner may receive elucidation of a particular
point and benefit from the rest of this particular
lesson, where he or she might otherwise be lost.
-
The question might be of benefit to a number of other
students who had not thought of it.
-
The teacher might learn something and look at things in
a different light.
-
The teacher may have made a mistake that he can now
recognize and recover from. (It happens!)
So now let me address some of the reasons why you might be
hesitant to ask questions:
-
You might be afraid to embarrass yourself in the eyes
of your teacher. Don't worry! We have been asked
all kinds of things, some of which were much more
embarrassing than your question. What's more we all
have done some most embarrassing things ourselves - so
we tend to be sympathetic.
Heck, I'll even tell you the most embarrassing thing
I ever did.
-
You might be afraid to embarrass yourself in the eyes
of your class mates. Again, don't worry. Chances
are your class mates are as lost as you are, and they'll
admire your courage to ask.
-
You might be afraid to waste the time of your class
mates. A good teacher should be able to phrase an
answer in a way that's beneficial for everybody in
class. (Actually, that desire to say something
beneficial to everybody may be the reason why you have
that nagging feeling your question isn't being answered.
In that case ask again, during or after class!) Remember
that the teacher is not obligated to answer your
question immediately, there's always the option of
offering to talk with you privately after class. So
again, don't worry, go ahead and ask!
-
You might be afraid to take away time from more
important things the teacher has to say. That's
possible. But in that case again the teacher can offer
to talk to you privately, or to answer the question at
another time, or to provide a handout, or to send an
e-mail to the whole class. However, any teacher should
budget some time for questions and answers, and be able
to modify the lecture to make up some time. I am always
prepared to cover more than I have time for, and I
arrange the sequence of topics so I can stop any time.
In particular, everything that absolutely must be said
comes very close to the beginning. That way some things
do go unsaid, but that's OK, you have to stop somewhere.
There is no magically fixed body of material that must
be covered in class!
Fine print, your comments, more links, Peter Alfeld,
PA1UM
[30-Dec-1997]