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| Riddle me this: which of Schneiderman's 8 golden rules does this UI design violate? Muahahahah! |
I'm sure I'm a pretty annoying lecturer to some students, because every few minutes I'll ask a question to the class and there would be this awkward silence as nobody has any idea what the answer is. Meanwhile, I would be standing in the front of the class with what probably looks like a self-satisfied smirk on my face and a holier-than-thou attitude, giving obscure hints and clues (usually in the form of more questions) until someone timidly ventures the right answer. I would congratulate the student on his brilliant deductive work and continue with the lecture, and then a few minutes later it would happen again.
I feel that asking questions is one of the best ways to keep a class engaged (or at least awake). They don't all have to be complex, thought-provoking head-scratchers. Even asking "any questions?" is helpful to give the students time to digest the new and possibly complex material just covered. Ideally, there should be a mix of easy and tough questions in every lesson to keep students at all ability levels engaged.
Whom you pick to answer your questions is important. In every class there are a few students who are always eager to answer the 'cher and offer their views, but most of the class tends to be unwilling to answer questions, possibly due to the fear of answering incorrectly or just general shyness. In the first few lessons, I would try to involve as many students as possible when asking questions, but after a few weeks I can tell who are the ones who are happy to participate and who would shrink into a little shivering ball if I call on them to answer out loud.
And I don't force it, and I don't penalize those who are not answering in class. There are some modules that allocate perhaps 10% of the assessment to "class participation". Some lecturers interpret this as the willingness to speak up in class, and so they would not award these marks to those who do not actively answer questions. Personally, I think this unfairly penalizes the introverts, and let's face it, many students who pick IT as their career path would rather talk to a computer than human beings. Some of my best students never answer my questions in class; instead, they wait until after class to approach me privately if they have any queries.
My best classes return the favour by asking lots of questions themselves. These classes are a joy for me to teach, because (1) I get feedback that they are learning and thinking about the implications of what I'm teaching, and (2) I have a reason to stay alert rather than just droning on about something I've taught many times before. And when the questions come from both parties, what results is a conversation. Suddenly, the tension of a lecturer-student relationship dissipates somewhat, and the entire class generally becomes more open to the exchange of ideas.
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| This is always my worry in a quiet class |
By the way, there will inevitably come a time when students ask a question to which you do not know the answer. Some lecturers make up an answer, and cross their fingers that the students never find out that they are talking out of their rear ends. Others pull the "go Google it yourself" or "you will find out when you work in the real world" stunt, which are non-answers posing as answers. My advice is to just own up and reply, "good question, let me find out and get back to you," and actually find out and get back to them. Far from thinking that you're incompetent, in my experience students will respect your honesty and appreciate your effort in following up on the query. Students are smart enough to know that nobody (not even a PhD) knows everything about everything. They are also smart enough to know when somebody is talking out of their rear end.
Any questions?
Image sources:
batman.wikia.com
www.9gag.com
memegenerator.net
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