Questions should be logically phrased and appropriate to the age and cognitive level of the student. Students must understand the question. Many factors can prevent or aid understanding. Questions seeking short answers of cognitive information are more effective if numerous questions are asked and follow quickly one on another. Questions must be clear and relevant to the content.
Ambiguous questions produce ambiguous answers.
Appropriate student participation is imperative if questioning is to be effective. Appropriate participation is observed through volunteering to answer, appropriate wait time by the teacher for the student to construct answers, and an expectation of a response. The teacher should appropriately acknowledge the student s response, praising sparingly and using prior knowledge of the student to get a correct response. Students need to attend to each other s responses and respond to teacher clues when given. Brophy, J and T.L. Good, 1986.