Questioning in Science at Primary Schools.

Introduction

The ability to question lies at the heart of human curiosity and is a necessary component of cognition

and therefore is essential to human thought and communication. As such forming questions is a

fundamental process that cuts across the curriculum (Stafford, 2009) and most importantly questions

are vital for continued learning. As Mackay stresses ‘there are no foolish questions and no man

becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions’ (Mackay, 1992).

Questions are also the most common form of communication between teacher and pupil and as such

have the potential to stimulate thinking and guide children productively (Harlen, 2006). It is essential

that questions are thought out, well worded and those asked by the children are given proper

consideration and answered appropriately (Harlen, 2006). In primary schools science as a subject is

very minimal in its representation and when it is taught there is a focus on activities at the expense of

concepts (Harlen & Holroyd, 1997). Due to this teachers need to use their questions to help children

with concepts, such as “What happens to ice when you take it out of the freezer?” Science itself

depends on questions, it is the way in which human knowledge is carried forwards and without

scientists and others asking questions, progress, society and the whole world would end up remaining

static (Feasey, 1998).

As science questioning let alone questioning in general, as a whole is such a big issue this report will

not attempt to cover the whole subject. Instead, it will concentrate on the main aspects of how to ask a

‘good,’ productive question that stimulates thinking. How science teachers can, and do, use questions

to not only test knowledge but also to start new areas of investigation. How children use questions in

the classroom and how teachers can deal with them in a way that does not always have to lead to a

direct answer and finally how the classroom itself can be as a stimulus for questioning.

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The main aspects of questioning

According to Harlen the three aspects of questioning that contribute to the effectiveness of learning

are form, timing and content (Harlen, 2006). Different forms of question can greatly vary the

responses and teachers need to be sure of the type of response they want before they ask a question. It

is no use for the teacher to ask a closed question, such as will this ice melt in the sun?, using an open

question, such as what do you think will happen to this ice in the sun?, will stimulate the thought the

teacher intends. If the intention of the question is to encourage children to use enquiry skills then the

question needs to indicate the skill that is required (Harlen, 2006).

Timing is an important consideration when using questioning, both when to ask questions and how

long to wait for a response before moving on, either by asking the next child or by providing the

answer. Children need time to explore and relate new experience to existing ones before they can be

expected to explain what is going on (Harlen, 2006). Teachers should give children time to answer

their questions. On average teachers only wait 1 second for an answer, however if they extended their

waiting time the children’s responses would be longer and more thoughtful (Rowe, 1974).The other

problem with shorter waiting time is that the only questions that are answered are the ones that can be

answered without thinking or understanding, those that only need facts memorised (Black et al, 2002).

The content of the question is just as important as the previous two aspects,

we should not ask questions without a reason and without interest in the answer. If the answer
is to be useful then it has to give the kind of information required (Harlen, 2006).

The careful wording of a question is crucial. If the questioner is requiring detailed information from

then the question needs to be asked in such a way it reveals the children’s thoughts and ideas (Harlen,

2006). Questions should not be used simply to reinforce existing ideas or illustrate concepts, it is

important that they provide opportunities for the class to explore and investigate the concepts which

they are not familiar with. (Roden, 2009). By only asking questions that children already know the

answers to, the children are likely to become dissatisfied and start asking why they are doing that

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work. However by only asking questions that lead to investigations, it can result in the lesson going in

an unexpected direction and the outcome of the lesson may become unclear to the class and the

teacher.

Science teacher’s questions

New teachers face many challenges in the classroom, especially those brought about by trying to meet

the increasingly high expectations laid down upon them (Davis et al, 2006). A good teacher is one

who is knowledgeable, inquisitive, flexible, caring, has a sense of humour and above all knows how

to ask the right question at the right time (Fairbairn, 1987) and the ability of using the right question at

the right time to the best effect is just one of the challenges that all teachers face.

Another challenge is the inclusion of science in the curriculum; it is argued that science needs to be

the central focus of a curriculum unit rather than being embedded within integrated topics where it has

the potential of becoming lost. Curiosity and questioning are deeply entrenched in science and at its

most interesting and investigative, it provides children with opportunities for both (Tytler et al, 2009),

Teachers need to be aware of the importance of ensuring pupils progress from describing the

phenomena and events to explaining them (Department for Education and Employment 1998) by

using questions to find out more of the children’s knowledge.

People generally think of questioning in the context of finding out what children already know, either

what they have remembered or through recalling facts (Harlen, 2006). It is frequently mentioned

when discussing the teacher’s role and is perhaps the most useful tool they have, as it can be used to

encourage thinking and promote inquiry skills in the classroom (Harlen & Qualter, 2009). In general

questions in class fall into four categories;

• Factual questions – ones that ask for the simple recall of information.

• Investigable questions – ones that lead to an investigation activity.

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 • Complex questions – ones that have a variety of levels of complexity in the possible answers.

• Philosophical questions – ones that do not necessarily have a fixed answer.

However, closer inspection of questions in the classroom reveals that a high proportion of talk by

teachers takes the form of questions which have nothing to do with any of the four categories. These

include, those used for either class control or to give instructions, which are generally rhetorical

(Harlen, 2006). Teachers already ask lots of questions in the classroom, what they need to do is not

change the number of questions they ask, but change their form and content (Harlen & Qualter, 2004).

Of the ones that do fall into the categories above (the effective questions), they are used in class as the

teacher intends them:

• To elicit children’s ideas

• To help make connections between new and existing knowledge

• To highlight the steps in a causal sequence

• For discussion, prediction and explanation

• To focus children’s attention on key science ideas

• To promote the link between science ideas (Sharp et al, 2004).

The intended uses result in many different kinds of questions and the varying effect on children is

striking, so a distinction has to be made between those that are productive and effective and those that

are unproductive. Questions need to be framed so that their form matches their purpose (Harlen &

Qualter, 2009), that is to say, the question needs to be thought about and planned in order for it to be

asked at the right time to be effective.

What is an effective question? Asking the right question at the right time is a very hard thing to do

(Feasey, 1998) and requires the questioner to know the subject and the audience in order to get the

question right. Can all teachers ask productive questions? If this ability is something that teachers can

develop and learn then it needs to be thought of as a scientific process (Fairbairn, 1987). That is to

say, the teacher has the theory of how to ask productive questions and then needs to experiment in

their own practise to find the best way to achieve this

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By using questions effectively in the classroom it can change the whole way of teaching, making it

more interactive and engaging, allowing the teacher to ask any child rather than the ones with their

hands up as the children know they are all expected to think about the answer and even if they get the

answer wrong. It should still be used in the class to discuss misconceptions, if one child has them then

there is a good chance another child does as well (Black, 2002). If the teacher can use the class’

questions, it gives them a sense of ownership of their own learning and as a consequence can improve

their motivation to learn. Questioning can also be used by the teacher as a tool for formative

assessment of the class and for assessment for learning (Ward, 2009).

The problem is that many teachers ask the ‘wrong’ questions which do not encourage children’s

learning (Elstgeest, 2001). The simplest way to think of a ‘wrong’ question is to think of it as a

‘wordy’ question, one that simply requires the answer to be a verbal phrase that could have been

learnt straight from a text book. These sorts of questions do have their uses in assessment, however, in

the class when a child is asked and doesn’t know the answer it leaves them at a total loss (Elstgeest,

2001). A ‘good’ or ‘right’ question is much harder for the teacher to use as it needs to not only lead to

an answer, but also needs to be stimulating and give the children a clear invitation to experiment to

find the answer. It would probably be more accurate to call ‘such questions productive questions,

because they stimulate productive activity’ (Elstgeest, 2001).

Productive questions fall into several types, the most straightforward of these is the attention-focusing

question such as “did you see,” but as this is a very simple question that requires no thinking to

answer, it needs to facilitate further investigation in order for it to be productive. The next type of

question are measuring and counting questions which allow the children to check the answers for

themselves by experimenting. The next two types of questions are comparison and action questions

which get the children to compare and classify things and then allow them to test their ideas with

action questions of “what happens if…?”

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The final type of question is the problem posing question, which is best asked after all the other

questions have allowed the children to test and experiment. These questions need the children to apply

all they know about a topic in order to answer a problem set by the teacher. If the teacher can also link

this problem to a real life situation and put it into a context that the children can relate to then it will

also make the work more engaging and give the children ownership over their work (Elstgeest, 2001).

One of the main things teachers need to consider when making sure their questions are productive is

preparation. Every teacher plans ahead for all of their lessons to ensure the success of the sessions,

therefore it seems logical that teachers prepare key questions to ask beforehand, to help the children to

gain the most from their learning (Highland Virtual Learning Community website, 2008). The teacher

should use their learning objectives to plan three or four key questions for the pupils to think about.

Once productive questions are established as part of the teachers practise, evaluation and

improvement are essential. There are three main things that a teacher can do to improve their own

questioning, the first is to listen to other teachers and analyse them to see what questions they ask and

what happens in the class when they ask a good productive question. The second is to look at the

questions in primary science books and see what questions are the most productive. The third way is

to practise question finding in different situations that are not necessarily in school and then to

identify the types of questions that are found and to think which would be the most productive (Jelly,

2001).

As well as improving their questioning teachers need to be confident in their knowledge of the subject

as when the children’s questions would result in an experiment that would be too complicated or the

equipment required is not available, the children will still need an answer. The knowledge of the

teacher then becomes a great asset to the children, by knowing their class the teacher can then give the

children the answer they need at the correct level. They can also use their knowledge to direct

children to appropriate books and or websites that can then lead the children to find the answer for

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themselves. This can lead the children to appreciate that others have also asked the same questions

and how much work has been done to find the answer out previously.

As Her Majesties Inspectorate have said, the lack of science knowledge is the biggest obstacle to the

improvement of science in primary school’s (Department of Education and Science, 1978) and it has

to be rectified by giving teachers materials and support training if science is to be given its place in

the curriculum (Harlen, 1997). The problem is that many teachers are afraid of their own lack of

knowledge and how to deal with that when they have not had any training:

I’ve no science background I take other questions at face value and get bothered when I don’t
know the answer. I don’t mind saying I don’t know, though I don’t want to do it too often.
I’ve tried the “let’s find out together” approach, but it’s not easy and can be very frustrating
(Jelly, 2001)

The teacher says that they use the ‘let’s find out together approach’ (Jelly, 2001), which would appear

to be an ideal solution if you are not confident in your science knowledge. By ‘turning’ the question

from the child into an investigation, they can learn more than just being told the answer. Through

finding the answer to the question the children will learn valuable scientific enquiry skills (SC1,

Scientific Enquiry, in the National Curriculum) which can be used in the future to answer further

questions independently.

If the creation and maintenance of a questioning climate is done alongside the teacher modelling

productive questions, the children will be able to use the teacher’s example to make their own

questions more productive (Jelly, 2001).

Pupils questions

Why do children ask questions? The main reason, even if they do not directly realise it, is to satisfy

their curiosity, lead to further learning and to increase their understanding (Newton, 2001), but what is

understanding? It has been suggested that in science it is;

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 … the connecting of facts, the relating of newly acquired information to what is already
know, the weaving of bits of knowledge into an integrated and cohesive whole…(Nickerson,
1985)
From this we can see that in science lessons questioning as a process skill is a very important part of

the scientific process. For school children being able to question the world around them is a valuable

and important skill and this should be encouraged in the classroom (Roden, 2009), however without

explicit teaching, it is little wonder that so many of our students were confused about how to form an

effective question (Stafford, 2009).

However, many questions children ask spontaneously are not profitable starting points for science, so

as well as teaching children how to question, questions also need to be stimulated and guided by the

teacher to be profitable in the classroom (Jelly, 2001). Teachers can use many methods to collect

these questions to check for misconceptions and knowledge; a good strategy could be to stop the

lesson from time to time to ask if there are any questions about the activity and any problems they are

having (Chin, 2001) or to have a question box for children to put questions in anonymously that can

be looked at on a regular basis in the class.

Pupil’s questions need to be stimulated by raising the children’s curiosity and can be elicited through

various means such as;

• Class Brainstorming

• Snowballing (raising questions in pairs, then groups then as a class)

• A question box so they can be asked anonymously

• Thinking of useful questions for a trip or a visitor

One of the most useful ways of promoting questions in the classroom is to give the class the

opportunity to explore and observe some objects. By planning ahead with ideas of where you want the

questions to go it is possible that a whole term’s cross-curricular work can based on the questions

raised in the first session (Roden, 2009). These questions may still not be suitable bases for a science

lesson, it is possible to stimulate these types of questions, to model them for the class and to provide

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them with an effective scaffold that will allow them to build up their own questions, showing the

children the connection between specific questions and the purposes (Stafford, 2009).

Sometimes these questions can be answered directly, either by the teacher or a text book, however as

the teacher it is an important consideration as to whether this is the best way to proceed. It may be

more appropriate to get the children to work together or to carry out an investigation to find out the

answer. Children also need to learn that in some cases there are questions that cannot be answered

(Ward, 2009).

Children and teachers both gain from children’s questions, children can reveal the limits of their

understanding and the nature of their own ideas. Children need to practise asking questions and a

good teacher needs to encourage children to consider how to find the answers for themselves

(Peacock, 2001) and although the questions may not always be answerable teachers cannot discourage

them. Ways to do this include;

• Providing interesting and thought-provoking material

• Encouragement to ask questions

• Displays in class

• Time to work in groups within the class.

Although not all questions are always answerable, this should not be an invitation to ignore them;

they just need to be handled in a different way (Harlen, 2006). Sometimes children need to share their

ideas, other times it is appropriate to find out information and sometimes it is a stepping stone leading

to an investigation that the children can carry out themselves. Within the bounds of human science

there remain many questions unanswered and even more which the teacher doesn’t know the answer

to and it is best to admit this as it can also be a good answer for the children (Elstgeest, 2001). By

telling the children that you do not know, it gives them the opportunity to find the answer themselves

and gives children valuable experience of scientific enquiry (Harlen, 2006). The results of these

experiences are important for their future development as

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 The simple “becauses” reasoned out by the children themselves on the strength of their own
evidence and their own experiences are far more valuable and important than any of the
reasons provided by adults and faultlessly recited without understanding (Elstgeest, 2001).

By doing things for themselves and by learning through their experiences, children can understand

concepts and ideas that if they were just told about they would have no understanding of.

The Class Environment

Creating a classroom that has a climate conductive to children asking questions is essential. Teachers

own verbal questioning is probably the most important factor in creating a conductive climate, but it

is not the only factor. The class environment should be a place where curiosity is encouraged and

stimulated, this can be done by allowing children to explore with new materials and ideas. If children

feel that they can ask questions then they will be more likely to remember and learn and ‘it is better to

ask stupid questions in class than to give stupid answers on a quiz’ (Fairbairn, 1987).

By embedding questioning in the whole learning experience from the very beginning of the lesson

(for example, by writing them on the board) the children’s minds will process the information they

receive during the lesson in many different ways so that they will be able to recall the answers much

more clearly when the teacher asks for them (Highland Virtual Learning Community website, 2008).

Class displays should also be used to encourage a climate of questioning. They can be used to show

different questions that were either raised or answered by the children’s work. A ‘problem corner’

could be established with lists of questions to investigate and worksheets that are set with investigable

questions. It is important to remember though those ‘novel’ materials are not always the best stimulus

for children and that sometimes ‘more familiar ones help children raise questions’ (Jelly, 2001) which

are more productive.

‘Concept Cartoons’ are another method that could be used to elicit children’s ideas. These work by

having a simple cartoon that has 3 or 4 characters with speech bubbles that all have different ideas of

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what will happen in the science experiment. Teachers can display these cartoons in their classroom

and use them to ask the children questions, to challenge their ideas, illustrate alternative viewpoints

and provide a stimulus for discussion (Naylor& Keogh, 2000).

If the environment in the classroom is one that encourages children to raise questions teachers can use

their questions for many different purposes. Whether it is for class assessment or as a starting point

for a new science investigation, teachers can use questions from the class as well as being a stimulus

for their questioning of them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be seen that questioning is a massive subject to be covered in one report,

however, there are several main features that need to be considered. Firstly, questions are the most

common form of communication in school, so

teachers need to ask good questions as asking the right question has been called the essence of
good teaching as it can act as the bridge between teaching and learning and can stimulate
pupils to move on to a more advanced stage in their thinking and provide the ‘scaffolding’ for
new learning (Highland Virtual Learning Community website, 2008).

The use of effective questions by the teacher can greatly increase the classes learning. Secondly, the

teacher needs to be prepared for the questions the children will ask. Children’s questions do not

always lead to productive work, but used properly, can provide a stimulus for the class to investigate a

new area of science that they have not covered before, as well as allowing the teacher to assess the

children’s prior knowledge and their learning.

The next issue teachers need to consider is the promotion of an environment where questions are

encouraged. This can be done through several methods such as modelling or ‘problem corners’, which

demonstrate to the class that questions are welcome, even if the answer is not as easy to give as they

would want. This leads to the fourth and final point, teachers’ science knowledge is vital to the

process of questioning and that teachers need to be secure in their knowledge to enable them to either

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pitch their questions and answers to the children correctly or to lead them in a science investigation to

find the answer for themselves.

Questions are an integral part of scientific inquiry and the learning process (Chin, 2001) therefore

they need to be embedded and encouraged in the classroom in order to make sure that children both

grow in scientific knowledge and in their ability to carry out scientific investigations.

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