Use questions to motivate, not interrogate
“It is so stressful!”
Have you ever been in a lesson or workshop where the facilitator asked a question, and nobody knew how to answer? Was it stressful? Have you ever been in the same situation where the facilitator gave you “wait time”? Was it even more stressful?
If questioning can be so stressful, should we even ask the students questions because it can take away the joy of learning? I am sure you have experienced situations where students could not answer the question, and the whole class became quiet.
So what do we do? Do we not ask questions anymore? But most of us would know that learning is more effective if it is active because it can help knowledge retention for much longer. It can also develop critical thinking and soft skills (Academy, 2023).
It is always a dilemma for PE teachers to decide whether to ask questions in PE lessons because they know they must practice to be good in the sport. However, learning may be less effective if students just practise and do not think about the practice.
I believe an inquiry-based approach need not be so stressful for students. In this blog, I will discuss a few ways I have tried to motivate them to learn using an inquiry-based approach.
Think of the time when you enjoyed being questioned.
If your students are used to passive learning, they will likely prefer to listen to the teacher talking and hope the teacher does not ask them questions. It can be embarrassing if they cannot explain a concept that was just taught.
As such, I suggest that the first rule in asking questions is not to check if the students are listening to you because this may condition them to think that questioning means checking if they were paying attention, so they better say what the teacher was saying!
Moreover, if we use questioning to check if the students are listening to us, they might disappoint you because merely listening to an explanation does not necessarily mean they have learned unless they have prior knowledge before the explanation.
As such, the students who answer the questions will be those already good at the topic. Those who could not answer the questions may develop the habit of waiting for others to answer or not having the courage to share what they think.
To get the best of both worlds — enhance learning and increase the students’ motivation to answer — we can first put ourselves in their shoes and think about what situation they would be most motivated or comfortable in to answer any question.
Ask yourself, “When were you motivated to answer questions? What kind of questions? What happened before that?”.
Do you also have the same experience as me that you were eager to answer a question when you were happy, for example, when you won a game or became good at something?
For example, you solved a challenging mathematics problem, and your friend asked, “How did you do that?!”
What about when you saw someone struggling to learn something? Were you eager to help them think of a solution and explain it to them?
What about the time you tried to solve a problem with your friends? Or the time you solved a problem yourself and felt you could eventually solve it if given more time to practise it.
Set them up for success before asking them the questions
The above reflections show that we are usually motivated to answer the question when we have experienced success or feel confident about the topic. As such, the first step to motivating students to answer your questions is to set them up for success.
For example, if you want to ask, “Where is a good position to receive the pass?” ensure ALL (or most of the) students have experienced some success in receiving the pass well. Do not ask them if half of the class could not receive the pass well.
Conducting playable possession games is one way to help them experience success. Do not ask if you know they will crowd around the ball if they play a 4v4 game. Try asking yourself if they will see more success in 2v2 or 3v1.
In games like football, some students might not even make a good pass if you ask them to play 3v1 because many students cannot control the ball using their feet. Asking the question is going to set you up for failure.
Going back to the principle of “making them see success”, you can tell the defenders to be passive defenders or even allow them to discuss the question first during the game before asking them again as a whole class.
Praising the students increases their motivation to answer any question after practice. Students want to contribute to the answers when they feel good about themselves. It is also a way to “prime” them with the answer before the question is asked.
For example, if your question after the practice is, “What are some learning cues to hit the shuttlecock further?” walk around and praise them, such as, “Good use of the wrist!” or “Good that you use the trunk movement to produce more force!”
Asking students questions should not feel like a test of IQ. If you notice the same few students are answering the questions, try using think-pair-share because equity of voice makes everyone believe they are just as capable of answering the questions.
Asking questions without asking questions
Asking questions without asking questions is probably my favourite method because I am used to a direct instruction approach.
You might think this does not make sense, but inquiry-based approaches aim to develop problem-solving and thinking skills. Therefore, as long as we can motivate the students to think critically, it does not matter if the approach involves a question.
One way is to instruct the students to work in small groups to solve a problem or achieve a learning goal.
The problem (or goal) you gave them makes them want to discuss it with each other to meet the learning goal. Convincing them that they can solve the problem (increasing their self-efficacy) can motivate them to think deeper (Bandura, 1993).
Another way to motivate critical thinking is to get the students to help one another. Helping someone to solve their problem is one of the most motivating ways to make them think critically (Oceja et al., 2014).
For example, half the class could do a forehand ultimate frisbee throw, but the other half could not. You asked those who could do it to sit in a straight line and those who could not find a partner to sit behind them.
Afterwards, you told them to teach their partners how to throw using forehand method. You will be surprised that everyone will be motivated to help their partners think of solutions.
Conclusion — Use questioning to make learning effective
Whatever strategy we use to motivate students to answer questions, we must ensure they find that the questioning helps them learn faster. If not, they will hate answering questions because they will think you are wasting their time.
For example, the students are playing 3v3 volleyball and not seeing much success. You could ask them, “Discuss with your opponent what is one rule you can change to see more success?” Making the game easier allows for more success and less time picking up the ball.
Try not to ask, “What do you think you can do to hit the ball accurately?” because they probably would think that the answer is to practise more, so answering the question is not going to help them to hit the ball more accurately!
In another example, if the students always pick up the frisbee due to poor passing skills, you can ask them, “I want you to practice passing, not picking up the disc. How would you modify the drills to see more success?”
As long as the questions could help them solve their problem, they will see the value in the discussion. If more practice is needed before they can see success, hold the question until they see more success.
An inquiry-based approach is a humanist approach, and all humans strive for self-actualisation, where we want freedom and autonomy to learn (Gandhi & Mukherji, 2023). It should also help fulfil other human needs (Maslow, 1974).
You use questioning because students need to have the autonomy to solve the problems they face. They also want to share solutions to their problems with others because they want to contribute to the betterment of others.
Constantly ask yourself when you are motivated to answer questions. After that, think of the question that you want to ask. Then, finally, think of the practice task that would motivate them to answer that question.
Using such a reverse engineering approach, you can have a higher chance of engaging students through questioning instead of getting into a quiet situation where everyone feels restless.
However, as with any approach, the key is to keep practising, constantly reflecting, and staying resilient!
References
Academy, F. (2023, June 22). Active learning: What is it and what are the benefits? Fullstack Academy. https://www.fullstackacademy.com/blog/what-is-active-learning
Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived Self-Efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational Psychologist :/Educational Psychologist, 28(2), 117–148. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep2802_3
Gandhi MH, Mukherji P. Learning Theories. (2023 Jul 17). In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562189/#
Maslow, A. (1974). A theory of human motivation. Lulu.com.
McDowell, M. (2023, April 19). Creating challenging learning experiences. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/critical-thinking-inquiry/
Oceja, L., Heerdink, M. W., Stocks, E., Ambrona, T., López‐Pérez, B., & Salgado, S. (2014). Empathy, awareness of others, and action: How feeling empathy for One-Among-Others motivates helping the others. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 36(2), 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2013.856787
Volle, J. (2021, May 2). Instant Motivation: How focus influences our creativity. Creativity Training With Jared Volle. https://www.jaredvolle.com/instant-motivation-how-focus-influences-our-creativity/
