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Research Summary: Effective Questioning — What Works & How To Do It (EBTD)

Intro
Questions are the heartbeat of great teaching. They check understanding, spark curiosity, and stretch thinking. In Bangladeshi classrooms—where class sizes are often huge and exam pressure is high—asking the right questions in the right way can be the difference between surface learning and deep understanding.

1) What is Effective Questioning?

Effective questioning is the deliberate use of teacher questions to promote thinking, check for understanding, and guide learning. It’s not just about what you ask, but also how and when.

  • When to use: At the start to activate prior knowledge, during explanation to check progress, and at the end to consolidate.
  • When not to use: When answers require privacy or could embarrass pupils.
  • Typical lesson slot: Throughout the lesson — from starters to plenaries.
  • Class size context (Bangladesh): Key for engaging 50+ pupils and preventing passive learning.

Quick wins
• Check every pupil’s thinking, not just volunteers
• Build deeper answers by probing further
• Sequence questions to scaffold learning
You’ll need: A mix of question types, routines like cold calling or pair-share, and planned prompts

2) The Evidence Base (Why It Matters)

Research shows effective questioning is one of the highest-leverage tools available to teachers:

  • Rosenshine (2012): Frequent questioning, checks for understanding, and probing are central to high-quality instruction.
  • EEF Teaching & Learning Toolkit: Feedback and metacognition strategies (both driven by questioning) add significant progress, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
  • Black & Wiliam (1998): Formative assessment—largely through questioning—has strong positive effects on learning.

Evidence strength: High
Multiple systematic reviews and guidance reports confirm questioning as a fundamental, cost-effective strategy for raising attainment.

Key takeaways for teachers
• Use questions to diagnose learning, not just test recall
• Balance between closed (check facts) and open (extend thinking)
• Probe answers with follow-ups like “Why?”, “How do you know?”, or “What’s another way?”
• Sequence questions to gradually increase challenge

3) Active Ingredients (Non-Negotiables)

  1. Planned variety: A balance of recall, application, and higher-order questions
  2. Equitable participation: All pupils are expected to answer (use cold calling, pair-share, mini-whiteboards)
  3. Probing and follow-up: Encourage elaboration, reasoning, and multiple perspectives
  4. Wait time: Give pupils thinking time before answering
  5. Feedback loop: Use answers to adapt your teaching in real time
  6. Pose–Pause–Pounce: Pose the question to the whole class, pause for thinking time, then pounce by selecting a pupil to respond

Look-fors in a lesson
• Pupils asked both recall and reasoning questions
• Teacher pauses before selecting a pupil (Pose–Pause–Pounce in action)
• Follow-ups deepen and extend pupil responses

4) Step-by-Step: Implementing in Your Teaching

Preparation (before lesson):

  • Write 5–7 key questions aligned to lesson objectives
  • Mix question types: factual, conceptual, application, evaluative
  • Plan 1–2 probing follow-ups for each

In-Lesson Routine (Pose–Pause–Pounce):

  1. Pose the question clearly to the whole class
  2. Pause (3–5 seconds wait time for thinking)
  3. Pounce by selecting a pupil to respond (cold calling, random name, or pair-share report back)
  4. Probe further: “Why?”, “How did you get that?”
  5. Summarise responses and link to objectives

After the lesson:

  • Review which questions worked well
  • Reflect: Did all pupils participate? Were answers deep enough?

Adaptations:

  • Large classes: Use mini-whiteboards so all respond simultaneously
  • Mixed ability: Scaffold with sentence starters or tiered questions
  • Low-resourced settings: Pose–Pause–Pounce can be done entirely orally

5) Examples of Question Types

To help teachers, here’s a set of examples linked to Bloom’s Taxonomy and Costa’s Three Levels of Thinking.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

  • Remember (recall): “What is the formula for area of a rectangle?”
  • Understand (explain): “Can you put that idea into your own words?”
  • Apply (use): “How would you use this rule to solve a real-life problem?”
  • Analyse (compare, break down): “How is this character different from the one we studied yesterday?”
  • Evaluate (judge, justify): “Which method is better and why?”
  • Create (design, invent): “Can you write a question like this for your partner to solve?”

Costa’s Three Levels of Thinking

  • Level 1 (Gathering): “What does this word mean?”
  • Level 2 (Processing): “How are these two ideas connected?”
  • Level 3 (Applying): “How could this concept be used to solve a problem outside the classroom?”

Tip for teachers: Use Bloom’s and Costa’s together — start with Level 1/Remember questions to check foundations, then progress to Level 2/3 (Processing/Applying) for deeper thinking.

6) Common Pitfalls (And How To Avoid Them)

  • Pitfall: Asking only recall-level questions
    Fix: Plan Bloom’s and Costa’s higher-order questions in advance
  • Pitfall: Always taking answers from volunteers
    Fix: Use Pose–Pause–Pounce with cold calling
  • Pitfall: Rushing pupils into quick answers
    Fix: Build in wait time before “pouncing”
  • Pitfall: Treating answers as an end-point
    Fix: Use probing follow-ups to extend learning

7) Work With a Colleague (Coaching, Mentoring, Observation)

Plan together (10 mins):

  • Script a mix of Bloom’s or Costa’s questions for one lesson
  • Agree to trial Pose–Pause–Pounce for one sequence

Observe (mini-rubric):

Focus 0 = Not seen 1 = Emerging 2 = Consistent Notes
Range of Bloom’s/Costa’s question types ☐ ☐ ☐
Pose–Pause–Pounce used ☐ ☐ ☐
Equitable participation ☐ ☐ ☐
Probing / follow-up questions ☐ ☐ ☐
Answers used to adapt teaching ☐ ☐ ☐

Debrief (8–10 mins):

  • Which questions opened up deeper thinking?
  • Did Bloom’s/Costa’s help expand pupil answers?
  • Set one improvement goal for next lesson

8) Further Reading & Resources

  • Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of Instruction PDF
  • Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment
  • Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). Feedback & Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning Guidance Reports
  • Dylan Wiliam (2018). Embedded Formative Assessment
  • Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
  • Costa, A. (2001). Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking
  • Related EBTD blogs: Cold Calling That Works | 7 Steps to Make Learning Stick