Effective Questioning Techniques in the Mathematics Classroom

Teachers pose a variety of questions to their students every day. As teachers, we recognize that some questions promote deeper mathematical thinking than others (Herbal-Eisenmann & Breyfogle, 2005). My goal for this self-study was to develop my own questioning skills to promote deeper mathematical thinking as well as elicit classroom discussion with qualitative student responses. I conducted the research in a high school geometry class of thirty students. I found that discussion for qualitative responses is not typical in a mathematics classroom, and it is difficult to initiate, facilitate, and establish a classroom norm where students engage in qualitative discussion about mathematics. However, I did learn effective questioning techniques in order to engage them in active learning. These techniques are beneficial for all mathematics teachers to promote discussion and active learning.