Evaluation of student-teacher questions: A study of pedagogical practices relating to proportions and rate per-minute of questions asked in physical education class setting

Abstract

Questioning is one of the pedagogical strategies that ensures that students appropriately engage in relevant activities in teaching and learning environment. Questioning plays a critical role in refreshing memories of learners on their previously acquired knowledge or in the acquisition of new knowledge while a lesson is in progress. Regular questioning of students is a good practice to help learners think for themselves instead of being “spoon-fed” by the teacher. However, over concentration on lower-order questions has a dire consequence on the thinking skills of students. In this study, we used a descriptive approach to examine proportions and rate per minute of questions that occurred in a theory physical education (PE) lesson. The study involved a class of 38 students of a College of Education and one teacher (intern) of a University in Ghana. The PE lesson was video-recorded. Self-developed event recording instrument was used to collect data on questioning behaviours of both the teacher and students. Data collection instrument was validated by an expert in research (senior university faculty). Descriptively, data were analysed and presented in tables and figures. Intra-observer results of classroom events relating to questioning behaviours of the teacher and students were evaluated. Findings revealed that the proportion of lower-order questions was generally larger than higher-order questions that occurred during the lesson. Findings also showed that a total of 36 questions were asked by the teacher during the 35 minutes interaction. Specifically, the rate per minute of questions asked by the teacher at various question levels was 0.38 for knowledge, 0.35 for understanding, 0.2 for synthesis, 0.25 for evaluation, and zero for application and analysis questions. No question was asked by any of the students in the entire 35 lesson duration. We recommend that teachers should make conscious efforts to create opportunities for learners to ask questions in every teaching and learning environment.