CONTENT STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL MATHEMATICS

Number and Operations Standard – Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12
should enable students to:

 Understand numbers, ways of presenting numbers, relationship among numbers and

number systems;
 Understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another;
 Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates.

Algebra Standard – Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should enable
students to:

 Understand patterns, relationships and functions;

 Represent and analyze mathematical situations and structures using algebraic symbols;
 Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships;
 Analyze change in various contexts.

Geometry Standard- Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should enable
students to:

 Analyze characteristics of properties of two and three dimensional geometric shapes

and develop mathematical arguments about geometric relationships;
 Specify locations and describe spatial relationships using coordinate geometry and other
representational systems;
 Apply transformations and use symmetry to analyze mathematical situation;
 Use visualization, spatial reasoning and geometric modeling to solve the problems.

Measurement Standard - Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should enable
students to:

 Understand measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems and process of
measurement;
 Apply appropriate techniques, tools and formulas to describe measurements.

Data Analysis and Probability Standard- Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12
should enable students to:

 Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize and display
relevant data to answer them;
 Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data;
 Develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based data;
 Understand and apply basic concepts of probability.

PROCESS STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL MATHEMATICS

Problem Solving Standard- Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should
enable students to:

 Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving;

 Solve problems that arise in other contexts;
 Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems;
 Monitor and reflect on the process of mathematical problem solving.
Reasoning and Proof Standard- Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should
enable students to:

 Recognize reasoning and proof as fundamental aspects of mathematics;

 Make and investigate mathematical conjectures;
 Develop and evaluate mathematical arguments and proofs;
 Select and use various types of reasoning and methods of proof.

Communication Standard- Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should

enable students to:

 Organized and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication;

 Communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teachers and
others;
 Analyze and evaluate mathematical thinking and strategies of others;
 Use the language of mathematics to express mathematical ideas precisely.

Connections Standard- Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should enable
students to:

 Recognize and use connections among mathematical ideas;

 Understand how mathematical ideas interconnect and build on one another to produce
a coherent whole;
 Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics.

Representation Standard- Instructional programs from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 should

enable students to:

 Create and use representation to organize, record and communicate mathematical

ideas;
 Select, apply and translate among mathematical representations to solve problems;
 Use representations to model and interpret physical, social and mathematical
phenomena.

TEACHING MORE EFFECTIVE LESSONS

Motivational Techniques

One of the more difficult tasks teachers of mathematics face is that of motivating students for a
particular lesson. Planning motivation requires creativity and imagination. The needs and interests of
students must be carefully considered. This will naturally vary with the many student characteristics
found in today’s schools.

It would appear that geometry, because of its visual nature, would readily generate interest
among students. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Much of the course deals with proving
theorems and then applying these theorems to artificial problems. Interested mathematics students will
be excited by this, as they will be by almost any other mathematical activity. The teacher must focus
attention on less interested students, however, in planning appropriate motivation, since they will not
be enchanted with such concepts as postulational nature of geometry.

To motivate students is to channel their interests to the specific topic to be learned. In this
chapter we consider some techniques that can be used to motivate secondary school students in
mathematics. Specifically, ten different techniques are presented, and a number of examples from
algebra and geometry are provided for each. (Note that the technique is the important part to
remember. The examples are provided merely to help understand the techniques.)

What is Motivation?

How to motivate students to learn is at the crux of ones concern when preparing to teach a
lesson, for if students can be made to be delightfully receptive learners, then the rest of teaching
process becomes significantly easier and profoundly more effective.

Naturally, when thinking of how to “make a student want to learn” what you are about to
teach, certain extrinsic methods of motivation may come to mind. These may include token economic
rewards for good performance, avoidance of “punishment” by performing well, praise for good work
and so on. Extrinsic methods are effective for students in varying forms. Students’ earlier rearing and
environment have much to do with their adaptation of commonly accepted extrinsic motivators.
However, many students demonstrate intrinsic goals in their desire to understand a topic or concept
(task related), to outperform others (ego related) or to impress others (social related). The last goal
straddles the fence between being an intrinsic and an extrinsic goal.

In a more structure form, intrinsic motivators tend to conform to the following basic types:

THE LEARNER WANTS TO DEVELOP COMPETENCIES

Students are often much more eager to do a challenging problem than one that is routine. It is
not uncommon to see students beginning their homework assignment with the “challenge for expert”
problem, even if the time spent on this prevents them from completing their routine work.

THE LEARNER IS CURIOUS ABOUT NOVEL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

It is a natural human trait to seek out unusual situations or challenges that can be conquered by
existing skills and knowledge and hereby provide a feeling of competence. When the learner’s curiosity
about unusual stimuli is piqued, it becomes a form of motivation.

THE LEARNER HAS A NEED TO FEEL AUTONOMOUS

The desire to act on something as a result of one’s own volition is often a motivating factor in
the general learning process. To determine for oneself what is to be learned, rather than to feel learning
is being done to satisfy someone else and to get some sort of extrinsic reward is another basic human
need.

THE LEARNER REACTS WITH SOME INTERNALIZED SOCIAL VALUES

Not to be overlooked when trying to simplify (and catalog) human needs and motives is the
notion that all learners have certain moral values that have been internalized through years of social
reinforcement-most often in the home environment. For example, if a parent constantly tells a child that
hard work is good, then the value is manifested in the child and becomes a part of the motives that
make the child function. The teacher’s task is to understand the basic motives already present in the
learners and to capitalized on these. The teacher can then manipulate this knowledge of students’
motives in order to generate a genuine interest in the topic. This is eminently fair and highly desirable.
With these basic concepts in mind, we can now explore how they can be used to motivate mathematics
instruction. Naturally these specific techniques should be expanded, embellished, adapted to the
teacher’s personality, and above all, made appropriate for the learner’s level of ability and environment.
MOTIVATING STUDENTS: TEN TECHNIQUES

Indicate a Void in Student’s Knowledge

Students usually have a natural desire to complete their knowledge of the topic. This
motivational technique involves making students aware of a void in their knowledge and capitalizes on
their desire to learn more. For instance, you may present a few simple exercises involving familiar
situations followed by exercises involving unfamiliar situation on the same topic. Or you may mention
(or demonstrate) to your class how the topic to be presented will complete their knowledge about a
particular part of mathematics. The more dramatically do this, the more effective the motivation. Often,
guiding student to discover this void in their knowledge is effective. Following are some examples of
how this technique may be used.

Example:

(Introducing the general angle-second year algebra.) Present the following questions to your students:

Find the value of each without the aid of a scientific or graphing calculator:

1. sin 30 °=?
2. cos 60 °=?
3. cos 120 °=?

Students familiar with 30-60-90 triangle ought to be able to answer the first two questions
easily. The third question will cause students some discomfort, since students are unfamiliar with
trigonometric function of angles whose measures are greater than 90 ° . You should now have students
realizing that there is a void in their knowledge. They are now motivated to learn how to find the values
of trigonometric functions greater than 90˚.

Example:

(Introducing the measures of angles with their vertices outside a given circle – geometry.)
Suppose that students learned the relationship between the measures of arcs of a circle and the
measures of angles (whose rays subtends these arcs) with their vertices in or on the circle but not
outside the circle. A possible set of exercises is shown below

Find the value of x in each of the following:

After completing the first two exercises, students should want to learn the relationship exhibited in the
third exercise. This should serve as a good springboard into the lesson. (For an interesting alternative to
teaching this unit, see enrichment unit 56, ‘ Angle measurement with a Circle.”)

Discover a Pattern
 Setting up a contrived situation that leads students to discovering a pattern can often be quite
motivating, as students takes pleasure in finding and then ‘owning’ an idea. Consider the following
examples of pattern discovery.
In mathematics, the desire to maintain patterns can provide the motivation for expanding and
creating new mathematics, as illustrated in obtaining the rules for multiplying signed numbers.
Before beginning this topic, students must be familiar with the number line. They must also be
aware that positive numbers can be written both with and without signs.
Have students study the pattern in the following chart and replace each “?” with a number:

Factor 1 x Factor 2 = Product

3 x 3 = 9
3 x 2 = 6
3 x 1 = 3
3 x 0 = 0
3 x -1 = ?
3 x -2 = ?
3 x -3 = ?

Another example of how pattern recognition can serve to motivate students is shown below:
Have students study the pattern in this chart and replace each “?” with a number:

25=32 35=243 4 5=1024

24 =16 3 4=81 4 4 =?
23=8 33=? 4 3=?
22=4 32=? 4 2=?

21=2 31=? 4 1=?

The chart should be extended up a bit. When the students attempt to extend it down to include
the question marks, they will realize that each number is one half, one third, one fourth, etc., of the
number above it, depending on the column.

By following this pattern they will conclude:

20=1 30 =1 4 0=1

Continuing to work down with the pattern, students will extend the chart until it looks like this:

1 1 1
2−1= 3−1 = 4 −1=
2 3 4
1 1 1 1
2−2= = 2 3−2= = 2 4 −2 =?
4 2 9 3
1 1
2−3 = = 3 3−3 =? 4 −3 =?
9 2
1 1
2− 4= = 4 3−4=? 4 −4=?
16 2

Students can now generalize and establish these rules:

−m 1
If x ≠ 0,then x 0=1 and x =
xm
 The word of caution must be made here. There are patterns that appear to go in one way and
not necessarily follow the anticipated direction. Teachers must be careful to select those that will not
lead the class through an ambiguous situation. One example of that is the sequence: 1,2,4,8,16,….,which
can follow at least two perfectly correct mathematical patterns:

1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,… or 1,2,4,8,16,31,57,99,…

Show a Sequential Achievement

Another technique is that having students appreciate a logical sequence of concepts. This differs
from the first technique in that it depends on students’ desire to increase, but not complete, their
knowledge. A chart may be useful in applying this method of motivation.

Example:

(Quadrilaterals- Geometry) In the development of the properties of quadrilaterals, a chart such

as the one below may be developed:

Students could be led to want to reach, sequentially, various levels of this diagrammed
development. The chart must be developed carefully, with its intended purpose clearly in focus.

Present a Challenge

When students are challenged intellectually, they react with enthusiasm. Great care must be
taken in selecting the challenge. The problem ( if that type of challenge used) must not only definitely
lead into the lesson, but also be within reach of the student’s ability. A challenge should be short and
not complex, It should not be so engrossing that it may detract from the intended lesson. This would
certainly defeat the purpose for which this challenge was intended. Thus, challenges providing
motivation for one class may not do so for another. Teacher judgment is most important here.

Example:

(Properties of tangents- geometry) Suppose you wish to motivate your students to learn a
lesson on tangents to a circle. Have students consider the following problem:
 Students may feel that insufficient information was supplied. To solve this problem, they to
know only the relationship between the lengths of two tangent segments to a circle from a common
external point. Once the need for this theorem has been established (via this little challenge), students
ought to be able to solve the problem by noting the equalities AP = BP, AQ = TQ, and BR = TR. That is,
the perimeter of ∆PQR = PR + PQ + TR + TQ = PR + PQ + BR + AQ. Also, AQ + PQ = AP = 18, and BR + PR =
BP = 18. Therefore, the perimeter of ∆PQR = 36.

Example:

(Concurrency of angle bisectors of a triangle - geometry.)Another possible challenge may be

used when introducing the idea of concurrency of the angle bisectors of a triangle. The student is asked
to determine (or draw) the angle bisector of an angle whose vertex is located within an inaccessible
area. Students should be familiar with constructions that require the use of straightedge and compasses.

One desired solution requires drawing any lines AB ´ and CD ´ intersecting the rays of the angle,
whose vertex is inaccessibly located at P. Angle bisectors of the four angels (as shown) are drawn, and
points R and S determine the desired angle bisector. Students should notice that because the bisectors
of the angles of a triangle are concurrent (here considering) ∆APB and ∆CPD separately), both points R
and S must be contained in the bisector of the inaccessible angle. After witnessing this solution, students
should want to prove the concurrency of the angle bisectors of a triangle. (For a more in-depth
consideration of this problem, see Enrichment Unit 37, “The Inaccessible Angle.”)

Example:

(Introducing the sum of a geometric series – second - year algebra.) Present the following
challenge to your students:

Which of the following would you rather have?

a. $100,000 per day for 31 days

or
b. 1¢ the first day
2¢ the second day
4¢ the third day
8¢ the fourth day
16¢ the fifth day
And so on for 31 days
 Most students will opt for choice (a) because that seems like a lot of money; after 31 days,
$3,100,000 will have been attained. The job of adding the 31 terms in (b) will be some-what exhausting.
Students should now be motivated to find a shortcut for this addition. After they have developed the
formula for the sum of a geometric series, the students can apply it to this problem. They may be
surprised to discover the large number resulting: $21,474,836.47.

Entice the Class with a “GEE-WHIZ Amazing Mathematical Result

To motivate basic belief in probability, a very effective motivation is to discuss with the class the
famous “Birthday Probability.” It’s amazing (and we dare say. Unbelievable) result will have the class in
awe. Consider the Following:

It is the best that you present this motivational activity to your class with as much “drama” as
you can, as it will win your converts to the study of probability as no other example can, because it
combats the students’ intuition quite dramatically.

Example:

Let us suppose you have a class with about 35 students. Begin by asking the class what they
think the chances (or probability) are of two classmates having the same birth date (month and day,
only) in their class of about 30+ students. Students usually begin to think about the likelihood of 2
people having the same date out of a selection of 365 days (assuming no leap year). Perhaps 2 out of
365?

Ask them to consider the “randomly” selected group of the first 35 presidents of the United
States. They may be astonished that there are two with the same birth date:

The 11th president, James K. Polk (November 2, 1795), and the 29 th president, Warren G. Harding
(November 2, 1865).

The class will probably be surprised to learn that for a group of 35, the probability that two
8
members will have the same birth date is greater than 8 out of 10, or .
10

Students may wish to try their own experiment by visiting 10 nearby classrooms to check on
date matches. For groups of 30, the probability that there will be a match is greater than 7 out of 10, or
in 7 of these 10 rooms there ought to be a match of birth dates. What causes this incredible and
unanticipated result? Can this be true? It seems to go against out intuition.

To relieve students of their curiosity guide them as follows:

First ask what the probability is that one selected student matches his own birth date? Clearly
certainty, or 1.

365
This can be written as .
365

365−1 364
The probability that another student does not match the first student is = .
365 365

The probability that a third student does not match the first and second students is
365−2 363
= .
365 365
 The probability of all 35 students not having the same birth date is the product of these
probabilities:

365 365−1 365−2 365−34

p= ∙ ∙ ∙⋯∙ .
365 365 365 365

Because the probability (q) that two students in the group have the same birth date and the
probability (p) that two students in the group do not have the same birth date is a certainty, the sum of
those probabilities must be 1. Thus, p + q = 1.

365 365−1 365−2 365−33 365−34

In this case, q=1− ∙ ∙ ∙⋯∙ ∙ ≈ .8143832388747152.
365 365 365 365 365

In other words, the probability that there will be a birth date match in a randomly selected
8
group of 35 people is somewhat greater than . This is unexpected when one considers there were 365
10
dates from which to choose.

Students may want to investigate the nature of the probability function. Here are few values to
serve as a guide:

Name of People in Probability of a Birth

Group Date Match
10 .1169481777110776
15 .2529013197636863
20 .4114383835805799
25 .5686997039694669
30 .7063162427192686
35 .8143832388747152
40 .891231809817949
45 .9409758994657749
50 .9703735795779884
55 .9862622888164461
60 .994122660865348
65 .9976831073124921
70 .9991595759651571

Students should notice how quickly almost-certainty is reached. With about 60 students in a
room the table indicates that is almost certain (.99) that two students will have the same birth date.

Were one to do this with the death dates of the first 35 presidents, one would notice that two
died on March 8th (Millard Fillmore in 1874 and William H. Taft in 1930) and three presidents died on
July 4th (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1862, and James Monroe in 1831).

Above all, this astonishing demonstration should serve as an eye-opener about the inadvisability
of relying entirely on intuition.

Indicate the Usefulness of a Topic

Here a practical application is introduced at the beginning of a lesson. The applications selected
should be of genuine interest to the class. Once again the applications chosen should be brief and not
too complicated so that they motivate the lesson rather than detract from it. Student interest must be
considered carefully when selecting an application, Remember, usefulness is appropriate only when a
student has a prior knowledge of the topic involving the application. The following examples are offered
to illustrate this technique.
Example:

(Properties of a line perpendicular to a plane - geometry.)

In erecting a flagpole, students will be interested in knowing how to ensure perpendicularity-

hence, a natural motivation for the theorem: “If a line is perpendicular to each of two intersecting lines
at their point of intersection, then the line is perpendicular to the plane determined by them.” Further
elaboration on the flagpole problem depends on the ability level and interest level of the class. (This is
true with all methods of motivation presented here.)

Example:

(relationship between the segments of two intersecting chords of a circle-geometry.)

Finding the size of a cracked plate in which the largest remaining piece is a small segment of the
original circle is an application in which students are required to find the diameter of the circle of which
^
ACB is a minor arc. Perhaps couching this problem in a story might be even more motivating.

Draw any chord AB ´ of the arc and the perpendicular bisector CDE ´ of that chord (where C is on
the arc). Measure AD ´ and CD´ . Then use similarity to establish the proportion DE/AD =BD/CD. Thus DE
and then CE, the desired diameter, may be found easily. This problem can serve as motivation for the
theorem that states, “If two chords intersect in the interior of a circle, thus determining two segments in
each chord, the product of the lengths of the segments of one chord equals the product of the lengths
of the segments of the other chord.” Although students may be able to solve the problem in the manner
shown here, they would welcome shorter method. Hence, the problem has created a need for
establishing the relationship AD ∙ BD =DE ∙ CD. The proof of the theorem is embedded in the solution
just given.

Example:

(Properties of similar triangles – geometry.)

When introducing properties of similar triangles, ask the class how the “cross legs” of an
airplane service truck have to be positioned so that the plane of the box will be parallel to the plane of
the truck.
 As the cross-legs shift position, it should be noticed that the legs must always partition each
other proportionally if the plane of the box is to remain parallel to the plane of the truck. This ought to
motivate students to prove this fact.

There are also times when the usefulness of a topic is intrinsic to mathematics alone. For
example, when introducing the technique of rationalizing a denominator of a fraction, many students
may wonder why we must go through this extra procedure. A “dramatic” illustration-which shows how
useful this procedure can be – would be advantageous. Consider the following problem:

Evaluate the series sum:

1 1 1 1
+ + +⋯ +
1+ √ 2 √2+√ 3 √ 3+√ 4 √1999+ √ 2000
To start, the solution of this problem can be quite difficult if one is not accustomed to expressing
denominators in terms of rational numbers. This procedure should be discussed and taught at this point
before the above problem is revisited.

When the process of rationalizing a denominator of a fraction has been mastered, the problem
stated above can be approached by considering the general term:

1
√ k + √ k +1
Rationalizing this denominator yields:

1 k −√ k +1
∙√ =√ k +1−√ k .
√ k + √ k +1 √k −√ k +1
This will allow us to rewrite the series as:

( √ 2− √ 1 ) + ( √ 3− √2 ) + ( √ 4− √ 3 )+ ⋯+ ( √1999−√ 1998 ) +( √ 2000− √1999)

Which equals √ 2000− √ 1=20 √ 5−1≈ 43.7213596.

By showing how the process of rationalizing the denominator of a fraction makes the fraction
much more workable, the procedure will become a welcome too in the arsenal of techniques taught in
algebra.

Use Recreational Mathematics

Recreational motivation consists of puzzles, games, or paradoxes. In addition to being selected

for their specific motivational gain, these devices must be brief and simple. A student should realize the
“recreation” without much effort in order for this technique to be effective.

Example:

(Area of a circle – geometry)

 When beginning the study of the area of a circle, students may be presented with five
concentric circles (the smallest has a radius of 1 unit) whose radii defer by 1 unit, respectively, and asked
to compare intuitively the areas ot the two shaded regions (see diagram).

Most students conclude that the “inner region” has a greater area than the region of the “outer
ring.” Consideration of the area of a circle yields the true relationship. Students are generally astonished
to find that the two regions have equal areas.

Example:

(General.)

Such topics as division by zero, betweenness, definitions such as √ ab=√ a ∙ √ b when a and b are
nonnegative, and the existence of reflex angles are often dramatically presented via mathematical
fallacies. Many books describe fallacies that involve these topics as well as many others. Some of these
are:

Example:

(Introduction to digit problems – algebra.)

Begin your presentation by asking your students to select any three-digit number in which the
hundreds digit and units digit are unequal. Then have them write the number whose digits are in the
reverse order from the selected number. Now tell them to subtract the smaller number from the larger
one. Once again, tell them to take this difference, reverse its digits and add the “new” number to the
original difference. They all should end up with 1089.

For example, suppose a student selected the number 934. The number with the digits reversed
439. Her computation would appear as:

934
439
´ (Difference)
495
(Reversed digits)
594 (Sum)
1089
´

When students compare results they will be amazed to discover the uniformity in their answers.
At this point they should be quite eager to find out why they all came up with the same result. A
detailed discussion of this unusual number property is presented in Enrichment Unit 75, “Digit Problems
Revisited.”

Tell a Pertinent Story

A story of a historical event or of a contrived situation can motivate students’ All too often
teachers, already knowing the story they are about to tell and eager to get into the “meat” of the lesson,
rush through the story. Such a hurried presentation minimizes the potential effectiveness the story may
have as a motivational device. Thus, a carefully prepared method of presentation of a story for
motivating a lesson is almost as important as the content of the story itself.

Example:
(Introducing the sum of an arithmetic series – algebra.)

Tell your students about young Carl Friedrich Gauss, who are at age 10 was in a class that was
asked by its instructor to add the numbers from 1 to 100. Much to the astonishment of the instructor,
young Gauss produced the correct answer immediately. When asked how he arrived at the answer so
quickly, he explained that

1+100=101

2+99=101

3+98=101

and so on. Because there are 50 such pairs, the answer is 50 ×101=5050 .

This scheme can be used to develop the formula for the sum of an arithmetic series.

Example:

(Various topics – geometry.)

For the study of parallel lines, the story of Eratosthenes measuring the circumference of Earth
might be appropriate.

Measuring Earth today is not terribly difficult, but thousands of years ago this was no mean feat.
Remember the word geometry is derived from “earth measurement.” Therefore it is appropriate to
consider this issue in one of its earliest forms. One of these measurements of the circumference of the
earth was made around 230 B. C. by the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes. His measurement was
remarkably accurate, having less than a 2 percent error. To make this measurement, Eratosthenes used
the relationship of alternate-interior angles of parallel lines.

As librarian of Alexandria, Eratosthenes had access to records of calendar events. He discovered

that at noon on a certain day of the year, in a town on the Nile called Syene (now called Aswan), the sun
is directly overhead. As a result the bottom of a deep well was entirely lit and a vertical pole, being
parallel to the rays hitting it, cast no shadow.

At the same time, however, a vertical pole in the city of Alexandria did cast a shadow. When
that day arrived again, Eratosthenes measured the angle (∠1 in the figure below) formed by such a pole
and the ray of light from the sun going past the top of the pole to the far end of the shadow. He found it
1
to be about 7°12’, or of 360°.
50

Assuming the rays of the sun to be parallel, he knew that the angle at the center of the earth
1
must be congruent to ∠1, and hence must also measure approximately of 360°. Because Syene and
50
Alexandria were almost on the same meridian, Syene must be located on the radius of the circle, which
was parallel to the rays of the Sun. Eratosthenes thus deduced that the distance between Syene and
 1
Alexandria was of the circumference of the Earth. The distance from Syene to Alexandria was
50
believed to be about 5,000 Greek stadia. A stadium was a unit of measurement equal to the length of a
Olympic or Egyptian stadium. Therefore Eratosthenes concluded that the circumference of Earth was
about 250,000 Greek stadia, or about 24,660 miles. This is very close to modern calculations. So how’s
that for real geometry! Your students should be able to appreciate this ancient use of geometry.

Example:

A pertinent story can also be something that enables students to concretize their understanding
of a new concept, such as the notion of a function. Consider the following:

In mathematics, finding concrete analogues to represent abstract concepts is not always easy.
One example where a physical model can be used to explain an abstract concept is in the development
of the notion of a function.

We will use the model of a bow shooting arrows at a target. The arrows will represent the
domain and the target represents the range. The bow (and its aiming) is the function. Because an arrow
can only be used once* we know that the elements in the domain can be used only once. The bow can
hit the same point on the target more than once. The bow can hit the same point on the target more
than once. Therefore, points in the range can be used more than once. This is the definition of a
function: a mapping of all elements of one set onto another, with the elements of the first set used
exactly once. Some points on the target may never be hit by an arrow. Yet, all the arrows must be used.
Analogously, some elements in the range may not be used, but all elements in the domain must be
used. Or conversely, through a mapping (or a “pairing”) of all elements in the domain, some elements in
the range may not be used.

When all the points on the target (the range) are hit, ** then the function (or mapping) is called
an onto function.

When each point on the target is used only once, then the function is called a one-to-one
function.

When each point on the target is used exactly once (i.e., once and only once), then the function is called
one-to-one onto function, or may be called a one-to-one correspondence.

Using the bow-shooting-arrows-to-a-target analogy to represent the concept of a function

enables the learner to conceptualize this abstract notion in a way that should instill permanent
understanding of the concept of a function.

Get Students Actively Involved in Justifying Mathematical Curiosities

One of the more effective techniques for motivating students is to attempt actively to justify a
pertinent mathematical curiosity. The students should be comfortably familiar with the mathematical
curiosity before you “challenge” them to justify it. Although this could consume more time than may be
normally allotted for a motivational activity, to proceed with a justification before sufficient exposure
has been achieved would be counterproductive.

Example:
 (Introducing the line joining the midpoints of two sides of a triangle (the midline) – geometry.)

Suppose students are about to study the properties of a midline of a triangle. As motivation,
they may be asked to draw any five quadrilaterals and then in each quadrilateral to join the midpoints of
the adjacent sides with li8ne segments. Much to their amazement, they will find that they have drawn
five parallelograms.

A request for a proof of this can be expected from thye class. One of the more elegant proofs is
based on the properties of a midline of a triangle. Thus, the teacher has an excellent opportunity to
introduce the midline and its properties.

Example:

(Similarity – geometry.)

Another geometric curiosity is the pantograph, an instrument used for drawing similar plane
figures. Students can construct this instrument at home. At the beginning of the lesson in which
similarity is to be considered, the operation of the pantograph can be justified.

The pantograph consists of four bars hinged at points A, B, C and D. point P is fixed, and pencils
are inserted in holes at D and Q. Various holes may be provided on the bars for other ratios of
similitude, BC/BQ.

Here is a fun activity that can be presented in a number of different ways. The best-suited
method should be selected the classroom teacher. The justification uses simple algebra, but the fun is in
the oddity. Have your students consider this very unusual relationship.

Any two-digit number ending in 9 can be expressed as the sum of the product of the digits and
sum of the digits.

More simply stated:

Any two-digit number ending 9 = [product of digits] + [sum of digits]

One of the real advantages of algebra is the facility with which, through its use, we can justify
many mathematical applications. Why is it possible to represent a number ending a 9 in the following
way?

19=( 1∙ 9 )+(1+9)
29=( 2∙ 9 )+(2+9)
39=( 3 ∙ 9 ) + ( 3+9 )
49=( 4 ∙9 )+(4+9)
59=( 5∙ 9 )+(5+9)
69= ( 6∙ 9 )+(6+ 9)
79=( 7 ∙ 9 ) + ( 7+9 )
89= ( 8∙ 9 )+(8+ 9)
99= ( 9 ∙9 )+(9+ 9)
 Students will certainly be turned on by this net pattern of calculation. You must be careful not to
allow this pattern to be an end in itself, but rather a means to an end , namely, a consideration of why
this actually works.

Let’s use algebra to clear up this very strange result, established above by example. Point out to
students that we will be using algebra to help us understand this mathematical quirk.

We typically represent a two-digit numbers as 10 t +u , where t represents the ten digit and u
represents the units digit. Then the sum of the digits is t+ u and the product of the digits is tu .

The number meeting the above conditions is

The discussion should evoke a curiosity among students about numbers with more than two
digits. For example:

109= (10 ∙ 9 ) +(10+9)

119=( 11∙9 )+(10+9)
129=( 12∙ 9 ) +(12+ 9)

Here the digits to the left of the 9 are considered as a number and treated just as we treated the
tens digit above. The results are the same.

This can be extended to any number of digits as long as the units digit is a 9.

A plentiful source for other such mathematical curiosities is Math Wonders to Inspire Teachers
and Students, by Alfred S. Posamentier (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and curriculum
Development, 2003).

Use Teacher-Made or Commercially Prepared Material

Here motivation can be achieved by presenting the class with concrete material of an unusual
nature. This may include teacher-made materials, such as models of geometric shapes, geo strips, or
specifically prepared overhead transparencies, or practical “tools” that illustrate a specific geometric
principle. Some fine commercially prepared materials are available, ranging from geometric models to
CD-ROMS of various kinds. Materials selected should be reviewed carefully planned so as to motivate
students for the lesson and not to detract attention from it.

Summary:

Remembering a few general rules for using these ten motivational techniques will make them
more effective.

1. The motivation should be brief.

2. The motivation should not be overemphasized. It should be a means to an end, not an end in itself.
3. The motivation should elicit the aim of the lesson from the class. This is fine way of determining how
effective the motivation actually is.
4. The motivation should be appropriate for the class level of ability and interest.
5. The motivation should draw on motives actually present in the learner.

Although planning the motivation for a lesson is challenging, and at times difficult, the rewards
are immeasurable. The higher degree of students learning resulting from a well-planned and well-
executed activity will make this additional work worthwhile.

Classroom Questioning
By asking a class well-constructed questions, the teacher encourages active learning on the part
of the students. What should be the goal of such questioning? Classroom questioning should elicit
student responses consisting of information that would otherwise have been presented by the teacher.
(Sometimes some valuable “original” comments are also received!) Although this is, in fact, quite
difficult to achieve fully, it is a goal toward which to strive.
Consideration must be given to the construction of good questions that are not gender or
culturally biased. Good questioning is an art and is one of the most important elements of good
teaching. As a result, it is either a great strength or a serious weakness in classroom work. Questions
must be conscientiously prepared and patiently practiced. There are a number of pitfalls to avoid in
asking classroom questions. We shall consider these pitfalls later.

Classroom Questioning Features to Develop

Teachers must consciously develop habits of questioning that will strengthen their teaching
performance. Each of the following suggestions for developing an effective style of classroom
questioning should be practiced carefully, for their benefits extend beyond classroom questioning and
can have a substantial impact on the teaching-learning process.

Direct and Simple Language

Classroom questions should be direct and simple in language. Student focus should be on a
question’s content, not on the language used in its delivery. That is, if the language distracts students
from the content, by being either too complex or perhaps too humorous, the potential effectiveness of a
question may be lost. By using direct and simple language (i.e., appropriate for the level of the intended
class), a teacher can employ classroom questions to fulfill their desired function.

Definite and Clear Meaning

Classroom questions should be definite and clear in meaning. If a question lends itself to various
interpretations, students may be reluctant to respond. To maximize the number of volunteer
respondent, ambiguities should be avoided. Often, shorter questions are less confusing.
A question should call for only one or two points in a line of reasoning. A teacher should ask
more questions rather than try to limit the number of questions and lengthen each one. By trying to ask
too much in a single question, the teacher may become prone to asking multiple or overlaid questions
(see page 75).

Logical Sequence
Questioning should develop a train of through in logical sequence. An inexperienced teacher’s
impatience with the developmental process may cause him to rush to the pivotal (or prime) question of
a lesson without spending enough time leading up to it with shorter preparatory questions. This
impatience often diminishes the ultimate effectiveness of the pivotal questions. Because the pivotal
question generally elicits highlight of the lesson, its effectiveness should not be weakened. Thus,
teachers should give special attention to all parts of a line of questioning that develops a train of thought
in logical sequence. This means that the same care should be given to the early, perhaps almost trivial
(or review) questions as is given to the pivotal and culminating questions. Remember, the pivotal
question is rarely effective if it is not properly built up through a carefully developed sequence of
subordinate questions in predetermined order.

Questions Keyed to Class Ability

The level of ability of a class should determine the language and complexity of the classroom
questions used. It is easy for a teacher to use the same questions during two consecutive class periods,
especially when the same lesson is involved. Yet if the ability levels of the two classes are different, this
practice should be consciously avoided. For the slower or perhaps less sophisticated class, simpler
language might be used than with a class comprising more able students. Teachers should be careful not
to use condescending language, but at the same time they should not conduct the class with language
beyond the students’ ability to grasp the content comfortably. By asking questions properly suited for
the intended audience, teachers will improve communication with classes at all levels.

Questions That Stimulate Effort

Questions should arouse an effort. While gearing the phrasing of a question to the appropriate
level for a class, teachers must make a special effort to prepare questions that are sufficiently difficult to
arouse an effort yet not to difficult to stifle the class. Good classroom questioning should create a
moderately challenging atmosphere throughout the lesson. Classroom questions should be short and
crisp, and arranged in a logical sequence that builds to the desired point. A sequence of questions might
well consist of a blend of factual and thought questions, with a majority of the latter kind. Included
would be a balanced mixture of some short yet challenging questions along with other review or
connecting questions. Such a blend should go far to stimulate active learning.

Open-Ended Questions
Open-ended questions allow students to reach conclusions and make mathematical decisions
consistent with their understanding and development. On a class examination, students can
demonstrate the kind of depth that is impossible to determine on the basis of choosing one of several
multiple-choice items or writing a single-number response. Open-ended questions also permit pupils to
arrive at many possible “correct” answers.

Example:
Discuss whether it is possible to have a triangle with the dimensions as shown on the next page.

Example:
Your friend shows you the following example:
 16 1
= by canceling the 6s,
64 4
26 2
= also by canceling the 6s,
65 5
19 1
= by canceling the 9s,
95 5
49 1
= also by canceling the 9s .
98 2

By the same logic, he claims, the following must also be valid. Explain why his reasoning is
incorrect.

16 1
= (cancel the 2s)
23 3
15 1
= (cancel the 5s)
55 5
28 2
= (cancel the 8s)
88 1

Maintaining students Interest

Classroom questioning should hold student interest throughout a lesson. A few important points
should be included regularly.

Every effort should be made to call on as many different students throughout a lesson as
possible and to try to avoid predictability in calling on students. Mixing calling on nonvolunteers with
calling on volunteers will keep everyone attentive. Beginning a course by requiring students to give
complete answers to classroom questions will help to ensure that such a practice will eventually become
habitual in the class.

It is a good habit to praise students (with tact) for correctly answering question. It is equally
important, however, for a teacher to handle incorrect answers properly.

The best treatment for an incorrect answer depends on the type of class and the time available
in the lesson. Under no circumstances should the teacher be abrupt or scold a student for giving an
incorrect answer. This would likely have an adverse effect on the student’s learning and inhibit future
willingness to respond to the teacher’s questions.

With classroom time permitting, the teacher may guide the student to realize an error through a
series of questions specially tailored to this discovery. Alternatively, the teacher may choose to refer the
question to the rest of the class.

Student questions may also be answered by other students. The teacher should not feel that
only she should provide the answer. Peer interaction can produce interesting results. For example, by
answering another student’s question, the first student can learn better the concepts under
consideration. Teaching usually allows the teacher to understand better the subtleties of subject matter
being taught. The same can be true when one student explains a concept to a classmate.

When students are expected to respond to one another’s questions, there is a greater degree of
alertness throughout the classroom, because students cannot predict precisely when they will be called
on to correct or answer another student. This alertness should go far to enliven the class.
Some Precautionary Considerations for Improving Classroom Questioning

Avoid Repetition

The teacher’s question should generally not be repeated. Naturally, if for some unusual reason
the question was inaudible, then repetition may be necessary. Variety can be provided by having a
student repeat a question when it was not heard by some students. Habitually repeating a question can
make the class inattentive, because they can rely on the question being repeated. Students also may
continually call for the repetition of a question to waste class time, but if they know that the repetition
of a question is not easily obtained, this scheme will not work. The result will be an attentive class, with
no time wasted.

Sometimes a teacher, having asked a question of the class, may repeat the question in perhaps a
rephrased from before the class has even had a chance to respond to the question. An uncertainty on
the part of the teacher about the clarity of the question will provoke this immediate repetition of the
question. Very often only the teacher finds the question unclear. The class may have been ready to
respond to the original question, but after hearing the rephrased question may be somewhat confused.
The teacher should let the original question stand, give students sufficient time to respond, and
rephrase the question only if no correct response is forthcoming. Students often have an unsuspected
ability to interpret a teacher’s question properly, even if it is a bit unclear. At such times teachers should
not be overly critical of their own questions. Proper questioning preparation could prevent this entire
situation.

Avoiding Repetition of Student Answer

The teacher should not repeat student responses, for reasons similar to those just discussed. If
students can rely on the teacher to repeat most of the more important student responses to teacher
questions, they may eventually not even listen to their classmates. This will greatly inhibit active student
interaction throughout a lesson. If, in the teacher’s judgment, a student’s response is audible, then the
teacher should have the student or another student repeat the response. Consistency with this
procedure will eventually cause students automatically to speak loudly and clearly just to avoid having
to repeat their responses (or hear other students do so).

Some teachers have a habit of “mentally processing” a student’s response aloud. This results in
a repetition of the student’s response. Most teachers, when made aware of this habit, can curtail it.
Tape recording a teacher’s lesson will be helpful in demonstrating this flaw in a teacher’s performance.
A teacher who cannot avoid such repetitions, however, should at least try to incorporate this repetition
into the next statement or question. This way it may not appear as a simple repetition of what has
already been said.

Teacher repetitions of student responses are also caused by the teacher’s fear that unless a
substantive statement is made by the teacher, the class will not note it properly. This, too, will only be
so if the teacher allows it to happen. The teacher sets the class tone and routines and the manner in
which classroom questioning and the resulting student responses are handled.

Calling on Students

Another way to generate constant student attention is to call on a particular student for a
response after a pause at the end of a question.

Example:
 ´ the perpendicular bisector ofCD
Why is AB ´ (pause), David?

If the class is accustomed to having the teacher call on a student to respond to a question after it has
been asked, each student will be attentive just in case he or she is the one selected by the teacher to
respond. On the other hand, if a teacher addresses David before asking the question, perhaps only David
will be attentive, because the rest of the class will know they are not being asked the question. This
latter situation does not promote an active involvement in the learning process. Thus, the teacher
should address particular students at the end of the question and thereby ensure student attention
throughout the lesson.

It is sometimes helpful to discover which students in the class are trying to avoid being on called.
There are times when it may be wise to call on them or simply meet with these students after class to
discuss their apparent avoidance. This question is, “How can the teacher discover which students are
trying to avoid being called upon?” Experience has shown that if after the teacher asks a question of the
class and pauses to look around for a student appears make a conscious effort to avoid eye contact with
the teacher, then the teacher can assume that student does not want to be called upon. This avoidance
sometimes manifests itself in the student’s appearing to be very “busy” so that the teacher’s calling on
him would be seen as interfering with his “concentration. Sometimes the teacher can discourage this by
making a general statement to the class may find this humorous (because many of the students may
have been guilty of this type of behavior at one time or another) and realize that this teacher must be
very clever and not easily fooled. However, the teacher then must be watchful for other, perhaps more
creative, techniques that some students may use to avoid questions (especially when they feel they
cannot answer them properly).

Wait-Time After Asking a Question

Allowing students sufficient time to think teacher-posed questions is a very important aspect of
classroom questioning. One of the leading researchers in the questioning behavior of teachers is Mary
Budd Rowe. Her findings over the years have had a significant impact on teacher performance in the
classroom. In her extensive analysis of classroom performances, she has found that most teachers, on
average, wait less than one second for students to respond to their questions. On the other hand, some
teachers wait an average of three seconds for students to reply. When she compared student responses
with different wait-times, she found that the longer wait-times (three seconds or more) produced more
thoughtful responses increased in the classroom discussion, and enabled students to analyze a situation
more critically than did the shorter wait-times following the teacher’s questions. Dr. Rowe also found
that teachers who waited an average of more than three seconds before calling for a response enjoyed
the following results:

 The length of student responses increased 400%-800%

 The number of voluntary, yet appropriate, responses increased
 Failure to respond decreased
 Student confidence increased
 Weaker students contributed more (increases ranged from 1.5% to 37% more)
 There was a greater variety of student responses-creative thinking increased!
 Discipline problems decreased

One effective technique to determine the wait-time following your class questions is to make a
tape-recording of your lesson and then, during the playback, to time the periods of pause following each
question. Try increasing your wait-time if it is too short and again tape the lesson to inspect for an
increase of wait-time. Such an exercise ought to produce favorable results.
 Once you have succeeded in increasing the wait-time following your classroom questions, you
might try to pause briefly after a student has responded, to allow for reflection or to permit a student to
add more information to his first responses. This second type of wait-time has similar effects on the
learning environment as the first type of wait-time. This has been shown by an analysis conducted by Dr.
Rowe of more than 800 tape recordings of lesson in urban, suburban, and rural schools.

Variety in Questioning

Perhaps one of the most important elements in good classroom questioning, as in most aspects
of good teaching, is variety. Variety can refer to the types of questions asked, to the manner in which
questions are asked, to the way students (volunteers and nonvolunteers) are called on to respond to
questions, and to the procedure by which responses are handled. Variety reduces predictability, which
in turn ought to promote continuous stimulation. When teachers vary times of questions asked,
students are required to be alert to more than simply that content of the questions. This additional
alertness should have a refreshing spin-off toward improved learning. In addition, teachers also are
more apt to be energized by the challenge of creating continuous variety in their questioning.

Ten Types of Questions to Avoid

In any sequence of questioning a few weak questions may be asked without harm, but many
poor questions will weaken a lesson. Following are ten types of questions a teacher should consciously
avoid, for they may be counterproductive.

Overlaid Question

Often teachers, in the midst of asking their classes a question, find that the question is not
specific enough to elicit the desired response. Rather than let the original question ride on its merits and
give students a chance to answer it, teachers may augment the question before students have even had
a chance to answer the original questions. When this happens, students who may have understood the
original question may now hesitate to answer, because they are uncertain about their understanding of
the entire question. Thus, by elaborating on a question they felt was unclear, teachers may have caused
confusion by tagging on an additional thought.

Example

What method shall we use to solve this problem, and that will make our solution elegant?

Even if a student knows which method to use to solve the problem in question, he may avoid
answering the question because of uncertainty about the second part of the question, namely, whether
his method will produce an “elegant solution.” An improved way to ask this question is: “What method
shall we use to solve this problem (pause), Barbara?” “What would be a good first step in this solution,
Max?”

Example

Which two triangles are congruent and also share common angle?

Students might be ready to answer the first part of the question but then may hesitate on
hearing the second part, for an inspection of the “common angle” would require further thought.
Furthermore, some students may simply be overwhelmed by the question and shy away from it. This
question may be asked as: “Which two triangles sharing a common angle are congruent (pause), Joan?”
You may also choose to ask the question as two separate questions.
 In each of the two examples of an overlaid question, an elaboration of an original question, an
elaboration of an original question was tagged on. This had exactly the opposite effect of what was
intended.

Multiple Question

A multiple question is formed by asking two related questions in sequence without allowing for
a student response until both parts of the question have been asked.

Example

´ parallel to CD
Which triangles should we prove congruent, and how will they help us prove AB ´
?

Although a student may know which triangles need to be proved congruent, he may not know
´
how congruent triangles will help prove AB∨¿ ´ . This student will probably not answer the question.
CD
However, if the question is asked in two parts, allowing for an answer to the first part before the second
part is asked, then more students will be likely to respond. This may be done as follows: “Which
triangles should we prove congruent (pause), Andy”? “How will these congruent triangles enable us to
´
prove AB∨¿ ´ (pause), Allison?”
CD

This type of question is similar to the overlaid question in that it also has two parts. It differs
from the overlaid question by being two questions that could actually stand separately. Teachers often
resort to multiple questions when they feel that the time remaining for a lesson is too short, or when
they get somewhat impatient and want the lesson to move along more rapidly. As before, students can
easily be discouraged from answering this type of question. To provide a correct response, a student
must be able to answer correctly both parts of the question. Thus, a student who can correctly answer
only one part of the question will not volunteer to respond. By reducing the pool of students who will
respond to questions, the teacher diminishes active learning throughout the class.

Example

What is the discriminant of this question (pointing to a quadratic equation), and what type of
roots does it have?

This multiple question could stand as separate questions, but in its present format it will most
likely discourage students from responding. The same information can be elicited by asking: “What is
the discriminant of this equation (pointing to a quadratic equation) (pause), Carla?” and “Based on the
value of the discriminant, what type of roots does this equation have (pause), Samuel?”

By stifling student responses, multiple questions reduce the effectiveness of a lesson and should
therefore be avoided.

Factual Questions

There is certainly nothing wrong with asking a question that has a simple factual response if the
question is a part of a buildup of a series of sequential facts necessary for the solution to the problem
under consideration. Otherwise, however, isolated factual questions do little to stimulate student
thinking.

Example

What is the Pythagorean Theorem?

Not much thought is required to respond to this question. A student either knows the answer or
does not know it.
 If we agree with our original premise regarding classroom questioning, then aside from being a
part of a sequence of questions, factual questions contribute little to an active learning environment in
the classroom.

Elliptical Questions

Questions that are unclear because the teacher has omitted specifics offer nothing to a lesson.
Although not particularly harmful to a lesson, an elliptical question is simply an unnecessary waste of
time.

Example

How about these two angles?

Teachers frequently have a habit of thinking aloud. They may be looking at a pair of angles and
thinking of what to ask about them, such as “What is the relationship” or “which angle has the greater
measure?” In either case, the teacher may instead first voice the thought: “How about these two
angles?” Verbalizing this thought into a question that has no answer wastes classroom time. The teacher
might have asked, “What is the relationship between these two angles (pause), Jamal?”, where a
definite answer was required.

Had the teacher wanted to say something (so as to avoid a lull in the lesson) when he was
thinking about the two angles, he could have said, “Consider these two angles.” This would have served
the intended purpose and not wasted classroom time with possible student wisecrack answers such as
“How about them!”

Example

What about these two parallel lines?

As before, this elliptical question asks for either nothing or more than most students are
prepared to offer. At any rate, because of the omission of specifics, it leaves itself open to wisecrack
responses. The teacher may wish to say something like “Which angles can we prove congruent using
these parallel lines (pause), Lisa?”

The teacher does not have to overreact to avoid lulls. Instead, she should stop and give some
thought to a question rather than ask it in a form that has no clear response.

Yes-No or Guessing Questions

For the most part yes-no or guessing questions have little value. With few exceptions a yes-no
question can easily be transformed into a good thought question.

Example

´ perpendicular to CD
Is AB ´ ?

A student attempting to answer this question takes a very small risk. His chances of being
correct are actually better that 50 percent. The teacher asking the question more often than not is
seeking a positive response. In addition, the diagram to which this question relates should also offer
assistance. Thus, the question becomes somewhat rhetorical. This question might be transformed to
read, “What is the relationship between AB ´ and CD´ (pause), Eric?” This would require the student to
explore the possible relationships that two line segments may have and then choose the one he feels is
appropriate. In its transformed state, the question provokes active learning among the students.
Example

Is triangle ABC isosceles?

Why would a teacher ask this question if the triangle were, in fact, not isosceles? Unless the
teacher were set to trick the class, students would be correct in assuming that the teacher is simply
seeking an affirmative response. Why then ask the question? The question will be far more productive
when asked as “What type of triangle is ∆ ABC (pause), Jose?” It is therefore a good practice to avoid
yes-no or guessing questions whenever possible.

Ambiguous Questions

Occasionally, a teacher may seek a response that requires a specific interpretation of a situation.
Here the questioner, trying to get the desired response with one question, may likely ask an ambiguous
question, one that can have a variety of different, yet correct, answer. Te desired response would be
more easily attained by asking a series of short sequential questions.

Example

How does the law of sines differ from the law of cosines?

Many different correct answers to this question can be given. Certainly the context in which this
question is asked will help narrow the choices among the correct responses. Students will tend to shy
away from responding to this question, however, out of obvious confusion caused by its ambiguity.
Students may wonder if the question refers to the difference in appearance of the two laws, the
difference in application, the difference in derivation, and so on. One possible form in which this
question may be asked is “Under what different circumstances are the laws of sines and cosines used
(pause), Aaliyah?”

Because such confusion is obviously counterproductive, ambiguous questions should be

consciously avoided in class room questioning.

Example

What is the reflection between the area of a circle and the circumference of a circle?

Once again this question has many correct answers. Is the questioner concerned about the
numerical relationship, the physical relationship, the dimensional relationship, or some other, less
obvious relationship? Although the context in which the question is asked will assist students in
responding to the question, confusion is rarely avoided when an ambiguous question is asked. One
specific way of asking this question is “What is the ratio between the area and circumference of a circle
(pause), Gabriella?”

Note: it is not necessarily a bad or undesirable feature to pose questions having several correct
answers. We are considering the “ambiguous question” here rather than this type of question. Before
asking a question that is likely to be ambiguous, set the specifics about the situation, then ask short,
simple questions to elicit the desired response.

Chorus Response Questions

Although a question calling for a chorus response may be good, the chorus response often
provides little value to the lesson. When a class responds in chorus to a question, the teacher usually
cannot determine which students are answering incorrectly and which students are not responding at
all. Furthermore, a chorus response can become too unclear for students eager to learn from the answer
to hear the answer correctly. By missing the answer to hear the question, a student could be missing an
important link in a chain of reasoning, resulting in damage to the learning process for this student.
Example

What type of quadrilateral is ABCD, class?

If we assume that not everyone in the class knows the correct answer to the question, some
students will be shouting an incorrect answer while others will be answering correctly. Should one
student not respond but instead listen for the correct answer, he may hear an incorrect answer
(because a wrong response may have come from someone close by) and then try to learn a concept with
an incorrect piece of information. The time lost in correcting this error is certainly undesirable.

A preponderance of chorus response questions will allow some students to glide through the
lesson without actually learning the subject matter presented. The teacher in this situation will be
unable to detect individual difficulties, because they are likely to be clouded by the chorus responses.
This gives further reason to avoid the chorus response question as much as possible.

But an occasional use of this type of question may be acceptable if the response is not too
crucial to a development and if it is necessary to involve the entire class, even for the sake of variety. A
change of style, offering variety to the lesson, may be a healthy feature. Even when serving this purpose,
however, this chorus response question should be used sparingly.

Whiplash Questions

A whiplash question usually is not planned by the teacher. It comes about when a teacher
decides to make a question out of a statement midway through it.

Example

The slope of this line is, what?

Aside from possibly frustrating students, little harm is caused by this type of question. Perhaps
its greatest flaw is its uselessness. Not expecting a question, the students are caught off guard. They
must first mentally rephrase the question before attempting an answer. Under normal circumstances
the beginning key word of a question (e.g., why, when, what, how) puts the students in a psychological
set, ready to receive and process a question. The whiplash question does not provide this readying
process and thereby wastes time and loses much of the student audience. A more productive way to ask
this question would be: “What is the slope of this line (pause), Wei?”

Example

´ parallel to CD
We now have AB ´ because of which theorem?

This question would have been much more effective had the key word announcing a question
been at the beginning of the question. It would then read, “Which theorem justifies the fact that AB ´ is
´ (pause), Simone?” In this form, the students know from the first word that a question is
parallel to CD
being asked. The second word has then focus on the various theorem learned while they listen to the
remainder of the question. At the completion of the question they are ready to respond without wasting
time to rephrase the question. This latter form of the question is clearly more efficient than the whiplash
format, and a teacher need not turn every statement into a question just for the sake of producing
student participation. Such an attempt at increasing student participation could easily become
counterproductive.

Leading Questions
 A leading question is one that tugs the desired response from the student. This type of question
serves no reasonable function.

Example

Wouldn’t you say ∆ ABC is equilateral?

Most students would be quite reluctant not to agree with the teacher asking such a question.
Thus, the question does not provoke much thought, because the student is more than likely to respond
in the affirmative.

Example

Seven is a factor of 35, isn’t it?

Again there is no need to turn the statement “Seven is a factor of 35” into a question. The
teacher would be better served either by leaving the statement stand as is or by asking a question such
as “What are the factors of 35 (pause), Antonio?” or “By what number must 7 be multiplied to yield 35
(pause), Miguel?” Each of these questions requires some thought on the part of the students before
they answer. In addition to replacing a time-wasting question, each induces active learning.

Teacher-Centered Questions

It is generally desirable to have students consider the teacher as part of the class. Although
students are well aware of the different roles of the teacher and the student, when addressing the class
it is more effective for the teacher to use the first person plural (e.i., we and us) when appropriate. For
example, saying “Let us consider the following . . .” rather than “I have the following . . .” would make
the class feel that they are all part of one group working together on a common problem. They do not
need a constant reminder that they are the students and the teacher is distinct from them. Regular use
of the first person singular (i.e., I and me) could create an invisible barrier between the teacher and the
class, a possible detriment to a healthy, active learning environment.

Example

Give me the solution set of 3 x−5=2.

A better way to ask this is “Give us the solution set of 3 x−5=2. (pause), Sam.”

Example

What must I do next to solve this problem?

This question ought to be asked as: “What must we do next in solving this problem (pause),
Jack?”

Each of the preceding examples Illustrates the sort of teacher comment that seeks to set apart
(albeit subconsciously) the teacher from the students, which is not particularly conducive to a good
classroom teaching environment.

Classroom Questioning as a Means to Generate Higher Order Thinking

Questioning in an optically interactive classroom is used by the teacher to help students gain
understanding and by students to obtain guidance that will assist them to clarify ambiguities and resolve
confusion. Traditional guidelines for questioning deal exclusively with the teacher’s questions, setting
down formal guidelines for what is acceptable and what is not. Those guidelines are valuable today.
 Several issues must be raised based on student psychological as it is now understood. For
example, not all ambiguity is bad. We will explore ways in which ambiguity might be employed
consciously, on occasion, to assist students in acquiring a deeper understanding of familiar material.
Some new formats for traditional questions are likely to reduce student anxiety without in any way
lessening the quality of learning. Other new techniques are powerful in their own right.

Accepting new ideas authenticates