SOCRATIC

QUESTIONING

METHOD IN TEACHING

Presentation by :

Dr. Sanyukta Kashalkar- Karve

Assistant Professor, School of Design,

Avantika University (MIT-Pune), Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.

Email: sanyuktakashalkar@gmail.com

Date: 25th June, 2018, Monday Venue: Configurable Classroom, IISER- Bhopal

Induction Training Programme, IISER Bhopal (18th to 29th June, 2018)

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LET ME TELL YOU A

STORY !! Vanilla ice cream that puzzled General Motors

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NEVER UNDERESTIMATE

YOUR STUDENTS’

QUESTION, NO MATTER HOW

FUNNY IT MIGHT SEEM!

https://www.marketcalls.in/fun/vanilla-ice-cream-that-puzzled-general-motors-

amazing.html

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WHY I CHOSE THIS TOPIC? A small tour into my childhood………

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Isaac Newton and the Apple

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What is Socratic Questioning?: Brief

Historical Perspective

• Socrates or Sukarat

was a classical Greek

Philosopher.

• The big three Masters

of Greek Philosophy:

Socrates, Plato and

Aristotle

• He was born in Athens,

Greece in c.470 BC

and died in c. 399 BCE

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A bust of Socrates, Louvre, Paris

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THE SOCRATIC

IRONY

“I know that I know nothing”: Socrates

Also known as Socratic Paradox

The statement itself is a very ambiguous one, yet it

encourages a lot of questioning

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ACTIVITY: WHAT DO YOU MEAN

BY THE WORD “QUESTION”? : INQUIRY, INVESTIGATION, QUERY, QUESTIONING,

EXAMINATION, INQUEST, INQUIRING, INQUISITION,

INTERROGATION

Then what is “Questioning” ?

Questioning is a major form of human thought and interpersonal communication. It involves employing a series of questions to explore an issue, an idea or something intriguing. Questioning is the process of forming and wielding that serves to develop answers and insight.

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What is Socratic Questioning(SQ)? • The Socratic approach to questioning is based on the practice of disciplined, thoughtful dialogue

• disciplined practice of thoughtful questioning enabled the student to examine ideas logically and to determine the validity of those ideas

• the teacher professes ignorance of the topic in order to engage in dialogue with the students.

• effective way to explore ideas in depth

• It can be used at all levels

• teachers promote independent thinking

• Higher-level thinking skills are present while students think, discuss, debate, evaluate, and analyze content through their own thinking and the thinking of those around them.

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What is Socratic Questioning(SQ)?

• [SQ is also known as Socratic method, also can be

known as maieutics, method of elenchus, elenctic

method, or Socratic debate]

• When teachers use Socratic questioning in teaching, their

purpose may be to probe student thinking, to determine the

extent of student knowledge on a given topic, issue or subject,

to model Socratic questioning for students or to help students

analyze a concept or line of reasoning.

• It is also useful to enhance CRITCAL THINKING

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SQ as a Method: • During Socratic questioning, the teacher is a model of

critical thinking who respects students' viewpoints,

• probes their understanding, and shows genuine interest in their thinking.

• The teacher poses questions that are more meaningful than those a novice of a given topic might develop on his or her own.

• The teacher creates and sustains an intellectually stimulating classroom environment and acknowledges the value of the student in that environment. [INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM]

• In an intellectually open, safe, and demanding learning environment, students will be challenged, yet comfortable in answering questions honestly and fully in front of their peers.

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Some Tips for Using Socratic Questioning:

Plan significant questions that provide meaning and direction

to the dialogue

ƒUse wait time: Allow at least thirty seconds for students to

respond

ƒFollow up on students’ responses

ƒAsk probing questions

ƒPeriodically summarize in writing key points that have been

discussed

ƒDraw as many students as possible into the discussion

ƒLet students discover knowledge on their own through the

probing questions the teacher poses

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HOW ?

WHO ?

WHERE ?

WHY ?

WHAT ?

WHEN ?

TYPES OF SOCRATIC

QUESTIONS AND

EXAMPLES

The Socratic Questioning technique involves

different type of questions. Some examples of

these are:

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• � What do you mean by…?

• ƒ Could you put that another way?

• ƒ What do you think is the main issue?

• ƒ Could you give us an example?

• ƒ Could you expand upon that point further?

Clarification questions

• Why is this question important?

• ƒ Is this question easy or difficult to answer?

• ƒ Why do you think that?

• ƒ What assumptions can we make based on this question?

• ƒ Does this question lead to other important issues and questions?

Questions about an initial

question or issue

• Why would someone make this assumption?

• What is _______ assuming here?

• ƒ What could we assume instead?

• ƒ You seem to be assuming______.

• Socratic Questioning Example

• ƒ Do I understand you correctly?

Assumption questions

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• What would be an example?

• ƒ Why do you think this is true?

• ƒ What other information do we need?

• ƒ Could you explain your reason to us?

• ƒ By what reasoning did you come to that conclusion?

• ƒ Is there reason to doubt that evidence?

• ƒ What led you to that belief?

Reason and evidence questions

• Is this your idea or did you hear if from some place else?

• ƒ Have you always felt this way?

• ƒ Has your opinion been influenced by something or someone?

• ƒ Where did you get that idea?

• ƒ What caused you to feel that way?

Origin or source questions

• What effect would that have?

• ƒ Could that really happen or probably happen?

• ƒ What is an alternative?

• ƒ What are you implying by that?

• ƒ If that happened, what else would happen as a result? Why?

Implication and consequence

questions

• How would other groups of people respond this question? Why?

• ƒ How could you answer the objection that ______would make?

• ƒ What might someone who believed _____ think?

• ƒ What is an alternative?

• � How are ____ and ____’s ideas alike? Different?

Viewpoint questions

Socratic Questioning Example: This questioning dialogue would take place after the unit had

been introduced and was well underway.

• Teacher: What is happening to our global

climate?

• Stan: It’s getting warmer.

• Teacher: How do you know it’s getting warmer? What evidence do you have to support your answer?

• Stan: It’s in the news all of the time. They are always saying that it’s not as cold as it used to be. We have all of these record heat days.

• Teacher: Has anyone else heard of this kind of news?

• Denise: Yeah. I have read about it the newspaper. They call it global warming, I think.

• Designing Effective Projects

• Teacher: Are you saying that you learned about global warming from newscasters? Are you assuming they know that global warming is occurring?

• Heidi: I heard it too. It’s terrible. The ice caps in the Arctic are melting. The animals are losing their homes. I think the newscasters hear it from the scientists that are studying the issue.

• Teacher: If that is the case and the scientists are telling the newscasters, how do the scientists know?

• Chris: They have instruments to measure climate. They conduct research that measures the Earth’s temperature.

• Teacher: How long do you think scientists have been doing this?

• Grant: Probably 100 years.

• Candace: Maybe a little more than that.

• Teacher: Actually, it’s been studied for about 140 years. Since about 1860.

• Heidi: We were close.

• Teacher: Yes. How did you know that?

• Grant: I just figured that seems like when instruments were available and scientists had the means to measure climate like that.

• Teacher: So, looking at the last 100 year’s climate on this graph, what can we say about the earth’s climate?

• Raja: The 20th century has become much warmer than previous centuries.

• Teacher: Can we hypothesize why?

• Raja: One word: pollution.

• Teacher: What are you assuming when you say that pollution is the cause for the temperatures to rise?

• Heidi: Carbon dioxide from cars causes pollution and chemicals from factories.

• Frank: Hair spray causes dangerous chemicals to get into the atmosphere.

• Teacher: Okay. Let’s take a minute to review what we’ve discussed so far.

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Where and When can you use SQ Method

in Class? • Blended Classroom

• Flipped Classroom

• Out of Class

• Discussion

• Brainstorming

• Research

• Development

• Project Based Learning

• Analysis

• Ideation

• Iteration

• Reflection

• Experiential Learning

• Intellectual Gossiping/ interaction

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Some Keys on Socratic Questioning

Advantages of SQ

• It is interactive.

• It enables students to pay attention and be involved.

• It teaches students to speak in a group.

• It helps students articulate ideas.

• It is a change from traditional learning methods.

• They will learn to evaluate and respond to their classmates' opinions.

• Encourages all students to have a voice

Disadvantages of SQ

• It is easy to get side-tracked.

• It can cause conflict within the class if opposing opinions are given.

• This will be harder for the non auditory learners to absorb.

• Note taking can be more difficult, especially when trying to follow the thread of conversation.

• Some students will dominate the conversation.

• Insecure students may have a difficult time speaking up.

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Teaching Learning Methods Used in this

Presentation by me: • Story Telling

• Activity Based

• Socratic Method

• Information and Communication Technology

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Some interesting links to know more

about Socratic Questioning: • The Paper Chase (1973) is a movie

based on a novel that is about a law

student in Harvard and is based on

Socratic Questioning.

• http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-role-of-socratic-

questioning-in-thinking-teaching-amp-learning/522

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB4MYGInRl4

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References and Some Reading Suggestions:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates

• http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-role-of-socratic-questioning-in-thinking-teaching-amp-learning/522

• How to Use the Socratic Method in the Classroom: https://www.rocktwp.org/.../socratic%20method/How%20to%20Use%20the%20Socrat...

• Another Story: http://www.iheartgrade3.com/never-underestimate-a-question/

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questioning

• https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/program/education/us/en/documents/project-design/strategies/dep-question-socratic.pdf

• https://owlcation.com/academia/Pros-and-Cons-of-Whole-Group-Classroom-Discussion

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• IISER- Bhopal

• Prof. Ambar Jain and

CREATES Team

• All the Trainers

• Mr. Pathak, Library

• All the fellow Trainees

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LET'S START WITH AN

ACTIVITY: Shake hands with the person sitting next you, look into

his/her eyes and greet him/her with care and respect

You can say: Namaste, Adaab, Hello, Vannakam,

Namaskaaram….

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NOW, LETS LEARN A

NEW WORD TODAY!

Yasou (Yah-SU)

Now, greet in the same manner to the person sitting next

to you but this time say: Yasou

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Hope you had fun! So, ……

• What did you do just now?

• Why did you do it?

• When did you do the activity?

• Where did you conduct the activity?

• Who did you partner with?

• How did you do it?

• YahSu means Hello! …. In Greek Language

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What is Socratic Questioning(SQ)? • The Socratic approach to questioning is based on the practice of

disciplined, thoughtful dialogue. Socrates, the early Greek philosopher/teacher, believed that disciplined practice of thoughtful questioning enabled the student to examine ideas logically and to determine the validity of those ideas. In this technique, the teacher professes ignorance of the topic in order to engage in dialogue with the students. With this “acting dumb,” the student develops the fullest possible knowledge about the topic.

• The Socratic Questioning technique is an effective way to explore ideas in depth. It can be used at all levels and is a helpful tool for all teachers. It can be used at different points within a unit or project. By using Socratic Questioning, teachers promote independent thinking in their students and give them ownership of what they are learning. Higher-level thinking skills are present while students think, discuss, debate, evaluate, and analyze content through their own thinking and the thinking of those around them. These types of questions may take some practice on both the teacher and students’ part since it may be a whole new approach.

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