What is the Effective Question Matrix?

The quality of an answer received is determined by the quality of the question asked. An effective method is to write down exactly the questions you want to ask, and you can do this by using the ‘Effective Question Matrix’.

What is it?

This matrix is helpful in enabling you to frame the questions you want to ask. It works in a linear fashion, where harder questions are furthest right and towards the bottom of this grid. The top left corner has questions such as ‘who is..?’, where the answer is going to be short. For example, ‘who is the Queen of England?’ requires the answer ‘Elizabeth’. The bottom right ‘how might..?’ requires a much more detailed answer due to the nature of the questions, for example, ‘how might we stop global warming?’

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10 tips for asking children questions

Here are a few points to help you when asking questions to children:

1. Try not to have recall questions like, “What did we do yesterday?” It’s much better to simply say what you did yesterday and move on with a complicated question for today.
2. Rhetorical questions are for dramatic effect and are not helpful.
3. A leading question is not open ended as it prompts the respondent to answer in a specific way.
4. ‘Guess what I am thinking’-type questions where you already know the answer, don’t help children to think.
5. Use questions like, “Why don’t you try…” to supply alternative answers or ideas, rather than give the answer.
6. Direct questions to individual children not the whole group, otherwise only certain children will answer and only some may be able to answer.
7. Ask one question, not a whole series, so you don’t confuse children.
8. Be cautious of using closed questions which only require a yes/no answer and inhibits discussion.
9. Make the learning environment interesting so that children are asking lots of questions.
10. Most important, ask yourself: what do I want children/this child to learn from this question?