We get asked a lot of questions when we are teaching. Having taught for 40 years, I am now (finally) pretty comfortable with most that come my way. But that wasn’t the case in my first few years in academia. Some questions were scary smart and I am not sure I handled them with comfort and confidence. Faculty Focus (Nov. 1, 2021) suggests these 5 strategies for mastering the art of answering questions in class.
1. Smile-Breathe-Think-Talk. Begin by smiling. The smile is not really for the class (although it may help us connect), but allows us to calm down, and to view the Q&A interaction more positively. Then breathe. This allows provides a pause so that we do not rush into an answer to the question. After considering our answer, we relay our carefully considered answer.
2. Validate and thank the questioner. It is easy to forget that students asking us questions may be anxious about doing so in public. So first genuinely thank the student. Then validate the question as interesting and important. This will let students know that we want to hear their thoughts and questions.
3. Be aware of your body language. Making eye contact with the student who asked the question, turning your body toward them, taking a small step toward them, and/or smiling can let the student know that we are listening and respect the question. If we break eye contact, cross our arms, turn or walk away, or frown, we convey that we are uncomfortable with the question.
4. Say “I Don’t Know” in productive ways. In reality, if our students have good questions, we may not always know the answers. But we can still demonstrate our thoughtfulness and knowledge to the class. We can say that while we do not know the answer in that moment, we will find and relay the answer to them later (and then do that). Taking a moment to write the question down conveys that the question is important to us. Another strategy is to brainstorm and crowdsource the answer, suggesting we use research resources.
5. Embrace questions. If we are asked questions while we are teaching, our students are using their voices to gather more information, to show investment in our content, and to pay us a compliment. These questions allow us to teach better by allowing us to fill in gaps in our lecture, re-explain confusing material, or extend the content in ways that are interesting and relevant.