PHASE 2: Planning and resourcing
Program and student groupings
Assessment
Wait time is vital in effective questioning
The purpose of this tool is to provide teachers with strategies to increase wait time
when asking questions to assess deeper understanding from students.
1.
“Research has shown that, after asking a question, many teachers wait less than one second and
then, if no answer is forthcoming, ask another question or answer the question themselves”
(Working Inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom (2004) by Paul
Black, Christine Harrison, Clare Lee, Bethan Marshall, and Dylan Wiliam)
Strategies for consciously increasing ‘wait time’ in your teaching;
 after asking a question allow students 1-2 minutes to practise their answer with
a friend before answering
 allow time for students to note down a response before responding
 silently count to three after asking a question
 inform your class that you are trying to increase wait time so they ‘remind’
you
 if you do not get the response you intended from the question you asked, tell
the students you are re-asking the same question using different words.
2.
A teacher’s reflection on increasing wait time
“Increasing waiting time after asking questions proved difficult to start with due to my habitual
desire to "add" something almost immediately after asking the original question. The pause after
asking the question was sometimes "painful." It felt unnatural to have such a seemingly "dead"
period, but I persevered. Given more thinking time, students seemed to realize that a more
thoughtful answer was required. Now, after many months of changing my style of questioning, I
have noticed that most students will give an answer and an explanation (where necessary) without
additional prompting. - Derek, Century Island School”.
(Working Inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom (2004) by Paul
Black, Christine Harrison, Clare Lee, Bethan Marshall, and Dylan Wiliam )
http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/blueprint/docs/tools/phase2/assesstoolspsg/Effective_questioning.doc
Office of Learning and Teaching, DE&T.