Effective Questioning

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This module explores a variety of ‘effective questioning’ strategies and methodologies. It hopes to support you in reviewing learning, teaching and assessment to further develop enriched, high quality experiences for your pupils through a blend of learning in school and at home including remotely.

Purposes of Effective Questioning

In AfL, effective questioning serves two main purposes: to assist with assessment and to improve understanding.

Questioning for assessment is teacher-led. It helps you obtain evidence about where pupils are in their learning. This information about pupil knowledge, understanding and skills can then inform planning and the selection of teaching strategies to move pupils from where they are to where they need to go.

Questioning for understanding can be both teacher-led and pupil-led. When teacher-led, it can help pupils make connections that aren’t immediately apparent and can unobtrusively guide pupils to the facts, solutions, and conclusions they need to discover. Pupil-led questioning is a key process in learning and allows them to develop independence, work through problems, and to reflect on and evaluate their own understanding.”

Assessment for Learning for Key Stages 1 & 2 (CCEA, 2007)

Assessment for Learning for Key Stages 3 (CCEA, 2007)


What is effective questioning?

Effective questioning involves using  questions in the classroom to open conversations, inspire deeper intellectual thought, and promote student-to-student interaction. Effective questions focus on eliciting the process, i.e. the 'how' and 'why,' in a student's response, as opposed to answers which just detail 'what.’

However, effective questioning does not just relate to the use of questions. Instead, the teacher can decide to employ a range of effective questioning strategies or activities, which will scaffold, facilitate and secure the same level of student engagement or interaction with higher order thinking.

Please take a few moments to watch the YouTube clip ‘4 steps to engaging students with effective questioning’, then please feel free to watch our interpretation of this clip in the Northern Ireland Context. The YouTube clip aims to support teacher in developing their questioning in 4 easy steps.

Good questioning causes thinking

(Dylan William)

Stop and Process Part 1: Can the four steps outlined within the video clip help me answer the following questions?

  1. How can I ask better questions?

Before I ask questions do I know:

  • What I want my pupils to learn?

  • How I want them to learn it?

  • How will I know if they have learned it?

  1. How can I ask questions better?

  2. How can I deal with answers more productively?

  3. How can I encourage pupil questions?

  4. How can I facilitate some or all of this in the virtual classroom?

Stop and Process Part 2:

  1. How can I extend participation in whole class and group questioning to all pupils?

  2. How can I develop questioning strategies that deepen pupils learning?

  3. How can I facilitate some or all of this in the virtual classroom?

To learn more about effective questioning and effective questioning strategies to support you in the classroom, please peruse the following CCEA documents:


  1. Assessment for Learning for Key Stages 1 & 2 (CCEA, 2007) – pages 21 - 25

  1. Assessment for Learning for Key Stages 3 (CCEA, 2007) – pages 21 - 25

  1. Assessment for Learning – A Practical Guide (CCEA, 2009) – pages 25 - 27

Assessment for Learning for Key Stage 1 & 2 (Guidance Booklet).pdf
Assessment for Learning for Key Stage 3.pdf
Useful AfL planning resources.pdf

The following CCEA documents may also support you:

Active Learning and Teaching Methods for Key Stages 1 and 2.pdf
Active Learning and Teaching Methods for Key Stage 3.pdf
Guidance on Teaching, Learning and Assessment at Key Stage 4.pdf