Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer

Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880

PIP REPORT

The learning area of focus for this investigative project was within the subject of English with a focus
in literacy writing. I investigated the effectiveness of using questioning to promote engagement of
student learning. My inquiry question was; ‘How can I implement questioning to effectively improve
student engagement when teaching literacy writing?’ While exploring this inquiry question, I was able
to work in correlation with AITSL standards (1.2) Understanding how students learn, (2.5) Using
Literacy and numeracy strategies, (3.3) Using teaching strategies, (3.5) Using effective classroom
communication, (4.1) Supporting student participation and (4.2) Managing classroom activities (Aitsl,
2018). This inquiry project was implemented in the classroom through the form of PowerPoint
prompts and questioning in class discussions. I collected my data through 3 different data methods
which allowed me to efficiently access the effectiveness of my questioning strategy. The methods
used were student exit slips, supervisor feedback sheets and lesson evaluations.

Focusing my inquiry project around questioning when teaching literacy writing was to increase my
competence within providing clear instructions, engaging students and encouraging student
participation. While reflecting upon the standards and providing examples of evidence for each, I
realised I lacked in professional development for (4.1) and (4.2). I then researched into how I can
better my teaching practice in relation to those standards and came across the strategy of questioning.
Once I began to look into questioning, I realised how complex it was and discovered that I hadn’t been
using it as effectively as I could have. This is when I decided to improve my teaching practice through
using questioning to effectively support participation and engagement.

Questioning has been used in education for many years as an instructional cue that forms as an
effective tool that teachers use to guide student thinking (Ramsey et al., 2010). Questions serve as a
teaching tool by which teachers manage and direct learning, test student understanding and diagnose
problem areas (Caram and Davis, 2012). There is a variety of different types of questioning that
teachers can use to further student engagement. Some examples are probing questions (questions
that go beyond a student’s initial response), higher order thinking questions (questions that involve
students figuring out answers rather than remembering them) and structuring questions (clarifying
tasks or instructions) (Teaching at UNL, 2018). Good questioning strategies are strongly considered as
a part of best teaching practice (Fusco, 2012).

I conducted my professional inquiry project at a category 4 school located within the northern suburbs
that has a current student population of 324 students with 13 full time equivalent teachers. There is
a wide range of cultural backgrounds throughout the school consisting of mainly Laos, Chinese,
Aboriginal and African. There is also a range of complex family structures with 39% of parents
qualifying for school cards. The class I had was a mixed class of 6/7s and had a variety of learning
abilities with 8 students on ILPs and NEPs.

Within my 6/7 class, my focus topic within English writing was advertising. Within advertising, I started
off looking at their prior knowledge and assessing how students interpret an advert. I then introduced
the types of adverts, the techniques they use and some persuasive language involved. I conducted a
range of activities including analysis of advertisements to help students develop a sound
understanding of the key concepts. In week 4 with my class, we moved step by step through their final
task which involved students designing a ride for the Royal Adelaide Show, creating an advertisement
for their ride and a speech they would use on the grounds of the show. Questioning was implemented
in this learning process at the beginning of each session through teacher directed discussion. This
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
would allow students to recall knowledge and think more in-depth about the topic and why companies
make certain choices. The key questioning strategies I implemented were, probing questions, open
ended questions and structural questions.

At the end of each session, I reviewed the feedback I received from the student exit slips (Appendix 1)
in order to assess the effectiveness of my questioning strategies and gather general feedback. In
support of this feedback, I also collected feedback from my supervisor on a feedback sheet I provided
him (Appendix 2). I found the feedback from my supervisor to be very useful in terms of analysing the
effectiveness of my teaching strategies and specific questioning. His responses provided me with an
in-depth view of how strongly students were engaged and where I could improve. After each session,
I reviewed both data methods in order to make the following session more effective. Alongside these
two data collection methods, I also evaluated the lessons on a reflection sheet I created (Appendix 3).

The feedback from my supervising teacher was extremely useful in assessing the effectiveness of my
teaching strategies. Although he felt each session was successful, he still provided me with practical
feedback in regards to how I could continue to improve and noted specific strategies/ questioning I
used he felt received the most response. An example of his feedback can be seen in (Appendix 4). The
key questions he believed engaged students in the class discussions were, “how do you plan on getting
people to your ride?”, “what do you need to include to make your advertisement stand out?”, “what
will you consider/ include in your advertisement?” and “what should a good ad include?” This data
showed me that the what and how questions promoted the most in-depth thought and encouraged
students to engage in the discussion. My supervisor also noted that my use of visual aids and
PowerPoint also really helped students to be engaged. In regards to improvements, he suggested I
increase my wait/response time, remove sensory toys and sheets that are becoming a distraction and
continue to wait until I have the whole classes attention. His consistent feedback was implemented
after each following session in order to continue to inform my practice.

In support of the data I received from my supervisor, the results from the exit slips also revealed
questioning made an impact on student learning. The exit slips included questions about whether the
questioning strategies I used helped them to listen, engage or understand the topic. There were also
questions about what they learnt and enjoyed to determine whether they got anything from the
session. The results of the question ‘Did you feel like all the questions I asked, helped you to listen and
engage?’, were formed into a pie chart in (Appendix 5). This data revealed that over the course of the
inquiry project, around 94% of students said they felt the questions I asked helped them to engage
and listen. I then analysed the results of the question, ‘did you feel engaged in class discussions?’
(Appendix 6). This helped me to see whether students felt they listened and/or tried to contribute.
These results were also positive as they revealed 90% of students over the sessions felt they had
engaged in class discussions. The exit slips also showed that 97% of students felt the questions helped
them to understand the topic and tasks more. This data showed a positive response from the students
which was clearly identified during class as students displayed clear signs of understanding. These
signs were, eye contact, hands up, correct answers and completed work.

When comparing this with my own evaluations, I could see strong connections. An example of one of
my evaluations can be seen in (Appendix 7). Over these evaluations, it revealed that the most effective
questioning strategies each lesson appeared to be open ended questions and probing questions.
These questions allowed me to prompt students to think more in-depth about the topic. This data
correlated with the observations of my supervisor as we both believed all sessions were quite
successful in terms of students being engaged. There were some behavioural bumps; however, all
work was completed and the knowledge and understanding of concepts were evident. An example of
a groups final assessment accompanying the assessment rubric is within (Appendix 8) which shows
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
their hard work and understanding of concepts. All 3 data samples expressed clear evidence that the
questions helped in promoting student engagement.

Reflecting upon my inquiry project, I feel I have grown in my confidence and in my abilities to be able
to engage students more effectively during teacher directed learning time. Using questioning as a key
teaching strategy provides a range of benefits in terms of impact on student learning and assessing
student understanding. This professional inquiry project has allowed me to explore the use of a range
of questioning strategies and assess their effectiveness in regards to improving student engagement.
From my experience, the use of questioning can encourage students to make more in-depth
connections with learning, engage in the topic and listen to task directions more effectively. I have
begun to analyse my teaching abilities and think critically about how they foster the learning of
students and how I can use them to increase student engagement. This inquiry-based project has not
only encouraged me to think critically about questioning within English but about everything I do in a
classroom.

In conclusion, I believe this inquiry project has allowed me to think critically about my teaching
practice and improve the way I engage students during teacher directed learning. In conducting this
professional inquiry project, I found I learned a lot about myself as an educator through reflecting on
my teaching choices, analysing how students interpret my teaching strategies and tracking how I can
continue to grow within my practice through feedback from a successful permanent educator. I feel
inquiry focused learning is valuable in helping someone to grow within their professional practice.
After this experience, I believe I am one step closer to being the professional educator I aspire to be.
In regards to the focus of my inquiry project, I also believe questioning is a strategy I will continue to
use within my future practice.

1649 words
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880

References

1. Aitsl. (2018). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. [online] Available at:
https://www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/australian-professional-standards-for-
teachers [Accessed 29 Jul. 2018].
2. Caram, C. and Davis, P. (2012). Inviting Student Engagement with Questioning. Kappa Delta
Pi Record, [online] 42(1), pp.19-23. Available at:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00228958.2005.10532080?needAccess=tru
e [Accessed 28 Jul. 2018].
3. Fusco, E. (2012). Effective Questioning Strategies in the Classroom: A Step-by-step Approach
to Engaged Thinking and Learning, K-8. Teachers Colleague Press.
4. Ramsey, I., Gabbard, C., Clawson, K., Lee, L. and Henson, K. (2010). Questioning: An Effective
Teaching Method. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas,
[online] 63(9), pp.420-422. Available at:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00098655.1990.10114144?journalCode=vtc
h20 [Accessed 29 Jul. 2018].
5. Teaching at UNL. (2018). Types of Teacher Questions. [online] Available at:
http://www.lamission.edu/devcom/ProbingQuestions.htm [Accessed 29 Jul. 2018].
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880

Appendix

Appendix 1: Student Exit Slips (Data Method)

 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
Appendix 2: Supervising Teacher Feedback Sheet (Data Method)
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
Appendix 3: Evaluation Template (Data Method)
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
Appendix 4: Example of supervising teacher’s feedback from an advertising lesson.
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
Appendix 5: Pie Chart for Exit Slip Question 1.

Did you feel like all the questions I asked, helped

you to listen and engage?

Yes No

Appendix 6: Pie Chart for Exit Slip Question 2.

Did you feel you engaged in the class discussion?

yes no
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
Appendix 7: An example of a Self-Evaluation of one of the sessions.
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
Appendix 8: An example of a group’s final assessment with their filled-out rubric.

Student Work:
 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer
Morgan Phillips
ID 110169880
Assessment Rubric: