Kauchak Post

1 According to Kauchak (1998) what are three functions of teacher questions? What role does technology play with accomplishing these functions?


According to Kauchack, teachers have three function in asking their students questions. These functions are as follows:
1.) assessing current understanding,
2.) increasing learner motivation, and
3.) guiding new learning.

Technology can play a major role in question and its functions. For instance, like we did here in our class by using the poll devices in class. A teacher can know by questions where they are, where their students are, and where they need to go by the answers to the responses. Blogging is a great tool for assessing current understanding. The teacher could post questions and the students could respond to the questions and this will let the teacher know where the student is at depending on the topic. We do this in our class as well. Jared post's questions to the readings and he can assess where we are and if we have even read the readings.
Students, for the most part, are curious about what they do not know. A lot of students do not know how to use a lot of kinds of technology, especially in the classroom. Using technology is a great way to increase learner motivation in answering these questions. I would much rather post a blog, an audio blog, or a video blog and respond to the questions than just talk in front of the class. Students can learn how to use certain types of technology while answering questions or even creating questions for their teacher and/or fellow classmates. Because technology is student-centered and a constructivist way of learning, questions answered or asked by students can help guide their learning. The third function is instructional and students can find themselves almost instructing their own learning, with the teacher as their guide/vessel for where to go next.