The Effects of Professional Development Workshop On Inquiry-based Questioning Approach

27 Dec 2015

The purpose of this study was to (a) evaluate the impact of an Academy of Singapore Teacher (AST) Professional Development Workshop in equipping teachers with the knowledge, skills and concepts of questioning techniques, (b) find out some changes in teachers’ conceptions/attitudes toward the use of questioning techniques and students’ answers/classroom discussions to inform the process of teaching and learning, and (c) identify the extent to which the teachers have applied the IRF (Initiation, Response and Follow-up) form of questioning in a micro-teaching session. Twenty-nine physics teachers from twenty-three secondary schools/junior colleges participated in the inquiry-based questioning workshop. Besides analyzing the course evaluation, a mixed method of quantitative & qualitative approaches using pre-workshop & post-workshop questionnaires and discourse analysis of a micro-teaching episode was used. Positive findings from this study affirmed the sound pedagogical design and implementation of this AST workshop that is inquiry-centric with suitable hands-on and minds-on activities. The practical significance of the findings in this study showed the usefulness of translating research insights regarding tactical moves in classroom discourse into practical advice for teachers to foster effective teaching and meaningful learning.

Keywords: Questioning techniques, inquiry-centric, IRF
LEUNG Kin Yi (Stewards MKMCF Ma Ko Pan Memorial College)
Charles CHEW (Academy of Singapore Teachers, Ministry of Education) Charles_CHEW@moe.gov.sg
CHU Hye-Eun (National Institute of Education)

For more information about this project or research collaborations, please contact Dr. Charles Chew at Charles_CHEW@moe.gov.sg