‘Questions of the Day’ is a teaching strategy developed by Bill Prothero. It is to be used at the beginning of class and normally takes 5-15 minutes to complete. It encourages students to start class as active participants and involves them in the material.
- Students are encouraged to discuss the questions and write down their responses to be turned in.
- ‘Questions of the Day’ can be used to initiate a class discussion.
- ‘Questions of the Day’ should cover the most important class topics, which will then help students know which topics to study when preparing for exams.
Students can be asked to do one of several things:
- Answer a series of short essay questions about the lecture material.
- Label or annotate a diagram, timeline or map.
- Graph data.
- Analyze an abstract or brief passage.
- Make predictions based on a description.
- Students turn in their answers to be graded by teaching assistants.
- The recommended grading policy is generous, awarding students 100% for a good-faith effort. Students cannot turn in their assignment when absent or late.
- ‘Questions of the day’ responses are worth 10% of their class grade.
‘Questions of the Day’ are appropriate for all students. This teaching strategy is particularly useful in allowing students to focus on a particular topic before beginning to learn a new lesson.