Secondary Assessment - Effective Questioning

The second programme on formative assessment provides an opportunity to hear more from Paul Black and Chris Harrison, authors of the influential pamphlet Working Inside the Black Box.

They see questioning as essential to good formative assessment. They identify effective questions and discussion as key to good teaching and learning.

Next, four teachers give us an insight into how questioning and discussion this can be used and applied effectively in the secondary classroom:

• At Lord Williams' School, Oxfordshire, Jon Ryder uses open questioning to provoke discussion amongst his Year 11 science class
• Karen Vear uses "wait time" as a strategy to encourage all her pupils to take part in her maths
• At Bishop Hatfield School, in his history lesson, Alf Wood encourages pupils to generate their own questions as a way of involving them in their own learning
• His colleague Carol Wilding uses whiteboards to allow all her pupils an opportunity to participate in their lesson