Why Some Teachers Believe They Are Great by Giving Awful Questions

It seems that some teachers are so confident in their teaching abilities that they use difficult and misleading questions to gauge their students' understanding. While these questions might appear "awful" to the students, they are intended to be educational. These challenging questions serve various purposes, including paving the way for better comprehension of simpler problems and testing students' abilities under pressure.

What Makes a Great Question, Anyway?

Writing good questions is a skill that not all teachers possess. During the hustle of a classroom, remembering to craft effective questions can be a challenge. As a result, questions sometimes come out incomplete or unclear. Additionally, students' dependence on the internet for homework answers can exacerbate the problem, leading teachers to devise more inventive and challenging questions. This can occasionally result in poorly worded or poorly edited questions, as teachers may not be professional writers or the questions might be taken directly from textbooks with subpar editing.

Teachers often aim to provide clarifications and guidance, which might not always result in perfectly articulated questions. However, difficult questions can also be a sign of a teacher's desire to test and engage students effectively. In a high-pressure environment like an examination, these tricky questions may be designed to distinguish those who truly understand the material from those who rely on memorization.

Teaching Goals and Evaluation

It is important to understand that teachers are not out to defeat their students. Confusion is the enemy of teachers, and they strive to create clear and straightforward learning experiences. Giving difficult questions does not necessarily mean a teacher is trying to make things harder; instead, it might be a strategy to identify and address areas where students struggle, thus improving overall understanding. For instance, a complex sentence can often be simplified to make it more comprehensible, and creating a challenging question might be the teacher's way of demonstrating the complexity involved in such simplification.

A High School Example

One memorable example of this occurs in an English class during high school. The teacher asked students to paraphrase or rewrite complex, convoluted sentences using plain English. The original sentence was: "I believe that_____ people have a curious and unpleasant aroma." A student had to replace the blank and rewrite the sentence, which led to a response like: "I believe that ______ people stink!" This was clearly a creative and thought-provoking question, aiming to engage students in critical thinking and understanding of language nuances.

This type of question encourages students to think creatively and critically, which in turn helps them develop a deeper understanding of the material. While the response might have been a humorous or unconventional one, it demonstrated the student's grasp of the concept. The teacher's goal was to challenge the students and encourage them to engage with the material on a deeper level.

It's crucial to acknowledge that teachers often strive to improve their students' understanding through challenging questions. These questions help students identify areas where they need to improve, and with the right guidance, they can excel. Therefore, while some questions might appear difficult or even "awful," their ultimate goal is to foster learning and growth.