Hello everyone! We hope you enjoyed the new, warm weather that this weekend brought to our midwestern friends and beyond. Today, we’re back and ready to supply you with some reasoning as to why asking questions and maintaining engagement in school is your key to academic and professional success! Keep reading to find out why…

Question Value in the Classroom…

Asking with Purpose: Asking questions comes with an extremely useful tool … answers! There is no quicker, easier, or more sufficient way to gain direction and insight than by confronting questions head-on during lectures and course periods. When doing so…
- Make sure to always ask questions with a purpose! In the classroom, online or virtual, this means that the question you’re asking relates to course material and demonstrates that you’re paying attention instead of dozing off and missing key concepts.
- Remember, although it may feel “intimidating,” if you’re confused, more likely than not your classmate is as well!
Digging Deeper: Questions that showcase your knowledge, skills, and understanding of your own responsibilities push the envelope and are interlaced with creativity. If you’ve been engaging with online content, assignments, lectures, videos, and other sources of information, those questions that dig deeper into bigger picture concepts will set you aside from the rest of the classroom. Remember to always be asking yourself why? How? and how could this impact our exam?
Limitations… do not exist! This question seems to have been circling around for decades! Well, we’re here to advocate on behalf of our entire organization in telling you that there is no “question limit”! There will be class periods you leave question-free, and those that leave you more confused than when you “walked” in. Do not limit yourself to a certain number of questions as that will be debilitating to your ability to seek out new information. However, always make sure to gauge the room for other levels of participation and the appropriate time to ask. Often your professor will encourage you to but-in throughout or hold off on raising your hand until the end.
- Extra tip: if you’re feeling nervous about continuous participation, schedule a zoom meeting or attend office hours to dig deeper into clarifications and other course materials!

Overall, a classroom is a two-way street. If you feel as though you’re missing a crucial concept or key to the class, get ahead of that confusion early by asking questions as they come. Doing so will remind your professor that you’re paying attention, assist peers who are also likely in need of clarification, and provide you with the tools to ace exams!

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