4 reasons to ask students questions

There are four main reasons why rounds observers may want to ask questions of students in the classroom: 1. To ascertain whether the student understands the context for what is currently taking place in the classroom and the learning intention; 2. To determine how the student sees their role as a learner and a classroom participant;  3.  To assess the extent of investment a student has in the content - whether what they are studying is regarded as important or of value to them; 4.  To gauge the depth of student understanding of the content.... conceptual vs surface.  Observers need to ask multiple questions before even one of these purposes can be fulfilled.