Awkward Question I
Brian attends a course where students must write an essay and then discuss each other’s work. Thanks to his work experience, Brian is more familiar with the topic than his peers. He notices that most questions from fellow students are vague and overly supportive, even when essays have clear flaws. For instance, one student says, “You’ve outlined everything important, but what do you think is the key message?” Brian disagrees, as he believes the essay confuses some key concepts.
What would you do in Brian's place?
- 1. I will proceed from the principle that mistakes do not help anyone and calmly draw attention to them and point out how these mistakes could be corrected.
- 2. I will proceed from the task set by the lecturer and present my criticism in such a way that my question already contains a possible correct answer.
- 3. I understand that most fellow students have not delved into the task, but I will not point out their mistakes because that is the teacher’s job. I will commend all the presenters for some of the details they have taken close note of.
- 4. My role in this seminar is not to demonstrate to fellow students my expertise in the field, however, I will ask clarifying questions while avoiding criticism. I will begin my questions with the wording ‘Do I understand correctly that …?’
- 5. Since my questions could put the presenters in embarrassing situations where they may not be able to answer my questions, I will only ask a few questions from the more confident students.