In Chapter 5, Moore presents the direct teaching method and the “Art of Questioning.” In the direct teaching method, Moore presents a discussion on exposition teaching, which is the “best way to communicate large amounts of information in a short period of time.” The most popular exposition teaching method is the lecture, which is a time efficient way of teaching concepts but is also a passive method of learning for students. Moore points out that the most effective lectures are relatively short, as it is difficult for students to focus on a lecture for more than 20 minutes. To make lectures more engaging, he recommends using variety – balancing the lecture by showing a movie clip, etc. Moore than goes into a thorough discussion on the power of questioning as a learning device. He discusses convergent questions, which initiate more focused answers and divergent questions, where the answers are open-ended. He then contrasts factual, empirical, productive, and evaluative questions, which trigger different levels of thinking from students.
I personally enjoyed the portion of the chapter on the art of questioning. The clear outline of different types of questions will be helpful in my classroom as I will be more aware of my questioning techniques. I agree with Moore in that questioning is an art as it takes refinement and a delicate touch, but has the potential to be so effective if mastered. I also found it interesting that lecturing is such a popular teaching method despite its flaws. To make another baseball analogy, the direct teaching method could be compared to the hitting coach who is an advocate of one specific kind of swing, and tailors his hitters to one uniform swing. On the other hand, indirect teaching could be compared to the hitting coach who analyzes each swing individually and adjusts swings based on individual abilities and tendencies. I will have to read the next chapter to see if I still agree with this comparison.
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