Photo Courtesy of: JD Hancock

Quality education comes in different forms and adapts to a variety of instructional strategies. One of those strategies is asking questions. By asking specific questions, you’re not only engaging your students on a deeper level, you’re also increasing the likelihood of them retaining the information. When it comes to financial literacy, retention goes a long way towards reaching unconscious competence (mastery) of financial topics. 

Questions to Ask

Many of these questions build on one another which means that they serve as a good outline for discussion periods and group activities.

What do you think?

Asking students what they think is a great place to start. There much to learn about someone who can or can’t answer this question. While there are a lot of "rules" and absolutes in financial management, there is still a lot of room for discussion in regards to strategy and implementation of those rules. By asking students to openly discuss their thoughts about something like budget implementation or the best route for retirement savings, you force them to consider these concepts from a more personal standpoint rather than as a series of facts and theory applied to other people.

Why do you think that? Or, what makes you think this?

After students share what they think, asking them why further reinforces the lesson and challenges them to put more thought into their response. This line of questioning also provides students the opportunity to link their ideas/thoughts about a specific topic or experience with things they have read, heard about, or experienced themselves. If, for example, a student argues for the use of Roth IRAs over 401Ks for retirement, asking for the root of his opinion may open the doorway to further discussion.

Tell me more about that?

Or, can you tell me more about that? No matter the topic or the answer, asking students to expand on their beliefs inspires them to think more. It also offers evidence that may not have been heard of before. In essence, you are asking them "why" again, but in a different way.

However, if, as is often the case, students balk at this prompt, and shut the discussion down, the idea is easy to extend other members of the class who may feel similarly, but for different reasons. In which case the question becomes, "Who can tell me more about that?"

What questions do you still have?

This question allows students to offer up questions they have about the lesson or information, research, ideas, evidence, etc. or even something not related to the actual lesson plan. However, it is also a question that is often left dangling as students see it as a lead-in to the end of the conversation. You should still ask it, but be prepared for silence.

Another way to use this question type is to make it more specific to the subject of the class or lecture. For example, begin with a direct response question such as, "What is the first step to creating a budget?" Then lead into students' questions about the practice as a follow-up, "What questions do you have about this first step?"

Questions to Avoid

Just like it is important to ask specific questions during a financial literacy class, avoiding questions or types of questions that have the opposite effect (i.e. disengaging students) is equally important. Any teacher who has posed a question only to hear crickets afterwards understands the danger of asking questions the "wrong" way. So, make sure that each question you ask is designed for thought rather than rote.

Leading Questions

Any question which, by its very structure, hints at its answer is a leading question. This discourages actual thought and reinforces a topic's facts over its nuances – which degrades actual learning and critical thinking.

Leading questions are different from comprehension checks, however, because the latter does not give up an answer.

For example:

  • Leading Question: Why do you think 401Ks are so important for modern retirement savings?
  • Comprehension Question: What role do 401Ks serve in the modern retirement savings system?

Yes or No Questions

This is pretty self-explanatory, but it is important to remember that the goal of asking questions in a financial literacy course is to extend or at least check in on learning and retention. A yes or no question gets students off the hook and, in many ways, is just another form of leading.

The exception to this rule is when a yes or no question merely opens the floor for further discussion. You could, for example, ask a student if he or she has a personal budget. If the answer is "yes", ask what prompted that student to take that action.

More Than One Question at Once

Although asking a series of questions is clearly important when it comes to generating discussion, it is important to keep these questions separate from one another so as not to overwhelm the student. Remember, the goal is engagement, which means easing them into the process of discussing financial concepts. By asking question at a time and then following up you help a student naturally go through the process of critical thinking.