Professors Against Stupid Questions
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We all know there's no such thing as a stupid question, right? Well, a number of professors would beg to differ!
Here's a handy chart for students as they head back to the classroom, produced by Randy Stinson of Southern Seminary.
(HT: Phillip Bethancourt)
Here's a handy chart for students as they head back to the classroom, produced by Randy Stinson of Southern Seminary.
(HT: Phillip Bethancourt)
posted by JT at Monday, August 21, 2006
14 Comments:
Aaaaaaaamen.
My first semester at TEDS, I was sitting in advisee group with D.A. Carson, and as someone prefaced a question with, "I know there are no stupid questions, but...," and Carson interrupted and said, "No, no, no, you're in seminary now. Give it a semester, and you'll find out just how many stupid questions can be asked."
Man, was he right. TEDS has to have the world's largest collection of sharp-minded Christians and stupid-question-askers.
Mook
Ditto what Bryan said. How can so many smart people ask so many stupid, stupid questions? I've written some variation of this sentence on almost every course feedback form I've ever filled out: "Could we hire a question screener for future sections of this course?"
"Is your comment likely to elicit an 'amen'"
guilty.
Lazlo -
I've written just about the same thing, usually directed at the professor, actually. Something like: "I think it would really help move class along if you would be able to defer answering stupid or irrelevant questions until after class."
This is one of the things I loved about Carson's classes so much. He was never afraid to say, "Ask that after class" (if the question was irrelevant or stupid), or even "Well, that was covered in your assigned reading."
I like the chart. But the final requirement for questions borders on the ridiculous.
>>>Can you ask it in one sentence or less?<<<
An intelligent one-sentence question is a difficult, but probably worthy, restriction. But how is it ever possible to ask a question in less than one sentence? I was trying to think it through, but I'm afraid my head will explode.
"There may be no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." I had that as a screen saver on my desk at the school I worked at a couple of years ago.--Dirk
Should this same rubric be used for comments on a blog?
Perhaps so. Wait, I think I just violated the standard I was calling for...Maybe three sentence comments. Wait.
"Can you ask it in one sentence or less?"
This requirement would have tormented Socrates.
I am inclined to believe that the above requirement is an exaggeration. It's like saying, "Look, please ask your question intelligently and with an economy of words. Your fellow students are not paying to hear you flap your gums in class or to see you engage in intellectual flexing. Think before you speak and ask questions." While listening to Limbaugh or others on the radio, I dread when a caller says, "I will make this brief." Sure enough, it's some longwinded buffoon who hasn't taken the time to order their thoughts to speak concisely. It's almost never "brief."
On another note, it also seems to be the case that alot of teachers just want to get through the material, rather than ensure that people genuinely understand what is being taught. It's as if there's no time for indepth interaction, unless one develops friendships with the professors.
Anyway, with some qualifications, I liked the chart. If I was teaching, I may go through it the first day of class. I saved it to my computer just in case :-)
"Is it important to ask it now, or can it wait until after class?"
This question cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". At best one would need to follow up a "yes" or "no" answer with some type of identifier which would point to the option one was choosing (as specified by the question itself).
Example: If one were to answer "yes" to the first part of the question (indicating that it was "important to ask it now") the chart would indicate that I should "STOP!", and "Don't Speak!!!"; something which is opposite to what was intended, I believe.
"But how is it ever possible to ask a question in less than one sentence?"
Shea, and you are asking because . . . ???
Ha ha, sorry. I actually agree with you fully, but I couldn't resist the urge to have a little fun. :-)
Doug,
I'm probably just dense, but really...? ;-)
Even an incomplete question, once formulated and capped with a question-mark, becomes a sentence, doesn't it?
I'll grant you, though, that the chart's author may be saying that only one-sentence questions or incomplete questions are allowed. But would the author really take an incompletely formulated question over an intelligent two-sentence query?
All I'm trying to say is that the final question requirement is just a bit silly. And perhaps so am I for even trying to take it seriously :-)
Shea,
"Even an incomplete question, once formulated and capped with a question-mark, becomes a sentence, doesn't it?"
Yes it does. There's probably even a name for the critter; and if I knew enough grammar to matter I could probably name it for you. But, alas ...
:-)
This issue seems to be culturally conditioned. I teach in National University of Singapore, an essentially asian context. It is hard to get students to ask you any questions during class/lecture, stupid or otherwise. So showing such a chart here is likely to discourage classroom interaction more than anything else.
It is not true, on the other hand, to think that we do not have our fair share of less-than-wise questions. The students here tend to ask questions offline through email.
Well, it is going to take another chart to model how questions should be phrased through emails, I supposed :-).
Dang, I wish my hermeneutics prof would hand this out to my class. Maybe I will email him a link.
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