I once had an instructor explain to me how frustrated he was with the number of stupid questions asked in his classes. I could sympathize, but questions kind of come with the job. He was so bothered that he decided to announce to his class that there were, in fact, such things as stupid questions and such questions were not welcome in his class. Such a proclamation runs afoul of common teaching niceties. He had grown weary of answering questions like "Is there anything due today?" "Sorry I missed class yesterday, did you cover anything important?" "What chapters will be covered on the exam?" "Can I turn this in late?"
The common No-Such-Thing-As-A-Stupid-Question (NSTAASQ) method of instruction does, at times, seem to be broken. And sure, there are likely situations where the above questions could potentially be very valid, but there is a level of thought missing from these interrogatives and others like them. Perhaps the word "stupid" is too loaded. I don't want to label a question as stupid, but I want to encourage more thinking, research and discovery prior to questions being asked.
It might be useful to gather a list of questions that appear to be lacking in thought and try to categorize them in some fashion. Perhaps we would see a trend. Many of the questions above suggest students are not paying attention or referencing course documents - they are relying on their instructor to serve as personal assistant: look this up for me, remind me of appointments and inform me of forgotten details. With more questions might see other trends.
Questions for clarity? These questions often repeat part or whole of a concept. They might be preceded by "So let me get this straight..." or "Did you say..." When used in earnest they are wonderful, but too often these questions seem dripping with ego-boosting, look-at-me, I'm-so-smart subtext.
Questions for criticism? I find these questions difficult to recognize. I'm a sucker for solving people's quandaries and can be lured into unwarranted debate before I realize where I am. "Is there a reason there isn't an Add New Course button on the homepage?" This was a recent example that I took at face value and began to offer an explanation. The explanation didn't matter because the question wasn't really a question at all. It was a challenge - the speaker was making a point that there ought to be such a button.
Questions for negotiation? Perhaps all communication is a negotiation of meaning. This category might include questions posed for suggestive purposes. Rather than come straight out and tell someone to do something, it is often more appropriate or better received when asked as a question. "Did you finish your homework?" "Have you called your mother recently?" "Why is the soup ladle in the knife drawer?"
Questions for learning? All of these questions about questions is just a way to ponder how teachers and trainers best deal with the myriad of approaches to providing answers or not providing answers. It might be an interesting communicative challenge to make it through the day without asking a single question. It would also be an interesting challenge to make it through a day only asking questions, but how annoying would that be?
