IF YOU WANT TO:
Understanding why students repeat the same questions.
"I used to be impatient with a student who asked a question which had been asked and answered earlier," says a professor of computer science. "Only after several years did I come to understand that such students are not necessarily stupid or inattentive. I learned instead that a student can only ask a question after the material has registered with him, after it begins to make sense."
"Although one student may have asked the question the day before, other students may not have `heard' (i.e. understood) either the question or the answer. Only later, when the material `clicks,' does that same question become meaningful to for them. Indeed it appears as a `new' question for them and they are now receptive to the answer.
"I try to keep this in mind and patiently answer all relevant questions. I try to use different language or different examples, hoping that this will make it clear without boring those who grasped the idea a day or two earlier."
Limitations on Use of Suggestion
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