As a teacher or instructor, why do I want to use questioning?

Questioning may be one of the most powerful and flexible of all teaching and instructional tools. What can it be used for?

to summarize and draw discussions to a close
to help people diagnose own problems, answer own questions, or to think for themselves -- to promote critical thinking
to encourage all participants to fully participate, and to expand and develop their responses to be less superficial.
to keep the group on topic since questions also can guide a discussion
to check out understanding or agreement
to arouse interest and capture attention through the evocation of curiousity and uncertainty
to discover present knowledge of a group or individual and diagnose and assess where a student is "at"
to obtain helpful advice, criticism, feedback or suggestions
to get information about a subject or person

The Training and Development World