Abstract—Questioning plays a significant role in teaching as teachers’ questions can help develop students’ learning and enhance students’ engagement in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate on the types of questions asked by Commercial Studies teachers and on how they used questions to scaffold their students’ learning. The study focused on three secondary schools in Brunei Darussalam. The data collection processes involved classroom observations during Commercial Studies lessons and interviews with three teachers. The findings showed that the questions asked by Commercial Studies teachers varied according to the purpose of the lessons and teachers’ perceptions on the requirements of syllabus and examinations. Teachers were observed to have used questions to scaffold students’ learning by utilising lower-level questioning which focused on remembering, understanding and applying in order to engage the students with the new content. As the students progressed, the teachers began to employ higher order questioning which focused on analysing, evaluating and creating. As part of the process of scaffolding, the teachers drew on students’ personal experiences, linked what students had known to the new content, broke the questions into parts and offered clues or hints to the students. This study also recommended for teachers to be given professional development training to further improve their questioning techniques.

 

Index Terms—Commercial studies, questioning techniques, scaffolding, teaching methods