What was especially funny about this, was that I had been on the receiving end of a similar experience at work that day. I eventually did get the guidance I needed, problem solved. But this situation got me thinking about the multitude of questions from developers that I see on Stack Overflow, Facebook, and the various other social media outlets and forums. This is a popular phrase that has had a long history. It suggests that the quest for knowledge includes failure.
And it implies that just because one person may know less than others, they should not be afraid to ask their question rather than pretending they already know the answer. At some point in our lives, learning, or careers, we will all have to ask for help.
So please never be afraid to ask questions. As long as you can ask questions, and reflect upon answers, you can never have enough space to write all your thoughts.
Writing is merely a tool for thought. It is a way to extend fuzzy ideas into intelligent constructions, building up a framework of ideas one sentence at a time. In writing we see what we think, and in seeing, we think about what we see. The two activities build on each other. If writing is an exercise in thought, what method does thought itself follow? If you break it down, we often think in terms of questions and answers. Questions form the basis of our thoughts.
We write out the answers, and generate new questions from the words we've written. Of all professions, should not a technical writer be full of questions? We must unravel how things work, not only for us, but for users in different situations. The more questions a technical writer asks, the more thorough the documentation will be.
What questions might a reader have? Think of the questions, and seek out the answers. It's a brilliant strategy, a conversational game of the mind. Questions drive content.
The content leads to more questions. Swimming in a sea of questions, the technical writer's job is anything but boring. The technical writer explores the interface with experiments and tests, exploring by trial and error to see what answers each question holds. A technical writer is a scuba diver under water, curious about each shape and color and movement ahead, curiosity and wonder propeling the diver forward. Of all the tools a technical writer uses -- graphical tools, help authoring tools, video recording tools, page layout tools -- the most powerful tool is the question.
In this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, visual communication, information architecture, writing techniques, plain language, tech comm careers, and more.
Check out simplifying complexity and API documentation for some deep dives into these topics. If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the field, be sure to subscribe to email updates. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Toggle navigation. Asking and answering questions, and getting into a dialog with the teacher, is a very effective way to make sense of material.
It is difficult to tell if what you are saying has been understood. Asking questions can clarify whether you need to spend more time on certain topics. Student questions also reveal misunderstandings. It is not just the student who answers or asks a question who is thinking — most of the students in the room will be empathizing and thinking at the same time. When questioning is going on students will be having some of their own private questions answered. They will also be asking their own questions in their mind, and reflecting.
When students ask you a question it is an opportunity to provide a more elaborate explanation than might have been possible when you were lecturing. You can go back to basics or pursue more advanced issues, as appropriate. As we saw earlier, teachers who have rapport with their students, and who interact with them, are the ones who produce the best student learning performance.
Engaging in question-and-answer routines builds rapport — if handled sensitively. If you ask a room full of students a question there is a good chance no one will answer it; the larger the group of students, the harder it is to get answers.
0コメント