In response to my call for topics you would like me to address in these “Teaching Tidbits,” I heard from a thoughtful and very student-centered colleague who teaches at a law school in the Midwest. This colleague shared that she very much appreciated student questions, but she was concerned that the questions were using up more class time that was optimal and had the potential to interfere with her course coverage. 

I have struggled with the same issue, and, in every class I teach, I face questions that I have to choose whether to answer or postpone for office hours. I have found that transparency is the best approach. Below is what I say. 

I start by expressing appreciation, “I so appreciate all the questions you have been asking so far this semester. When you do so, I get excited because your questions show you are engaged and comfortable not yet knowing, and I am delighted to reward your engagement and encourage everyone to ask questions.” 

I then gently move to candor: “However, sometimes, your questions also create a challenge for me in terms of managing our class time and keeping it focused on the most important things I want you to learn to succeed in my class, become a great lawyer, and pass the bar exam.

“Thus, I have to make tradeoffs. Here is how I do it.

“I see your questions as falling into different categories, and my approach to answering your questions moving forward will depend on the category of your questions.

“Category 1: Questions that ask for clarification or express confusion about what we are discussing. Most of these questions are important for me to answer on the spot because they reflect a challenge I believe many students probably are having.

“Category 2: Questions that anticipate topics that are coming up later in the course. My plan for those questions is to let people know the topic is coming up later in the course and ask you to re-ask your questions after class or in office hours. I hesitate to answer such questions during class because, for some students, my answers will be a distraction or even cause them to worry needlessly that they did not see the issue you raised. Sadly, my time with you is limited, so I need to make the hard decisions to wait and teach each concept when it appears on the syllabus rather than teaching it twice, once when you ask and once when I had planned to teach it.

“Category 3: Hypothetical questions legitimately grounded in the materials we are studying. I will always acknowledge these questions as good hypotheticals. Sometimes, I will ask the class to analyze your hypothetical (especially if you have constructed a great hypothetical and we have time). I will then either guide the class through an analysis or answer myself on the spot. For other hypothetical questions, I will request that you ask me again after class or in office hours. When I get these questions, I am weighing the time remaining in that class session, what I would have to not teach if I used up time to work on your hypothetical, and what I think students might learn from analyzing your hypothetical.

“Category 4: Questions that reflect topics that are really not part of the course. For those questions, I will explain that the question is a matter for another course, and I will request that you re-ask me after class or in office hours. These questions, no matter how much I enjoy them, use up class time that I need to preserve for your learning what is on the syllabus. Sometimes, I may say that I would hate to ruin the course where you will learn the answer to the question by answering it, so I will not answer.

“My goal in sharing my perspective is that you understand why I am making the choices I am making. There is no way for me to be certain, for example, that jumping ahead to a topic later in the course (a question in Category 2) would not benefit students, and, at the speed the class moves, I certainly cannot flawlessly calculate the tradeoffs in deciding whether to engage your hypotheticals (a Category 3 question). I just want you to understand that I am making these decisions in an effort to serve you as best I can.”

Readers, I hope this approach is helpful to you.