I’m a student who likes to ask lots of questions; it helps clarify the material while also earning participation points and building healthy student-teacher rapport.
So my question is, if you can look on the internet for the answer to a question, should you ask a teacher in an effort to show interest in the material? Does this make me look like a lazy student, or one that can’t think for themselves?
Thanks!
My personal curmudgeonly opinion: If the teacher said something confusing that everyone in the class would want clarified, you should ask for clarification. If the teacher just said something that aroused your curiosity, you should make a note in your notebook and look it up on your own time. Each of your classmates if paying thousands of dollars for each course to learn the subject matter, not to hear a classmate satisfy his random curiosity. Also, the teacher is trying to pack a lot of material into each class and does not appreciate unhelpful interruptions. If you want to build personal rapport with a teacher, visit her during her office hours.
@MobsterDolphin : Depends on class style. If it is mostly a lecture, avoid asking for more than clarification and take up any burning curiosities in office hours or after the lecture. You may also ask the question if you can avoid looking like a person who is intentionally showing off/trying to gain favor with the instructor publicly. Often the tone of voice/nature of the question will be suggestive of your intent and if it sounds like the latter, you may annoy both students and the instructor. In addition, if you find yourself asking too many ultra high level questions when others do not, you probably placed yourself in a class that a) does not aim to go that in depth or b) is too low for you. You should have instead placed into a more advanced, perhaps smaller course in the department that allowed for discourse. Like if you do it in an introductor STEM (or any) course that you have AP credit in but are retaking, it will be extremely obvious and annoying simply because many do not have that level of experience and are indeed new to material and would rather have content relayed to them/whatever activities being hosted (as is the case with gen. chem) to go uninterrupted by things that won’t get them to the next level of their learning.
If it is a person who maybe lectures but does so in a way inviting to or even eliciting of student ideas and inquiry beyond clarification, the do so because they indeed expect it. If in a smaller discussion style course, then it is definitely expected.
You’ll have to feel out what type of classroom environment you are in for yourself.